How to get a wet bolt to take grease

Nuffsaid

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2016
Messages
573
Location
Worland, Wyoming
As a mechanic for many many years I thought I would give a suggestion on how to get a wet bolt to take grease.

1: Remove weight of trailer from suspension, tires don't have to be all the way off the ground, just want to remove most of the weight.

2: Attempt to add grease to zerk fitting. If using a pistol type grease gun, consider getting a long lever style grease gun, they produce much more pressure than a pistol grip. Also consider getting a 90 degree adapter if your tires are in the way. I always install my zerk fittings facing the outsdide of the chassis to make greasing easier and I recommend greasing often as in every trip because it does make a difference in the life of bushings.

3: If still unable to get grease into the fitting, remove the nut from the bolt with the suspension unloaded FULLY. I prefer at this point to remove the tire from this location to make it easier to access the spring bolt. The weight of the trailer needs to be supported by the frame, place blocking or a jack stand under the frame rail behind or in front of the location you are working on. With a jack under the axle, prefferably in between the u bolts if using a bottle type jack, lift the axle until the tire is free spinning. Remove the tire, now lower the jack until all the weight is off of the spring you are working on. You have already removed the nut while the weight of the trailer was on the bolt, this helps keep the bolt from spinning where the splines are on the head of the bolt. If the bolt spins, hold the bolt with the proper sized wrench to keep it from spinning while removing the nut. With a soft faced hammer (plastic, aluminum or brass) or use a block of wood and a hammer, drive the wet bolt until flush with the hanger. Now take a drift or punch and drive the bolt about 1/2 the way out exposing the hole in the bolt. Attach grease gun again and see if grease will flow. Chances are it won't because typically the grease gets hard and forms a blockage. Take a small drill bit around 1/16 and by hand twist the bit into the hole. Attempt to add grease again, usually once the drill bit has been inserted grease will flow. Once the grease flows, wipe it all around the shank of the bolt. Reinsert the bolt and use BLUE loctite on the nut. There is no reason to replace the bolt or the nut if there is no noticable damage to either. This approach has always worked for me in hundreds of instances. Usually the cause of a blocked hole is lack of lubrication and the area gets dry and blocks the hole.

4: In case anyone has any questions about using a imact type grease fitting like Lock and Lube grease buster, I have used one with minimal success. The principal is you fill a small cylinder with penetrating oil, reinstall the piston and then impact the head with a hammer with light blows. In theory the penetrating oil will break up hardened grease and allow grease to flow again. In heavy construction equipment large pins that get greased can have the same issue with not taking grease. In 99% of the time it is because the operator hasn't been keeping up on greasing the machine. Most pins on equipment need to be greased daily if not twice daily, so this should give an idea on trailer pins and bushings. They have no resevoir for grease so once it is used up, the bushing is dry.

Here is a link to the grease buster: https://locknlube.com/products/grea...KfbWQd4EFAKWi3RvGdliDn-taXtjzn_waAkGmEALw_wcB

Another product that works well is the locknlube grease fitting. I have changed over to it for all of my automotive greasing tasks.
 
As a mechanic for many many years I thought I would give a suggestion on how to get a wet bolt to take grease.

1: Remove weight of trailer from suspension, tires don't have to be all the way off the ground, just want to remove most of the weight.

2: Attempt to add grease to zerk fitting. If using a pistol type grease gun, consider getting a long lever style grease gun, they produce much more pressure than a pistol grip. Also consider getting a 90 degree adapter if your tires are in the way. I always install my zerk fittings facing the outsdide of the chassis to make greasing easier and I recommend greasing often as in every trip because it does make a difference in the life of bushings.

