Never attempt repairs you are uncomfortable performing. You will not be able to enjoy your travel trailer if you are injured performing a repair. PLEASE have a qualified shop do any repairs that pose a risk to your well-being. There is no shame in having others do maintenance on your travel trailer. This is not a “How To” procedure but rather a re-cap of the repair I made to my travel trailer. Please be safe!
Back in late 2017, I had the MORryde CRE3000 suspension installed on our Imagine Travel Trailer. Since the unit was almost new, the stock plastic bushings were not worn out yet. However, I wanted to upgrade the suspension. So, on the way back to Texas from Wisconsin we took a side trip to a highly rated RV repair shop near Grand Design and had the unit installed.
A few years ago, I discovered that although I provided the shop with all the necessary wet bolt hardware, they neglected to install the leaf spring hanger wet bolts. A wet bolt is just a bolt with a grease fitting, that allows grease to be added to lubricate the bolt and bushing. The factory installed hanger bolt is not grease-able and has a plastic bushing. I knew that plastic bushing had to be ruined after this amount of time. The MORryde wet bolt has a copper bushing.
Why any manufacturer would think a plastic bushing was adequate for this application is beyond me.
The suspension is one of the few things I really haven’t played around with on the travel trailer. I have always been a bit paranoid about messing around with the axles and springs. Now even though I say that, I have always realized that there may come a day when I am forced to replace a broken spring. Of course, I have all the necessary tools here at home to do that kind of repair. But really, what are the odds your spring is going to break at home?
While on the road I carry much less in the way of tools. Going forward, I think I’ll add tools to replace springs from now on…just in case.
I should preface the following by stating that a “smart” person would not do this in 100+ degree weather. I am not smart.
Well, I decided to buy the replacement spring hanger wet bolts from MORryde and complete the wet bolt install. I grabbed my 13/16 box open end wrench, and an 11/16th socket and tried to break the hanger nut free using brute strength. There was absolutely no success. I usually have no problem breaking nuts free by hand. My guess is that the manufacturer torqued it down with a impact driver to some ungodly number of foot pounds.
So now I needed to decide if I was in the borrow or buy mode of a heavy-duty impact driver. If I purchased one, I would need to decide if it would be pneumatic or electric.
I have a fairly large compressor here at home, which is great if you have the luxury of doing repairs only at home. I also have a 1/2″ Harbor Freight Pneumatic Impact Driver from about ten years ago. That impact driver only goes to 250 foot-pounds. I think I may have used it once since I purchased it. Well, I tried getting the hanger nut off using it with a small pancake compressor and it wouldn’t budge. However, after I hooked it up to my large compressor (my son Jeff’s suggestion), the nuts came off relatively easily. So that solved one problem.
At this point your probably thinking “Well now he doesn’t need to buy an impact driver”. In the back of my mind, though, I’ve already started thinking about how disadvantaged I would be on the side of the road with a broken spring and only a pneumatic impact driver. Obviously, I am not going to carry the large compressor with me; getting it into the back of the truck would be an absolute nightmare. In addition, the pancake compressor won’t cut it. Plus, I wouldn’t have anywhere to plug in the compressor. I usually take the pancake compressor for filling tires but we have already determined it’s not the appropriate solution. If I’m stranded on the side of the road, I really need to have a heavy duty electric impact driver.
I definitely could picture the following conversation taking place if we broke down on the highway:
Me: “Well, I can’t get the nut off. I knew I should have bought that impact driver.”
Tammy: “Why didn’t you?!!!”
Me: “I didn’t feel like spending the money.”
Tammy: “Well, how much is it going to cost us now to have someone else do it?”
Me: “More than the cost of an impact driver, that’s for sure.”
They are not cheap and I wasn’t about to spend upwards of $400.00 on one.
After a lot of research and watching a hundred videos, I settled on Seesii’s electric Impact driver. It is a brush-less impact wrench with 580 foot-pounds of torque available. It was a low budget driver with extremely good reviews both on Amazon and YouTube. At the price I paid for it, if it lasts only a few years it was well worth it. However, this tool will probably last a long time. It is really impressive.
Just to be clear, I am not sponsored by Seesii; I just think this tool is an incredible deal with great reviews. Ordinarily I purchase name brand equipment. In fact, you will find that I often discourage people from buying cheap tools. However, I am willing to roll the dice on this one and so far, I am not disappointed. I used it to loosen the hanger nuts on the other side of the trailer. They came off unbelievably easy. This may have been the best buy of 2023 for me – time will tell.
Now that the hanger nut was loose, I needed to jack the trailer up via the frame. Once the tires were off the ground, I put a jack under the leaf spring U-Bolt location and raised the axle just enough to reduce pressure on the spring hanger bolt. It takes a little fine tuning to hit that sweet spot where there is no pressure on the bolt. Once this was done it allowed removal of the old bolt.
I then tapped the bolt out of the spring hanger and lowered the spring to remove the factory installed plastic bushing.
Once the old bolt and bushing was out, I lowered the spring in order to remove the plastic bushing. Only half of the plastic bushing was intact. Then I greased up the new brass bushing and slid it into the eye of the spring.
Lastly, it a matter of hoping you can align the spring with the hanger hole without too much trouble. This may take some finesse but you can do it. It would be easier to have a helper push the bolt in while you are lining things up underneath the trailer. Once the bolt is completely through the hanger; tap the serrated end of the bolt (the end that has the grease zerk) into the spring hanger using an old socket so as not to damage the zerk. Then go to the other side of the hanger and tighten down the bolt to 40 foot-pounds.
Lastly, grease the fitting.
The next Morning it was the same procedure on the forward spring hanger.
All in all, this was a learning experience. However, I will say that it has given me the confidence to tackle a spring repair if needed. I really need to add a spare leaf spring to my spare parts…just in case.
Now I need to wait for a cool day when I can pull the trailer out and do the opposite side of the trailer. It sits too close to the wall next to the shop to work comfortably. When I pull it out, I still need to do the bearings on that side as well. Fun stuff!
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