2017 Suspension Changes - Suggestion for you DIY folks

[TucsonJim]

At the rally this past summer, Jerry McCarthy told me that all 2017 units will now have bronze bushings installed in the suspension in lieu of the cheap Lippert nylon bushings that have been installed in the past. So while I'm working on my greasy brakes, I thought it would be a good time to crawl under the rig and lubricate the wet bolts to protect those new bronze bushings. Imagine my surprise when there was no wet bolts installed. See the pic below:



You'll also notice there is no Equa-Flex or Correct Track on this Reflection 297RSTS travel trailer. I contacted Grand Design and asked why. The answer I got was "we don't install the Equa-Flex or the Correct Track on the travel trailers to keep the cost down". The rationale was that they are lighter weight and don't need it. Indeed, when I checked the GD website, the Equa-Flex was not listed for my model like it was for the fifth wheels. In addition, they said they "only install the wet bolts when they come with the Equa-Flex". So, while I'm waiting on new brakes and seals to arrive, I'm going to remedy this by installing Equa-Flex equalizers and wet bolts at all suspension points. At this time, I'll pass on the Correct Track unless I start to see some unusual tire wear and need to make some adjustments.

So for those of you with a 2017 model, you most likely have bronze bushings installed in your suspension. If you want to get the maximum wear out of them, I'd recommend you install and lubricate a wet bolt where-ever you see a standard bolt. Even those of you with an Equa-Flex installed will likely have a standard bolt installed at the ends of the springs. If so, changing it to a wet bolt can add years of life to the existing bushings.

Finally - Those of you with wet bolts. Have you lubricated them lately? ;-)

Jim

[Paul & Deb]

Jim, I have been thinking about my suspension after over 30k miles towed and intend to redo everything before we leave for our cross country trip this spring.

So, what exactly do I want to get since I do have the Equa-Flex and Correct Track?

I thought in an earlier thread we were told not to install wet bolts at the end of the spring where the correct track is? Is that correct? There isn't even a bushing that I can see.

So I assume I don't even mess with the ends and just replace the 5 bolts, shakle plates (upgraded to the 1/2" thickness) and bushings at the Equa-Flex? Is that correct?

I found this set on Tweety's but it includes wet bolts for the spring ends which I could just hold on to for spares or is there a different or better set somewhere?

http://tweetys.com/wet-bolt-kit-2-14-shack-tande-1.aspx

Thanks for your input since you already did this on your 337. BTW, my Equa-Flex looks fine with no rust but I remember yours were trashed and you replaced them at the same time. You don't think I need to do that do you?

[Dave and Monica]

Hey Paul...when I did mine last spring, the spring eye bushings were nylon and trashed, particularly the shackle end position. I replaced them with bronze and already had a wet bolt in all positions including the shackle ends. The equalizer already had bronze bushing and they were in good shape and weren't replaced. The bronze bushings in my equalizers have a larger ID in the middle third of the bushing where the lube hole on the wet bolt is located so the orientation of the bolt isn't as important. Wish I could of found some of those bushing to put in the spring ends.

Dave

[TucsonJim]

Good morning Paul.

1. Equa-Flex - I replaced mine because they were the old Trail Air brand which didn't have the rust resistant yellow paint. Since my 337 had been driven on salty roads, they were horribly rusted. But, when I tore them down, they were still in great shape internally and would have lasted many more years. However, my Equa Flex had bronze bushings installed into it. The replacements came with Never Fail bushings. If your bronze bushings are starting to wear, then you'll need to see if you can get the old ones out and put in new, or just purchase new Equa-Flex equalizers.

2. The spring ends do have bushings installed. They were the cheap nylon bushings that Lippert uses, and they were badly worn. You'll certainly need to replace those. The Never Fail bushing kit I ordered did not have the proper bolts to replace the original bolts due to the longer length needed for the Correct Track system. So I installed the new Never Fail bushings, and reinstalled the original bolts after polishing them up.

3. I did go with the Lippert Never Fail Bushing kit. It came with new bolts, thin shackles and nuts. However, the nuts were NOT self locking and presented a real safety hazard in my opinion. On three different occasions, I've tried to help Lippert fix this oversight, but they look at me like I'm from outer space. I finally purchase my own nylon locking nuts to change out the nuts Lippert provided.

You'll need to figure out if you want the suspension to have bronze bushings with wet bolts, or Never-Fail bushings and go from there. I found it was easier with the Never-fail bushings, and no ongoing lubrication was needed. In fact, you should NOT lubricate the Never Fail bushings. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do an analysis on those bushings after putting another 8K miles on it.

Jim

[Cate&Rob]

Jim, I have been thinking about my suspension after over 30k miles towed and intend to redo everything before we leave for our cross country trip this spring.

So, what exactly do I want to get since I do have the Equa-Flex and Correct Track?

I thought in an earlier thread we were told not to install wet bolts at the end of the spring where the correct track is? Is that correct? There isn't even a bushing that I can see.

So I assume I don't even mess with the ends and just replace the 5 bolts, shakle plates (upgraded to the 1/2" thickness) and bushings at the Equa-Flex? Is that correct?

I found this set on Tweety's but it includes wet bolts for the spring ends which I could just hold on to for spares or is there a different or better set somewhere?

http://tweetys.com/wet-bolt-kit-2-14-shack-tande-1.aspx

Thanks for your input since you already did this on your 337. BTW, my Equa-Flex looks fine with no rust but I remember yours were trashed and you replaced them at the same time. You don't think I need to do that do you?

Hi Paul,

Just confirming what Dave & Jim have already stated . . . plus a few more “learnings”.

There are (after 30k miles . . . probably "were") nylon bushings in the outer spring eyes. I replaced mine at about 11,000 miles and they were destroyed. The inner ones with the wet bolts that I had lubed from near new were in good shape. See picture of outer spring eye and bushing. I have no idea why GDRV does not use wet bolts at the outer spring eyes . . . makes no sense to me.

I purchased a “Never Fail” bushing kit from LCI at the 2016 Rally. (Cate wanted to know if this was like “Kantleak”)
They are a really tight fit into the spring eyes and will not fit into the centre Equaflex at all. LCI parts won’t fit LCI components . . . what can I say.
So, I am running dry Never Fail bushings in the spring eyes and the original greased (wet bolt) bronze bushings in the equalizer. These are as Dave describes, with a good center space for the grease.

As to the nuts on the shackle bolts . . . I discovered after getting into this, that these are torque retaining nuts. These are “crunched” to slightly oval so that they bind on the threads and are much less likely to work loose. But, nuts like this should only be used once. Off to the local dealer where I learned that they always reuse the old nuts . The parts guy was actually very helpful, contacting both GDRV and LCI but could not confirm that either could supply the correct torque retaining nuts.

Through the dealer, I actually got to the LCI drawing of the nut that they think is correct, but this drawing does not specify the torque retaining “crunch”. Emily is sending me some of these LCI nuts and we will see if they are torque retaining or not.

Emily did make an interesting observation in our discussion . . . all the OE shackle and equalizer bolts and nuts are installed by GDRV. They may be the source of the correct torque retaining nuts. This may tie into Jim’s discussion about why LCI repair kits do not have torque retaining nuts.

WRT replacement shackle bolts for the outer spring eye connections to the Correct Track adjusters. These bolts are longer than most service kits (as Jim found out). This is because of the extra thickness of the yellow adjuster plates. I was able to reuse my bolts, but after 30,000 miles running dry, I expect that you will need new bolts in these locations.

Rob