Wet bolt install question

[Hoopy Frood]

If the press fit is tight, the bushings can shrink a bit and give less than a perfect fit for the bolt, which may lead to issues when trying to grease due to decreased clearances. I had the correct size reamer on hand which made it very handy, because they are a specialty tool only used to ream a hole to the perfect size. They'll run $15-$50.

[FlyStar]

HF
Do you think a drill would work? Or is that too imprecise? Also. Perhaps. Use the wet bolt with a washer to drive it into the spring, maybe help hole the shape/size.


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[Hoopy Frood]

Not a drill bit, way too imprecise, there's no way to control the drill bit well enough to make a clean job of it, plus drill bits may leave a grooved surface that is not desirable. The best way to install the bushing is to use a sized bolt, like one of the wet bolts that will be used, while pressing in the bushing. That may help to keep the bushing from deforming. It's not really that big of a deal, out of 12 bushings, I think I only had a couple that actually benefited from being reamed. There were none that wouldn't allow the bolt to slide through the bushing, I'm just a bit anal sometimes.

[Steven@147]

The bronze bushings are soft, in a pinch you could use a rat tail file to dress down a nicked bushing. My experience installing new bushings in the spring eyes, some are loose fitting, some are pretty snug, but all installed without much effort. The way the springs are made the eyes can vary a lot. I recall seeing a U Tube where guy used some sort of permatex to like glue the bushing in the spring eye.

I've seen some installers pre-grease the wet bolts to make sure the bolts are drilled all the way and not plugged and that the zerk fittings take grease. There was some discussion awhile back about zerk fittings in the wet bolts. Some guys reported the wet bolts they got from like e-trailer, the zerk fittings were pressed in and in some cases the zerk pulled out of the wet bolt and suck in the grease gun. IIRC it was determined the MORryde wet bolts had the zerks screwed in the wet bolt and didn't have this problem.

[Hoopy Frood]

Yeah, considering some of the zerks can take considerable pressure to grease, screwed in zerks are the better way to go. The ones I got from Dexter were screwed in, but they came with the EZ-Flex/Wet bolt kit.

[FlyStar]

I'm planning the big DIY Wet Bolt replacement for tomorrow. This is the one bolt of 14 that will not take grease. Its the rearmost spring hanger on the curb side of the rig.

Here is my somewhat anal checklist. Results and pics to follow.

If any of you expert suspension mechanics see any flaws in my approach or have suggestions please reply here. Thanks.

1. Chock Tires on opposite side
2. Jack up via frame just behind the spring hanger just a bit and loosen lug nuts
3. Jack up until both wheels off the ground
4. Put frame on jack stands, 6 ton stand aft of rear spring hanger and six ton stand front of front spring hanger
5. Put additional safety blocking under frame for peace of mind
6. Remove wheels and tires
7. Jack up front axle a bit using bottle jack under U bolt, this so it does not move around
8. Jack up rear axle using floor jack to remove pressure on spring hanger
9. Fit a precisely cut 2 x 8 wooden axle spacer and clamp between axles - more insurance to limit things moving around
10. Mark bolt at 12 o’clock, Hold bolt side with wrench and remove nut
11. Press out bolt - plan to use a u-joint press tool
12. Inspect bolt, see where the grease hole was located, test for grease flow using grease gun on the bolt
13. Inspect bushing and replace if necessary – remove old bushing using socket and hammer, press in new one with a wet bolt sans grease nipple and washer and c-clamp
14. Apply grease manually, Line up holes, Mark bolt for grease hole and reinsert old bolt if it is good or replace with a new one if grease wont flow on the old bolt or if the old bolt is worn. Insert with grease hole at 3 o’clock (hole facing forward) and splines lined up with the old ones as much as possible.
15. Using a socket over the grease nipple, drive new bolt into the spring hanger hole with a hammer until bolt head is flush with hanger
16. Using new nut, torque to 45 ft lb while holding bolt head with wrench
17. Grease with grease gun, verify grease flow
18. Mark nut and frame so can verify stays tight over time
19. Open an ice cold Two Hearted Ale and celebrate the acquisition of new skills

[Steven@147]

I'm planning the big DIY Wet Bolt replacement for tomorrow. This is the one bolt of 14 that will not take grease. Its the rearmost spring hanger on the curb side of the rig.

Here is my somewhat anal checklist. Results and pics to follow.

If any of you expert suspension mechanics see any flaws in my approach or have suggestions please reply here. Thanks.

1. Chock Tires on opposite side
2. Jack up via frame just behind the spring hanger just a bit and loosen lug nuts
3. Jack up until both wheels off the ground
4. Put frame on jack stands, 6 ton stand aft of rear spring hanger and six ton stand front of front spring hanger
5. Put additional safety blocking under frame for peace of mind
6. Remove wheels and tires
7. Jack up front axle a bit using bottle jack under U bolt, this so it does not move around
8. Jack up rear axle using floor jack to remove pressure on spring hanger
9. Fit a precisely cut 2 x 8 wooden axle spacer and clamp between axles - more insurance to limit things moving around
10. Mark bolt at 12 o’clock, Hold bolt side with wrench and remove nut
11. Press out bolt - plan to use a u-joint press tool
12. Inspect bolt, see where the grease hole was located, test for grease flow using grease gun on the bolt
13. Inspect bushing and replace if necessary – remove old bushing using socket and hammer, press in new one with a wet bolt sans grease nipple and washer and c-clamp
14. Apply grease manually, Line up holes, Mark bolt for grease hole and reinsert old bolt if it is good or replace with a new one if grease wont flow on the old bolt or if the old bolt is worn. Insert with grease hole at 3 o’clock (hole facing forward) and splines lined up with the old ones as much as possible.
15. Using a socket over the grease nipple, drive new bolt into the spring hanger hole with a hammer until bolt head is flush with hanger
16. Using new nut, torque to 45 ft lb while holding bolt head with wrench
17. Grease with grease gun, verify grease flow
18. Mark nut and frame so can verify stays tight over time
19. Open an ice cold Two Hearted Ale and celebrate the acquisition of new skills

Sounds like you're good to go. You'll be an RV suspension guru in no time and advising the rest of us.

[FlyStar]

Job complete. The wet bolt grease hole was plugged by something quite hard and compacted. The bolt and spring eye hole were dry. No grease at all. But no excessive wear either. There was NO BUSHING and no evidence of a bushing ever having been in the spring eye. This was a big surprise. They eye hole looked good but dry and the bolt was not excessively worn

I cleaned it out the wet bolt grease hole with a drill bit and grease flowed. But I replaced it with a new one anyway. I also pressed in a new bushing into the spring eye which went in easy with a c clamp.

The project went smooth and was easier than I expected. Thank you forum for all the help.

Learnings: I cut the 2x8 to keep the axles separated. It was about 1/8 “ too long so I wedged it in between the axles. This turned out to be a great tool to adjust the fore and aft movement of the spring hole. I could easily adjust the board to move the spring front to back.

Unloading the spring was easy too. Once I took the nut off of the wet bolt I adjusted the floor jack and the wood axle board to put the bolt center in the hole. Once pressed past the splines via the u joint press, the bolt came right out.

Big success!!

Pics to follow.






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[FlyStar]

Up on jack stands



Pressing out wet bolt



Plugged grease hole



No bushing and no evidence that there was ever a bushing



New bushing went in easy with a c clamp

[FlyStar]

Grease is flowing. I put the new wet bolt in with the grease hole at 3 o’clock. Big Success!!