DIY? Wet Bolts and Bushings

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by KyDan

Did you read my post???
The did contact me.
I am keeping mine because I discovered the defect myself and fixed it by grinding the excess mold flash away.
The pawl now fully engages the notches on the rack.
Problem solved.

I did read your post. My pair did not have excessive flash on the racks and fully engaged. The notice was not very clear about the actual fault (lawyers wrote it?). I guessed that there might have been excessive play between pawl and ratchet, or that the pawl was too short. The mechanism was somewhat sloppy. I couldn't actually see the pawl on mine (3-ton model). Maybe they weren't even affected.



In any case, I walked in with mine and the cashier simply pointed to a stack of boxes about six feet from the register and said "Just take a box--no paperwork." I figured that was safer than judging that mine were really okay. I must have been under one vehicle or another 35 times with those stands and my son used them, too.

You will recall that there were three SKUs involved, too; two 3-ton models and one 6-ton model. We may be talking about different SKUs. Mine were 61196.

About a year ago I was chatting with one of the local HFT managers. I guessed that the reason they have so many SKUs for every item is that they buy to the same spec from multiple parties and the separate SKUs are a way to identify different sources. She agreed, then stated that they are moving to a new system where a single SKU will be used but the manufacturer's ID will also be on each product.

[Bronco Carl]

I just went through this with my boat trailer tandem axles. I was an automotive machinist for over 30 years. I did not go with bronze bushings because of the holes in the leaf spring eyes not being round. I could have used bronze bushings in the equalizers but the original plastic bushings were still intact so I stayed with plastic for those.

Due to the boat having been dunked in salt water, I wanted greasable spring bolts to help with corrosion. Your in for a work out pulling the knurled bolt heads into the frame brackets and shackles. Make sure you do not let the bolt heads turn while pulling them in, they will end up loose and able to turn in the brackets and shackles instead of the bushings. Tighten the bolts very tight and make sure the bolt heads are pulled fully against the shackles or frame brackets, then back them off 1/6 to one 1/4 turn to allow for flex. Heavily loaded tandem axles take a beating when turning.

The boat and trailer weigh about 8000# and the old plastic bushings had not worn through, even though the bolts were corroded. Leaf spring eyes are not round or machined for bushings, they are heated red hot and the spring ends wrapped around a mandrel into a circle. For this reason I prefer to use plastic that can flex and spread the load. Bronze bushings used in the trucking industry are bimetal bushings with a heavy steel outer layer and bronze layer on the inside in order to take the punishment of constant turning. Most truck and heavy trailers use steel incased rubber bushings to take the punishment.

If you use bronze bushings for anything, check them with a magnet and if they contain iron don't even use them in a kids tricycle.

[babock]

Originally Posted by Bronco Carl

Tighten the bolts very tight and make sure the bolt heads are pulled fully against the shackles or frame brackets, then back them off 1/6 to one 1/4 turn to allow for flex. Heavily loaded tandem axles take a beating when turning.

The Morryde wet bolt kit has torque specs. I just followed the instructions and used a torque wrench.

[jimmoore13]

Most informative and very helpful comments from all.

I can't thank you enough.

ONE MORE QUESTION:

Someone mentioned that removing the knurled dry bolts from the factory can be difficult. That makes sense.

If I hold a 6 pound sledge against the shackle (between bolt heads) and drive the the bolts out while still attached, will that work?

I'm anticipating that once I back them out a bit (with the nut still on the end and acting as a hammer surface and a "stop" to keep the bolt from flying out of the connection), then I won't be stuck with a little shackle plate in my hand trying to back out the bolt.

I don't have a decent bench vise...just a little clamp on model...so I'm hoping I can loosen up the knurled section of the bolt's grip on the shackle before disassembly. Do you think this will work? Are the bolts long enough to loosen the nut to about half-threaded and then start hammering?

Thanks again for the input. I'm 71, so I don't have a lot of repetitions of sliding under the trailer, sliding back out, and in and out....left in these old bones. A little planning saves a lot of hot-soaking time in the tub.

