Suspension Questions - can anyone enlighten me?

[MountainDon]

Hello All,

To start out, let me say that I know next to nothing about suspensions in general, let alone trailer suspensions.

I have read a lot of posts on how great Morryde suspension components are and so have gone to look at that on the Morryde site. Since I have a travel trailer I wasn't even sure it it was applicable to me, but found out they have products that can help with our trailer as well. What I absolutely do not understand is the discussion on wet bolts and shackle systems...... Why would I want to have shackle bolts I can grease?
I thought you only greased up parts that moved.

And on the subject of Grease... how often should you grease axles, wet bolts, etc

Sorry for the ignorance, but I hope some of you kind folks can fix that ( my ignorance )

Don

 

[danemayer]

Hi MountainDon,

The shackle link bolts go through bushings that are inside the spring eyeholes. There's a considerable amount of wear and tear on the bushings, and also on the shackle links. Wet bolts have grease zerks that allow you to force grease into the areas that wear.

Some trailers don't get towed all that much, and some get towed a lot, going long distances. The standard equipment is designed for trailers that don't get towed very much. The more miles you put on the trailer, the faster you'll wear out shackle links and bushings. Wet bolts, greased a couple of times per year will prolong the life of these components.

You can apply grease to your current shackle links, but it won't be as effective as doing so with wet bolts. And you probably wouldn't be able to grease the bushings without taking things apart, which most people wouldn't want to do as part of regular maintenance.

As I recall, the Heavy Duty Equalizer Kits with Wet Bolts also include shackle links that are twice as thick as the standard ones.

As part of regular maintenance, you should examine the shackle links for excess wear around the mounting holes. The holes will elongate, indicating need for replacement. If you allow the wear to continue, a shackle link will break, which can strand you.

 

[MountainDon]

Dan,

Thank you so much - I clearly did not what understand what shackle bolts were - that makes perfect sense

Don