Suspension Woes

[Brewhedd]

It's easier for me to make a new post than to edit so here goes...

In my last post I said that it starts with the individual worker. That might be a little misleading. What I should have said is that a good product and pride in the work is the responsibility of EVERY worker.

Unfortunately caring went out the window on both sides of the aisle. Management is ultimately responsible and as a assembly employee you represent a dollar amount that corporate would rather not pay.

[Wicked ace]

Unfortunately caring went out the window on both sides of the aisle. Management is ultimately responsible and as a assembly employee you represent a dollar amount that corporate would rather not pay.

The whole structure is wrong. Management is ultimately responsible and should build a company culture around a business model that turns out a product at a reasonable price that people are willing to pay. it seems anything coming out of Indiana has the same business model culture, more or less to some degree.
It's really silly that manufacturers market their product at an inflated MSRP that are discounted regularly by at least 30%. So where does the actual cost per unit stand? 50% of msrp maybe? If you give the manufacturer a 30% profit and the dealer 15% profit both come out ahead. Set a fixed price with a quality product that people want and you have a whole better way to do things and it takes the shadiness out of the dealer experience. How often have you come out of a dealer with your skin crawling?
RV dealers also need to look at the auto dealer business model of using service and parts as the bread and butter. A dependable service center with good parts stock and availability will always have high traffic.

[Roll With The Changes]

FYI, It's Dexter as well.

Good point. And I haven't confirmed, but I heard a rumor that Dexter and Lippert are now the same company. Don't know who bought who, but does it matter?

[JL06332]

GD and Lippert do not monitor this forum anymore. Best to email your thoughts directly to them, or give then a call. I also found my wet bolts dry. I also learned all grease guns are not the same. I too had issue greasing until I got a good 12,000 psi gun. Greasing is much easier now. If you cant get grease in, spin the bolt 1/4 turn and try again.

Powerscol, which grease gun do you use? All the ones I look at are 6-7000 psi. Thanks in advance.

[Txfivver]

Mine had not been lubed yet in 3000 miles of towing and the oil in the Onan was a year old. While at KOA last week I see this guy pull in. He was servicing and older DP so I talked to him about mine. He changed the generator oil and filter AND lubed all 10 grease fittings on My Solitude with an air compressor powered grease gun for $ 75 bucks. Score! He said all 10 fittings took grease and he saw the old grease push out. If anyone's in south Texas and needs this kind of work done while traveling he owns the business and is super dedicated to doing it right.

[Roll With The Changes]

Mine had not been lubed yet in 3000 miles of towing and the oil in the Onan was a year old. While at KOA last week I see this guy pull in. He was servicing and older DP so I talked to him about mine. He changed the generator oil and filter AND lubed all 10 grease fittings on My Solitude with an air compressor powered grease gun for $ 75 bucks. Score! He said all 10 fittings took grease and he saw the old grease push out. If anyone's in south Texas and needs this kind of work done while traveling he owns the business and is super dedicated to doing it right.

Nice to be reminded that there are still good businesses out there.

[Roll With The Changes]

Update:

This got long but please read to the end.

Most of the Dexter shackle and bolt kit went together nicely. The plastic bushings were just about gone, and another couple thousand miles I would have been replacing springs too. The Dexter equalizers I put in seem to be heavier than the stock Lippert ones and have stiffer rubber for the cushion.

I say it mostly went well because the single bolts for the frame end of the springs were too short. My rig has the Lippert alignment plates on slotted hangers so the bolt needs to be longer than the rest. I ordered them from etrailer (awesome people to work with) and it won't really be a big deal, but it explains a lot...

I noticed early on that from Lippert the shackles and equalizer pivot were wet bolts but the frame end of the springs were not. I didn't think much of it since nothing had grease in it anyway, but now I see why... And why they used plastic bushings with wet bolts. It was inconvenient to use a different length bolt on one end of the spring (which will need shimming BTW) and those need plastic bushings cuz no grease.

I bring all of this up because I noticed that @Txfivver got ten bolts greased. If all the bolts are wet bolts on the Equaflex (?) setup there should be 14 grease points.

So, everyone please beware. You may have wet bolts, but maybe not all of them. (Sorry).

[powerscol]

Powerscol, which grease gun do you use? All the ones I look at are 6-7000 psi. Thanks in advance.

Lack&Lube has a few good ones. Mine was passed down from my Father. It has a very long handle and is a pain to used as it is unbalanced (two handed operation). I think he got it from Snap-on but not sure.

[Txfivver]

This is true Roll with the changes, the bushing on one end of each leaf spring does not have a zerk fitting, I questioned this with the guy that did the greasing, he thought it was strange too. Oh well, hopefully by next summer it will all be gone and the MoRryde IS will be under there. That's item # 2 on my bucket list for the trailer, item# 1 (residential fridge) goes in next week.

[Saldog]

Very well said!