3: If still unable to get grease into the fitting, remove the nut from the bolt with the suspension unloaded FULLY. I prefer at this point to remove the tire from this location to make it easier to access the spring bolt. The weight of the trailer needs to be supported by the frame, place blocking or a jack stand under the frame rail behind or in front of the location you are working on. With a jack under the axle, prefferably in between the u bolts if using a bottle type jack, lift the axle until the tire is free spinning. Remove the tire, now lower the jack until all the weight is off of the spring you are working on. You have already removed the nut while the weight of the trailer was on the bolt, this helps keep the bolt from spinning where the splines are on the head of the bolt. If the bolt spins, hold the bolt with the proper sized wrench to keep it from spinning while removing the nut. With a soft faced hammer (plastic, aluminum or brass) or use a block of wood and a hammer, drive the wet bolt until flush with the hanger. Now take a drift or punch and drive the bolt about 1/2 the way out exposing the hole in the bolt. Attach grease gun again and see if grease will flow. Chances are it won't because typically the grease gets hard and forms a blockage. Take a small drill bit around 1/16 and by hand twist the bit into the hole. Attempt to add grease again, usually once the drill bit has been inserted grease will flow. Once the grease flows, wipe it all around the shank of the bolt. Reinsert the bolt and use BLUE loctite on the nut. There is no reason to replace the bolt or the nut if there is no noticable damage to either. This approach has always worked for me in hundreds of instances. Usually the cause of a blocked hole is lack of lubrication and the area gets dry and blocks the hole.

4: In case anyone has any questions about using a imact type grease fitting like Lock and Lube grease buster, I have used one with minimal success. The principal is you fill a small cylinder with penetrating oil, reinstall the piston and then impact the head with a hammer with light blows. In theory the penetrating oil will break up hardened grease and allow grease to flow again. In heavy construction equipment large pins that get greased can have the same issue with not taking grease. In 99% of the time it is because the operator hasn't been keeping up on greasing the machine. Most pins on equipment need to be greased daily if not twice daily, so this should give an idea on trailer pins and bushings. They have no resevoir for grease so once it is used up, the bushing is dry.

Here is a link to the grease buster: https://locknlube.com/products/grea...KfbWQd4EFAKWi3RvGdliDn-taXtjzn_waAkGmEALw_wcB

Another product that works well is the locknlube grease fitting. I have changed over to it for all of my automotive greasing tasks.

Thanks for the insight. I have one stubborn one that I will need to try #3 with. Last time I had a couple I fully removed the wet bolt to clean it our but your method seems much easier and quicker.

Thanks for sharing.

Rob
 
I know of one person that had a set of wet bolts new out of the box. One of the bolts wouldn't take grease. Found the hole from the factory not drilled deep enough. Although I forget if it was the longitudinal or the axial hole. So if all the advice from above doesn't work..maybe the bolt wasn't fully drilled from the factory.
 
I did check all the wet bolts in the kit from Dexter, and one of them didn't allow grease through the hole. Like Scott said, it simply wasn't drilled all the way through. A minute and a drill bit, and it was good to go. Always best to check the bolts before assembly. :)
 
On the flip side, you do not want the bolt to spin at all when loosening the nut. Don't rely on the splines to hold the bolt in place. Make sure that the bolt is securely held in place before you try to loosen the nut. If the bolt turns, you may be facing a hanger replacement - been there.

Also, from personal experience, if the wet bolts take grease TOO easily, better have a look at your bushings - if they are still there.
 
On the flip side, you do not want the bolt to spin at all when loosening the nut. Don't rely on the splines to hold the bolt in place. Make sure that the bolt is securely held in place before you try to loosen the nut. If the bolt turns, you may be facing a hanger replacement - been there.

Also, from personal experience, if the wet bolts take grease TOO easily, better have a look at your bushings - if they are still there.

Yup, I had to replace one that did spin and had to install it from the other side to get it to spline in correctly...
 
I should add one other thing to check as far as 3 and 9 o'clock go. Think of how the spring applies pressure with weight on it. If the bushing is at the rear of a spring, the main load on the bushing will be at the front and bottom of the bushing, so maybe in this location the best place for the hole would be at 9 o'clock, and the opposite on the other end of the spring. But, now that I am thinking about this, maybe I should try chucking up some bolts in the lathe and cut a .010 relief for the grease to flow around the pin. Hmmmm.
 
As a mechanic for many many years I thought I would give a suggestion on how to get a wet bolt to take grease.

1: Remove weight of trailer from suspension, tires don't have to be all the way off the ground, just want to remove most of the weight.

