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  1. #11
    Long Hauler geotex1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dryfly View Post
    I just completed replacing the 4 problem wet bolts. Placed grease holes to the 3 o'clock position. Zerk fittings now take grease with no problem.

    What really surprised me was even though the trailer has only about 5K miles on it, all of the bushings associated with these wet bolts were in terrible condition. One was completely shattered. Makes me wonder how long bronze bushings will last, even with periodic greasing.
    They do not last long at all. The problem lies in the spring eyes and the terribly poor alignment of the hangers relative to the bolt axis. Because the spring eyes are wrapped only and not honed true, the eyes are not perfectly cylindrical and have a notch where the leaf is wrapped closed. As a result, the bushing gets distorted into that. Strike one.

    To have ideal performance, the bolt needs to have uniform bearing across the width of the spring eye, so the hangers need to be aligned so the bolts are perfectly perpendicular to the length of the spring. I can tell you I've not seen that on any Lippert frame I've worked on, and our Solitude has one that's 12 degrees out! Lippert's response to my photos and resulting wear to the spring (bushing ground to dust) was "within our manufacturing tolerance." Strike two.

    Lippert's gobbling up and monopolizing the frame work in the industry took it back decades with hangers of thin bent steel versus superior designs of years past or utilizing fabricated hangers widely available outside the RV industry. So, left unreinforced, they flex and exacerbate the poor alignment. Strike three! We're out of pocket!

    So I see these as regular maintenance replacement items in the design as-is. Because I was quite disappointed in Lippert's response to my suspension failure, and want to keep the frame warranty intact, I'm having custom springs made to solve the problem with eyes that have urethane bushings and case hardened sleeves.

    I have a friend's 2 year-old Pinnacle in my driveway waiting on delivery of an entire replacement set of running gear after spring failure. 4700 miles on it, certified weighings showed it 1200# under max, but broken spring and bushings gone and all fixed eye locations were far from cylindrical!

    In my opinion, 1.75-inch springs just don't belong on heavy trailers.
    Rob & Nikki + Cloverfield
    2020 Grand Design Solitude S-Class 3350RL
    2015 RAM 3500 Longhorn Laramie Crew Cab, Long Bed, 4x4 Dually Cummins/AISIN

    Mountains of Pennsylvania

  2. #12
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    Good afternoon, I have a 2021 Solitude 310GK, Had 2361 miles on trailer, all of My bushings are damaged, they are deformed from the v-gap on bottom, also, the bore of the spring eye is hour glass shaped, ( they are not parallel inside) My brass bushings came out in pieces. I installed new brass bushings, but this did not fix the problem. We have a approval from Grand Design for warranty of leaf springs, (We have not had warranty done yet), I am thinking of going to dealer and inspecting new springs to see if the spring eyes are round, parallel bore, and no gap at end of spring eye where spring wrap ends. On Class 8 HD trucks , the bore of the leaf spring eye is smooth, parallel, and no gap at end of spring eye wrap. Sorry for venting. If I come up with some answers, I will let You know. Have a safe day!! Anthony

  3. #13
    Big Traveler dryfly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by geotex1 View Post
    They do not last long at all. The problem lies in the spring eyes and the terribly poor alignment of the hangers relative to the bolt axis. Because the spring eyes are wrapped only and not honed true, the eyes are not perfectly cylindrical and have a notch where the leaf is wrapped closed. As a result, the bushing gets distorted into that. Strike one.

    To have ideal performance, the bolt needs to have uniform bearing across the width of the spring eye, so the hangers need to be aligned so the bolts are perfectly perpendicular to the length of the spring. I can tell you I've not seen that on any Lippert frame I've worked on, and our Solitude has one that's 12 degrees out! Lippert's response to my photos and resulting wear to the spring (bushing ground to dust) was "within our manufacturing tolerance." Strike two.

    Lippert's gobbling up and monopolizing the frame work in the industry took it back decades with hangers of thin bent steel versus superior designs of years past or utilizing fabricated hangers widely available outside the RV industry. So, left unreinforced, they flex and exacerbate the poor alignment. Strike three! We're out of pocket!

    So I see these as regular maintenance replacement items in the design as-is. Because I was quite disappointed in Lippert's response to my suspension failure, and want to keep the frame warranty intact, I'm having custom springs made to solve the problem with eyes that have urethane bushings and case hardened sleeves.

    I have a friend's 2 year-old Pinnacle in my driveway waiting on delivery of an entire replacement set of running gear after spring failure. 4700 miles on it, certified weighings showed it 1200# under max, but broken spring and bushings gone and all fixed eye locations were far from cylindrical!