[babock]

Originally Posted by jimmoore13

Most informative and very helpful comments from all.

I can't thank you enough.

ONE MORE QUESTION:

Someone mentioned that removing the knurled dry bolts from the factory can be difficult. That makes sense.

If I hold a 6 pound sledge against the shackle (between bolt heads) and drive the the bolts out while still attached, will that work?

I'm anticipating that once I back them out a bit (with the nut still on the end and acting as a hammer surface and a "stop" to keep the bolt from flying out of the connection), then I won't be stuck with a little shackle plate in my hand trying to back out the bolt.

I don't have a decent bench vise...just a little clamp on model...so I'm hoping I can loosen up the knurled section of the bolt's grip on the shackle before disassembly. Do you think this will work? Are the bolts long enough to loosen the nut to about half-threaded and then start hammering?

Thanks again for the input. I'm 71, so I don't have a lot of repetitions of sliding under the trailer, sliding back out, and in and out....left in these old bones. A little planning saves a lot of hot-soaking time in the tub.

The one that you really have to worry the most about is when you don't have a shackle. I believe when I did mine, the shackle was removed with both bolts still pressed into the shackle. My trailer only had a few trips on it when I did all of this so it depends on how old the trailer is. Still not a big issue, just use a large punch and drive out the bolt.


The kit comes with new shackles so you don't care if you can't get the bolt out of the old shackle.

[dave961]

The worst part is letting the weight down onto the jacks... and lining up the last bolt.

[Wodstock]

Late to the party. But for the wetbolts has anyone found some sleeve to use to avoid the bolts from being worn out for the upper connection as shown around 9 min 15 seconds in this video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAohVb2MoU8

[dieselguy]

Seldom do your wet bolts egg out the spring hanger holes. There are serrations on the wet bolt head. The bolt head is never meant to turn with a wrench, only the nut. The serrations are there so the wet bolt can be tapped into the spring hanger or shackles and held securely. The opposite end of the wet bolt should be a pretty snug fit in the spring hanger hole. I'm guessing this guy ran across someone who got a big enough wrench to turn the wet bolt head and the serrations made the spring hanger hole bigger which led to the bolt wobbling in the spring hanger itself and causing the issue.

[Wodstock]

Originally Posted by dieselguy

Seldom do your wet bolts egg out the spring hanger holes. There are serrations on the wet bolt head. The bolt head is never meant to turn with a wrench, only the nut. The serrations are there so the wet bolt can be tapped into the spring hanger or shackles and held securely. The opposite end of the wet bolt should be a pretty snug fit in the spring hanger hole. I'm guessing this guy ran across someone who got a big enough wrench to turn the wet bolt head and the serrations made the spring hanger hole bigger which led to the bolt wobbling in the spring hanger itself and causing the issue.

Thanks for the input. (This forum rocks) The issue though is the hanger still moves which leads to wear and tear.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Wodstock

Thanks for the input. (This forum rocks) The issue though is the hanger still moves which leads to wear and tear.

Possibly the original bolt seized in the bushing and rotated in the hanger, enlarging the opening (and making the awful noise). When the wet bolts were installed, the opening was too large to prevent rotation--the serrations were useless.

If it were me, I would have tried a star washer under the head of the new bolt (and maybe the nut, too) and tightened them really tight.

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Possibly the original bolt seized in the bushing and rotated in the hanger, enlarging the opening (and making the awful noise). When the wet bolts were installed, the opening was too large to prevent rotation--the serrations were useless.

If it were me, I would have tried a star washer under the head of the new bolt (and maybe the nut, too) and tightened them really tight.

Take a look at the video, the shackle holds the bolt, since it's got the knurled end, and when the shackle moves, so does the upper bolt. The bolt is wearing against two thin areas on the mount welded to the frame. Ideally, there should be a solid sleeve thru the mount to spread the load over the length of the bolt.