2: Attempt to add grease to zerk fitting. If using a pistol type grease gun, consider getting a long lever style grease gun, they produce much more pressure than a pistol grip. Also consider getting a 90 degree adapter if your tires are in the way. I always install my zerk fittings facing the outsdide of the chassis to make greasing easier and I recommend greasing often as in every trip because it does make a difference in the life of bushings.

3: If still unable to get grease into the fitting, remove the nut from the bolt with the suspension unloaded FULLY. I prefer at this point to remove the tire from this location to make it easier to access the spring bolt. The weight of the trailer needs to be supported by the frame, place blocking or a jack stand under the frame rail behind or in front of the location you are working on. With a jack under the axle, prefferably in between the u bolts if using a bottle type jack, lift the axle until the tire is free spinning. Remove the tire, now lower the jack until all the weight is off of the spring you are working on. You have already removed the nut while the weight of the trailer was on the bolt, this helps keep the bolt from spinning where the splines are on the head of the bolt. If the bolt spins, hold the bolt with the proper sized wrench to keep it from spinning while removing the nut. With a soft faced hammer (plastic, aluminum or brass) or use a block of wood and a hammer, drive the wet bolt until flush with the hanger. Now take a drift or punch and drive the bolt about 1/2 the way out exposing the hole in the bolt. Attach grease gun again and see if grease will flow. Chances are it won't because typically the grease gets hard and forms a blockage. Take a small drill bit around 1/16 and by hand twist the bit into the hole. Attempt to add grease again, usually once the drill bit has been inserted grease will flow. Once the grease flows, wipe it all around the shank of the bolt. Reinsert the bolt and use BLUE loctite on the nut. There is no reason to replace the bolt or the nut if there is no noticable damage to either. This approach has always worked for me in hundreds of instances. Usually the cause of a blocked hole is lack of lubrication and the area gets dry and blocks the hole.

4: In case anyone has any questions about using a imact type grease fitting like Lock and Lube grease buster, I have used one with minimal success. The principal is you fill a small cylinder with penetrating oil, reinstall the piston and then impact the head with a hammer with light blows. In theory the penetrating oil will break up hardened grease and allow grease to flow again. In heavy construction equipment large pins that get greased can have the same issue with not taking grease. In 99% of the time it is because the operator hasn't been keeping up on greasing the machine. Most pins on equipment need to be greased daily if not twice daily, so this should give an idea on trailer pins and bushings. They have no resevoir for grease so once it is used up, the bushing is dry.

Here is a link to the grease buster: https://locknlube.com/products/grea...KfbWQd4EFAKWi3RvGdliDn-taXtjzn_waAkGmEALw_wcB

Another product that works well is the locknlube grease fitting. I have changed over to it for all of my automotive greasing tasks.

The only comment I will add is before even attempting to remove the nut is to have a wrench on the bolt head to prevent it from spinning, not after if it spins. Do not use an impact driver either. Also do not use the nut to pull the splines home as you can strip the threads. I use a ball joint press, but a big C-clamp with a socket to clear the threads and seat the wet bolt that way. You do not want to mess up the splines. If you do, reverse the bolt to have the splines engage in the other hanger face. Second when reinstalling have the greases hole at the 3 or 9 position. That way the hole is not under pressure when the suspension is loaded and will take grease better. Just things I learn when I replaced my suspension. You also can find advice at MorRyde and Dexter through thier videos .

Now a warning - if looking on U-Tube. Several show using an impact wrench on the bolt head and spinning the entire bolt to get the nut off. Best way to mess up a suspension I know. You do not want the wet bolt spinning in place.
 
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It's interesting with the shackles. The MORRyde shackles that I received came with the bolts already pressed in. But, the orientation of the shackles isn't north to south - more like 45 degrees - with weight on wheels so the 3/9 o'clock positions aren't really 3/9 when the shackles are installed. And of course, orientation varies while underway.
 
I think a groove(s) in the bushing material would be better? If possible?
I'm already concerned about the strength of wet bolts to begin with.

I have personally not known of any issues with wet bolts breaking. Years ago I had a lifted truck with dual shocks in the front and I kept shearing the shock bolts when it was cold out (below zero) The bolts would shear at the mounting bracket from the shocks being too stiff, worked just like an Ironworker shear. I ended up going to larger bolts and heavier brackets. None of the bolts ever broke in the middle though. If the bolt was being torqued to yield strength, then I would be concerned about decreasing the major diameter of the bolt, but just taking away enough for grease to flow shouldn't be an issue. I guess I will have to try one and see how well it works in a bench application.
 