    In my opinion, 1.75-inch springs just don't belong on heavy trailers.
    Thank you for your input. You are obviously quite knowledgeable on trailer suspensions. In my case, I would obviously have to pull all the wet bolts to check the bushings. This, unlike routine bearing maintenance for example, would be a very labor intensive job. With frequent lubing, how often would you recommend doing this?

    Maybe one thing I have in my favor is that I have a fairly light 5th wheel. I'm sure I'm under 9K loaded. Still, it would be nice to have some decent suspension components that were not always on the verge of failing.

    I think I have mentioned before, and what's weird, is that on my previous trailer I had a couple of wet bolts that would not take grease. I was not as conscientious as now and did not repair them. That trailer ran 10 years and I never had a problem. I was probably lucky!
    Last edited by dryfly; 11-28-2020 at 10:17 PM.
    2020 Reflection 273MK

  4. #14
    Left The Driveway Charlie1972's Avatar
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    Lightbulb Bushings Visual help (what to look for)

    Quote Originally Posted by anthonybehnken View Post
    Good afternoon, I have a 2021 Solitude 310GK, Had 2361 miles on trailer, all of My bushings are damaged, they are deformed from the v-gap on bottom, also, the bore of the spring eye is hour glass shaped, ( they are not parallel inside) My brass bushings came out in pieces. I installed new brass bushings, but this did not fix the problem. We have a approval from Grand Design for warranty of leaf springs, (We have not had warranty done yet), I am thinking of going to dealer and inspecting new springs to see if the spring eyes are round, parallel bore, and no gap at end of spring eye where spring wrap ends. On Class 8 HD trucks , the bore of the leaf spring eye is smooth, parallel, and no gap at end of spring eye wrap. Sorry for venting. If I come up with some answers, I will let You know. Have a safe day!! Anthony


    I'm not familiar with what they look like, could you include a couple pictures? I picked up my 2021 310GK (has the 8K exiles w/disc brakes and H rated tires, solar prep and panel and onboard generator in LazyDays Tucson end of June 2020 and took for a 2,500 mile break-in trip thru Arizona, up upper New Mexico fishing on San Juan, and up to Silverton, Colorado to fly fish at 11,000 Clear Lake, then went thru CO, Northern AZ and into NV - stayed in Vegas before heading to Pahrump, and on down to San Diego/El Cajon, CA - only problem I had was not realizing the brand new 2020 F-450 that I picked up mid March, had the trailer gain set at 10 - and of course flat spot the tires only 1,100 miles into the trip. Tires have been fine the last 1,300 of the break-in trip and the 5-day weekend trip for Halloween maybe 100 miles. Tomorrow will have to crawl under the trailer to check the bolts holding the leaf springs to the frame - but would be nice to know what I would be looking for - so a few pictures would be great - thank for any and all help.
    Charle


    ]2021 Solitude 310GK c/18K exiles with disc brakes, H-rated Cooper tires, Solar prep c/ 300 W panel, and solar charger, and Onan 550 onboard generator
    2020 F-450 6.7L Power StrokeŽ V8 Turbo Diesel, W/long bed, and Ford factory installed 5th-wheel hitch[/COLOR][/FONT]

  5. #15
    Big Traveler Wicked ace's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Charlie1972 View Post

    I'm not familiar with what they look like, could you include a couple pictures? I picked up my 2021 310GK (has the 8K exiles w/disc brakes and H rated tires, solar prep and panel and onboard generator in LazyDays Tucson end of June 2020 and took for a 2,500 mile break-in trip thru Arizona, up upper New Mexico fishing on San Juan, and up to Silverton, Colorado to fly fish at 11,000 Clear Lake, then went thru CO, Northern AZ and into NV - stayed in Vegas before heading to Pahrump, and on down to San Diego/El Cajon, CA - only problem I had was not realizing the brand new 2020 F-450 that I picked up mid March, had the trailer gain set at 10 - and of course flat spot the tires only 1,100 miles into the trip. Tires have been fine the last 1,300 of the break-in trip and the 5-day weekend trip for Halloween maybe 100 miles. Tomorrow will have to crawl under the trailer to check the bolts holding the leaf springs to the frame - but would be nice to know what I would be looking for - so a few pictures would be great - thank for any and all help.
    Charle


    ]2021 Solitude 310GK c/18K exiles with disc brakes, H-rated Cooper tires, Solar prep c/ 300 W panel, and solar charger, and Onan 550 onboard generator
    2020 F-450 6.7L Power StrokeŽ V8 Turbo Diesel, W/long bed, and Ford factory installed 5th-wheel hitch[/COLOR][/FONT]
    https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Lea...71-359-00.html
    2018 F150 XLT 301a, Screw, 4x4, HDPP, Max tow, Andersen Ultimate w/ Curt Double Lock hitch.
    2019 Grand Design Reflection 150 series 260RD.... SOLD!!!!.

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