Spring eye bushings

[Occo]

Hi All,

Recently my son and I decided to look at the spring shackle and equa-flex bushings on our 2009 Bighorn. It has Lippert 6000 axles. What we found was a mess. Some of them were nylon and a few were bronze. The nylon was totally worn thru and gone and a few of the bronze were worn very bad. Some of the shackle bolt holes were elongated and cracked. A literal disaster in the making. New shackles, bushings, and bolts are going on with a few 'wet bolts' in critical places, on the equa-flex pivits.
A word to the wise; CHECK YOUR SUSPENSION. Don't rely on what comes out of the factory. A few bucks now could save you a lot of headaches and maybe more..

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Love to see some pictures of these problems, so those of us that don't really know what we're looking at, can see the problem and can then find someone that can help resolve.....

 

[Gary521]

Put the wet bolts on ALL pivots and spring eyes. Make sure that you use the heavy duty shackles.

 

[Occo]

Oregon Camper,

Here are a few pics of the 'crap bushings', or the remains of them. My suggestion for tests are to jack up the rig to relieve the tires off the ground. Use a small jack to lift each axle a little, one at a time, to check for sloppy fit at the pivot points. use a pry bar also to try to move the spring eyes and equalizer pivots. Replace with new bronze or 'never fail' bushings if any wear exists. Shackles should be replaced if there is any sign of wear or cracks with heavy duty ones. The bronze bushings in the equa-flex Trailair equalizers were worn bad also. Check all bolts for any signs of wear or elongating. This can happen if the bushings wear out and the bolts flop around in the eyes. I put 'wet bolts' in the Equa-Flex' pivots. They are hard to get grease in with the weight of the rig on the ground. To do properly lift rig to relieve the weight then lube. I hope this helps and I hope it opens the eyes of everyone towing to the potential of a very serious failure.

 

[cookie]

Thanks for bringing this up. Everyone should check their suspension regularly.
Being a 2009 I'm surprised you made it this long. They don't last for ever. My 2011 has been changed twice.

Peace
Dave

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Thanks...now I know what to look for next time I get the RV out of storage.

 

[TravelTiger]

Before

After

If you look closely, the bolts through the shackles in the "before" are not centered on the springs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Occo]

Thanks for bringing this up. Everyone should check their suspension regularly.
Being a 2009 I'm surprised you made it this long. They don't last for ever. My 2011 has been changed twice.

Peace
Dave

Dave,

The rig has not been on the road much, maybe 20000 miles. I wouldn't have detected the problem if my son hadn't done a close inspection for me. I sure hope all trailering RV'ers do frequent inspections and maintenance.

Bill