I have personally not known of any issues with wet bolts breaking.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon. There are a number of threads on it. The two rear bolts broke on our 310 close to GNP. While there, a Momentum limped in with a broken bolt - had it replaced and had another break 100 miles from home in the Bay area. 15K on ours, less than 10K on the Momentum. Found another 4 folks that had broken bolts on this forum while marooned at GNP. GD mobile tech inspected all of ours and they were all well greased and gouged near end of bushing areas - bushings were missing or broken and springs were shot. Everything but the axles and the CRE3000s were replaced. I already know the replacement bolts are an issue after another 4K miles as the surface grease on the equalizers and shackles are speckled with bright shiny silver flakes. It is primary reason GD is having me bring it to the factory in a couple of months.
 
I was curious if anyone else had an idea like mine and low and behold I found a video of someone doing exactly what I was envisioning. Take a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re9caDIm_8w

When starting with a factory wet bolt, all it would take would be a shallow cut on the lathe to make a relief groove. This would eliminate hard contact keeping grease from flowing. The same thing could probably be done with a cut off wheel in a grinder too, but I like precision.
 
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon. There are a number of threads on it. The two rear bolts broke on our 310 close to GNP. While there, a Momentum limped in with a broken bolt - had it replaced and had another break 100 miles from home in the Bay area. 15K on ours, less than 10K on the Momentum. Found another 4 folks that had broken bolts on this forum while marooned at GNP. GD mobile tech inspected all of ours and they were all well greased and gouged near end of bushing areas - bushings were missing or broken and springs were shot. Everything but the axles and the CRE3000s were replaced. I already know the replacement bolts are an issue after another 4K miles as the surface grease on the equalizers and shackles are speckled with bright shiny silver flakes. It is primary reason GD is having me bring it to the factory in a couple of months.

I am trying to get a visual image on what is described. When a person says the bolts were well greased, but the bushings were shot, we have an issue. There is a reason I recommend greasing every 500 miles or every trip whichever comes first. Once a bushing is worn badly, the result is a hammering effect that will destroy everything in time. Bushings need to be tight and this is why it is so important about spring eyes being round in order to keep a bushing round. If my JB Weld bedding in my new bushings on my springs doesn't hold up, I will have custom springs built. I have a friend in Utah that has a spring builder close to where he lives. If I have a spring built, it will use a press in rubber bushing with a steel insert, the same design as most light truck leaf springs use. As far as bolts breaking, I would guess that the bolt is actually shearing from impact from not being tight. If I was having issues with grade 5 wet bolts shearing, I would find the cause and if necessary upgrade to grade 8 bolts. Bolted connections are actually designed to put parts in tension and the friction between the parts makes a strong joint. When the connection isn't tight the bolts can fail. Example would be a ring gear in a differential. I have encountered ring gears that the bolts became loose and then most of them sheared resulting in catastrophic failure. On failure analysis it appeared that the bolts were not properly torqued resulting in the bolts vibrating loose and then the parts moving and shearing the bolts. On our spring hangers the bolts have a shoulder so that when the nut is tightened the bolt should be locked in tight between the spring perch or shackles. I would be very curious to the condition of the bolt condition on trailers where the spring hangers have broken. I should add that there is a big difference between spring hangers that break away from their parent metal that is left on the frame and hangers that break loose do to poor welds. There is also always a chance of poor metalurgy in a batch of bolts.
 
I have not personally broken a wet bolt..... or a spring hanger either. But it happens.

Yep it happens Do a search on (broken wet bolts). If you do the search you will find numerous threads across various owner forms like here, IRV2 and others.

Thread here https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/showthread.php/45166-Broken-Wet-Bolt Note this is on a Momentum and sheared at the hole

Now a note here. Most of the broken bolts have been on bigger trailers of various brands (14 to 16K or more ) and are on the rear springs. Makes sense with all the weight and probably tight turns where tires slide sideways twisting the spring in the hanger. Whats puzzling is most of the wet bolts that broke shear at the grease outlet hole. Makes you wonder if the heat treatment was done correctly so as to not create a had spot around the grease hole. Who knows?

