So last August 2 rear axle to leaf sring U bolts were discovered broken, one on each side. Discovery happened because I bumped a curb and the rear axle slid back and hit the frame in the wheel well. In Chadron State Park, Nebraska.
I scraped to a stop in the stable parking lot. Lots of phone calls later, and the next morning a real nice guy from Hill's Tire in Chadron stopped out with the farm service truck. While the kids went swimming and horse riding and activity doing (Nebraska State Parks are really amazing), we laid under the RV, jacked up the frame, and re-aligned everything. It appeared that the two U bolts had been broken for some time. They were rusty where they had broken. It also looked like the rear axle had been mis-aligned because of the break for some time.
New U bolts were not available locally, but were available in Rapid City, SD, our next stop. Called my Dad the mechanical engineer and he suggested chains and bolts to replace the broken ones to get us up there. My man from Hills agreed this was a good idea so off to the farm store we went. Where I found RV antifreeze on sale for a buck a gallon!
Back to the RV and we put it all together. I comforted myself in the fact that even without the chains, after re-alignment it was exactly how I had driven it for probably 5 thousand miles. The chains were a added bonus.
Big hint here folks, get under the RV and do a roll around on a creeper when you return from trips. (If you do it before a trip, you won't have time to fix anything!)
While under there diagnosing, I found the black water tank was half unbolted, and a few other things that really needed attention.
So we went to Rapid and got the parts and enjoyed camping at the Hart Ranch while there. The chains held and didn't move, so I opted to leave them on till we got back to MN. Then there were big floods in MN and various other disasters, so I didn't get a spot cleared in the shed and start working on the RV till after Christmas. Then I hurt my back which put me another week behind.
So for the last several days I've been fighting with jacking the RV up, removing the chains, re-aligning the axle (which let loose when I jacked it up and removed the chains), and putting it all back together. I've been on a parts search for the rubber bushing for the sway bar, and for the top plate on the leaf spring that keeps the u-bolts properly aligned on the top of the spring. Found the bushing reasonably priced locally, but nobody including junkyards has the metal plate. So today's project is to go out and make one. Still turning over design ideas in my head.
Also found the front tire had become VERY worn apparently from the mis-alignment, but the outside of it looked like new, so never noticed it until crawling underneath up there. So that started a hunt for a used 19.5 tire. Found one that had been a spare for an RV on a rim for 75 bucks and that included balencing. Local junkyard has four re-treads that are brand new jobs. Guy sold it to them after the wife got the RV in the divorce. They have the receipts. Original cost for the re-treads were 146 bucks. They will sell me them for 100 each. Still thinking about whether to stock up on those since apparently good used ones are hard to find. New are about 250 before mounting and balancing!
When this part of the job gets done I have to pull the power steering pully. one of the bolts holding the pump to the bracket went awol. I can hardly wait for that part of the job.
And there's no heat in the shed, so it's 14 degrees outside. And that's going to seem warm in the next few days.
Wish me luck.
I scraped to a stop in the stable parking lot. Lots of phone calls later, and the next morning a real nice guy from Hill's Tire in Chadron stopped out with the farm service truck. While the kids went swimming and horse riding and activity doing (Nebraska State Parks are really amazing), we laid under the RV, jacked up the frame, and re-aligned everything. It appeared that the two U bolts had been broken for some time. They were rusty where they had broken. It also looked like the rear axle had been mis-aligned because of the break for some time.
New U bolts were not available locally, but were available in Rapid City, SD, our next stop. Called my Dad the mechanical engineer and he suggested chains and bolts to replace the broken ones to get us up there. My man from Hills agreed this was a good idea so off to the farm store we went. Where I found RV antifreeze on sale for a buck a gallon!
Back to the RV and we put it all together. I comforted myself in the fact that even without the chains, after re-alignment it was exactly how I had driven it for probably 5 thousand miles. The chains were a added bonus.
Big hint here folks, get under the RV and do a roll around on a creeper when you return from trips. (If you do it before a trip, you won't have time to fix anything!)
While under there diagnosing, I found the black water tank was half unbolted, and a few other things that really needed attention.
So we went to Rapid and got the parts and enjoyed camping at the Hart Ranch while there. The chains held and didn't move, so I opted to leave them on till we got back to MN. Then there were big floods in MN and various other disasters, so I didn't get a spot cleared in the shed and start working on the RV till after Christmas. Then I hurt my back which put me another week behind.
So for the last several days I've been fighting with jacking the RV up, removing the chains, re-aligning the axle (which let loose when I jacked it up and removed the chains), and putting it all back together. I've been on a parts search for the rubber bushing for the sway bar, and for the top plate on the leaf spring that keeps the u-bolts properly aligned on the top of the spring. Found the bushing reasonably priced locally, but nobody including junkyards has the metal plate. So today's project is to go out and make one. Still turning over design ideas in my head.
Also found the front tire had become VERY worn apparently from the mis-alignment, but the outside of it looked like new, so never noticed it until crawling underneath up there. So that started a hunt for a used 19.5 tire. Found one that had been a spare for an RV on a rim for 75 bucks and that included balencing. Local junkyard has four re-treads that are brand new jobs. Guy sold it to them after the wife got the RV in the divorce. They have the receipts. Original cost for the re-treads were 146 bucks. They will sell me them for 100 each. Still thinking about whether to stock up on those since apparently good used ones are hard to find. New are about 250 before mounting and balancing!
When this part of the job gets done I have to pull the power steering pully. one of the bolts holding the pump to the bracket went awol. I can hardly wait for that part of the job.
And there's no heat in the shed, so it's 14 degrees outside. And that's going to seem warm in the next few days.
Wish me luck.
the weekend before we leave I am finnishing up on the repairs from last year or the latest upgrades. Got a few planed for this year also just waiting for a little warm weather and to get some of my must doos out of the way.