Now a side note. At the 2023 National GD Rally I had a chance to talk with MorRyde and Dexter. Both had factory reps there. MorRyde was aware of some bolt failures and was "looking into it" Dexter had not had any reported up to that point., but thier bolts are not usually OEM. GD gets thier suspensions installed on the frame from Lippert and they use the same source as MorRyde. Dexter makes theirs (they are black and I believe Grade 8) - could be wrong, while MorRyde imports theirs. They would not say who makes them or what grade there are, but I suspect not grade 8. There are no marking on the Morryde bolt heads I will be ordering Dexter wet bolts the next big service interval. You can put together your own HD shackle kit from Dexter too. I went with MorRyde as they had a kit. I had not done my research at to what others like Dexter had to offer.

Also as a note. You should replace the locking nut if you take them off (single use only) and some say the bolt too as it has been stretched by torquing. Just my 02 from reading instructions from the manufacturers.

Now its too bad some manufacturer does not make steel bushings to fit our RV springs. There are stock steel bushing out there, but either inner and/or outer dimensions don't fit. I am aware of one individual that turned his own steel bushings and a lot of us are awaiting the results on how they worked.

This video has some good tips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARyTxavdsM0 I would have had a second wrench on the bolt face to prevent turning during the removal and reinstall of the new ones. I also make sure my wet bolts take grease before the install. Also he pushed a bushing in using the C clamp directly on the bushing. I recommend putting one of the old bolts in with a washer and use the clamp on the bolt head to push the bushing in place.. It keeps the bushing from deforming. I learned this trick the hard way.

Hope this information helps others.
 
Yep it happens Do a search on (broken wet bolts). If you do the search you will find numerous threads across various owner forms like here, IRV2 and others.

Thread here https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/showthread.php/45166-Broken-Wet-Bolt Note this is on a Momentum and sheared at the hole

Now a note here. Most of the broken bolts have been on bigger trailers of various brands (14 to 16K or more ) and are on the rear springs. Makes sense with all the weight and probably tight turns where tires slide sideways twisting the spring in the hanger. Whats puzzling is most of the wet bolts that broke shear at the grease outlet hole. Makes you wonder if the heat treatment was done correctly so as to not create a had spot around the grease hole. Who knows?

Now a side note. At the 2023 National GD Rally I had a chance to talk with MorRyde and Dexter. Both had factory reps there. MorRyde was aware of some bolt failures and was "looking into it" Dexter had not had any reported up to that point., but thier bolts are not usually OEM. GD gets thier suspensions installed on the frame from Lippert and they use the same source as MorRyde. Dexter makes theirs (they are black and I believe Grade 8) - could be wrong, while MorRyde imports theirs. They would not say who makes them or what grade there are, but I suspect not grade 8. There are no marking on the Morryde bolt heads I will be ordering Dexter wet bolts the next big service interval. You can put together your own HD shackle kit from Dexter too. I went with MorRyde as they had a kit. I had not done my research at to what others like Dexter had to offer.

Also as a note. You should replace the locking nut if you take them off (single use only) and some say the bolt too as it has been stretched by torquing. Just my 02 from reading instructions from the manufacturers.

Now its too bad some manufacturer does not make steel bushings to fit our RV springs. There are stock steel bushing out there, but either inner and/or outer dimensions don't fit. I am aware of one individual that turned his own steel bushings and a lot of us are awaiting the results on how they worked.

This video has some good tips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARyTxavdsM0 I would have had a second wrench on the bolt face to prevent turning during the removal and reinstall of the new ones. I also make sure my wet bolts take grease before the install. Also he pushed a bushing in using the C clamp directly on the bushing. I recommend putting one of the old bolts in with a washer and use the clamp on the bolt head to push the bushing in place.. It keeps the bushing from deforming. I learned this trick the hard way.

Hope this information helps others.

I have a pile of wet bolts that I have gathered over the years. I will go out to my shop and take some photos. If I remember correctly the bolts I have have the markings of a grade 5 bolt. I don't believe I have ever seen one that was a grade 8 in my stash. I believe my Morryde wet bolts have grade 5 markings on them and after 5 years of use, the bolts look perfect and the holes in the shackles are still perfect. I don't think turning would shear a rear spring hanger bolt, unless the hanger was failing and stretched the bolt due to the failure. My guess would be that the bushings in the leaf springs were destroyed allowing a hammering effect to happen every time the trailer went over a bump. Based on what my spring bushings looked like when my 310 was brand new, I would guess that would have something to do with the failure. My 310 with less than 1000 miles from the time it left the factory had numerous bushings that were broken and worn through. I tore into my trailer when I first got it home for several reasons. First, my brakes acted like they didn't work. I got permission from GD to remove all the hubs and inspect the brakes. Two of the 4 were covered in grease. Since I own a repair shop, GD paid me to repair the brakes. While I was making repairs, I ordered the Morryde heavy duty shackle kit and some spare wet bolts. I replaced the non wet bolt on the fixed ends of the springs with wet bolts. Now this was just plain dumb on the part of the factory. The non wet bolts weren't lubed and sitting on a dry bronze bushing. The bushings on the ends of the springs were badly worn just getting the trailer home 400 miles from the dealer. This is when I discovered out of round spring eyes and GD was no help, they offered to send me new bushings. I bought new springs on my dime and they actually had good spring eyes. My trailer is typically right at max weight, right around 15k scaled. All of my spring bolts looked perfect. They have all been apart no less than 3 times and I just use loctite on the nut. These aren't torque to yield bolts, so they aren't required to be replaced. Just like spring U bolts, if the U bolts are made from grade 5 grade bolt steel as most quality U bolts are, they are safe to re-use. A person has to be careful though. When I was looking for new U bolts for my thicker springs and 1 inch lift blocks I went to Amazon and found a set that I thought would work. I read the reviews and found that the U bolts were soft steel with easily damaged threads. I canceled them and went to a spring shop and ordered grade 5 u bolts and nuts.
 
Now a note here. Most of the broken bolts have been on bigger trailers of various brands (14 to 16K or more ) and are on the rear springs. Makes sense with all the weight and probably tight turns where tires slide sideways twisting the spring in the hanger. Whats puzzling is most of the wet bolts that broke shear at the grease outlet hole. Makes you wonder if the heat treatment was done correctly so as to not create a had spot around the grease hole. Who knows?

Now a side note. At the 2023 National GD Rally I had a chance to talk with MorRyde and Dexter. Both had factory reps there. MorRyde was aware of some bolt failures and was "looking into it" Dexter had not had any reported up to that point., but thier bolts are not usually OEM. GD gets thier suspensions installed on the frame from Lippert and they use the same source as MorRyde. Dexter makes theirs (they are black and I believe Grade 8) - could be wrong, while MorRyde imports theirs. They would not say who makes them or what grade there are, but I suspect not grade 8.

The MORRyde wet bolts are grade 5 as were the bolts installed from the factory. We purchased 4 black wet bolts from a local shop - they were also Grade 5.
Here is our saga - RR bolt completely gone and spring floating under bent hanger, LR bolt wedged in hanger shown in this thread - break at the grease hole.
https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/sho...th-spare-wet-bolt-and-bushing?highlight=bolts


The pics of the bushings in the springs would indicate spring rotation in all the hangers and shackles in my mind - both front and rear - which matched the wear marks of all the bolts removed by the factory GD tech - deep gouges at the spring edge where some of the bushings are peened over the outer portion of the eye and where part of the broken bushings are completely missing (and this is how they came out - no pieces on the ground).

Top spring is LF, second one down is RR, third is LR, bottom is RF. Temporary bushings slid in by the GD tech (rears) to allow us to get to a nearby trailer shop and have all the springs replaced. Note that most bushings were either non-existent or actually broken with only parts remaining in the eye. You can also see the wear marks on the outside of the eyes and the inside of the shackles. The eye of the rear spring with the clean bushing is so enlarged that the bushing floated in the eye when we cleaned the grease off and easily fell out - tested at the shop.

Removed springs1.jpg

Removed springs2.jpg
 

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