Worn Spring Shackles

The tire thread made think about something. I did a search and did not find the topic discussed so I wanted to give you something to think about.

If you have not modified the suspension on your Wildcat in any way and have more than 10,000 miles you definitely need to inspect your spring shackles and equalizer. You should also be keeping a trip log of all the miles you put on your Wildcat and the maintenance you performed.

I have replaced my spring shackles and equalizer twice. The last time because of this:



You can read about my suspension problems below. Scary stuff.


Cracked spring hanger
Worn spring shackles
Broken spring shackles

Random Photo from the Smoky Mountains

Thanks for the heads up Bobby, I am planning on upgrading my equalizer to the EZ-Flex/Equa-Flex system.

Would you happen to know how many miles you had in between the first and second shackle change and what do you think is causing it?

I look at mine on every trip,,, But I'll be under there with a fine tooth comb this go round....

grover wrote:Would you happen to know how many miles you had in between the first and second shackle change and what do you think is causing it?

The first time was at about 15,000 miles and I caught the problem before anything broke. The second time was at about 55,000 miles and I noticed they were broke after a cross country trip.

The shackles are mild steel with no lubrication. I think the second time may just be the 40,000 miles. I don't think the suspension can handle that amount of use. Before I take any more cross country trips I think I will replace the suspension with something with grease fittings.

Bobby,

I was looking at the pictures in your website. It looked like in your old dodge that you had a 2 speed rear axle, or at least the button mounted to your stick shift. What was the switch for? Did your truck really have a 2 speed rear end? It was cool looking!!!

MaxRock wrote:Bobby,
What was the switch for?

Hi MaxRock,

I had an Jacobs exhaust brake and wanted to have full control over when the brake engaged. So I put a switch on the shifter to engage the brake. I enjoyed that truck more than any vehicle I have ever owned. Cummins power and rattle with a 6 speed. I loved going down a Rocky Mountain slope in 4th gear, let the RPMs get close to red line and then hit the switch. It never failed to make me grin from ear to ear.

Thanks for checking out my site.

Thanks Bobby,

My Equa Flex, including wet kit, was delivered yesterday, and goes on in about a week.

bdaniel wrote:
Hi MaxRock,

I had an Jacobs exhaust brake and wanted to have full control over when the brake engaged. So I put a switch on the shifter to engage the brake. I enjoyed that truck more than any vehicle I have ever owned. Cummins power and rattle with a 6 speed. I loved going down a Rocky Mountain slope in 4th gear, let the RPMs get close to red line and then hit the switch. It never failed to make me grin from ear to ear.

Thanks for checking out my site.

Bobby, we think alike. I do not have the Cummins, but I do love my Duramax and 6 speed manual combo. My truck is a rare bird, GM didn't sell many diesels with 6 speeds, too many people like the allison.

I'm thinking about adding an air compressor on my truck. I have a trumpet at home I would like to mount plus it would be nice to have on-board air for emergencies. I would like to mount the air valve for the horn on my shifter!

How do you like your new truck? Is it equipped with the 6.7? I know it will not have the rattle the 5.9 had!

MaxRock wrote:

How do you like your new truck? Is it equipped with the 6.7? I know it will not have the rattle the 5.9 had!

Hi MaxRock,

I intentionally got the 5.9. I did not want all the new pollution control stuff on the 6.7. I wanted the 6 speed in the 2007 truck but they switched to a new transmission and the gear ratios were screwed up. The engine RPMs at highway speeds would have been too high so I had to go with the automatic transmission. I hate to admit it, but Dodge finally tweaked the auto enough that it works fine now. No overheating, has a Tow mode, locks in 2nd, D and Overdrive. I can use the engine to provide some braking going down hill. Not nearly as much fun as shifting gears and I miss putting the Dodge in 1st gear and going up slope with 20,000 lbs at just idle. I also miss the rattle.



Bobby

Based on what I have read here, I checked my equalizer and shackles, and they look OK. Crawled up under the unit with a flashlight, and everything seems to be fine. (20K miles of towing) Question--what do you suppose puts that kind of stress on these parts to where some fail prematurely and others seem to be fine. I have noticed that after 20K miles of towing, my tires still look fine, with no uneven wear patterns. Could wheel alignment be a factor? Also, I went ahead and ordered the complete equa-flex kit as we are preparing for a long road trip, and I figure it would be money well spent.

ezrider6298 wrote: Could wheel alignment be a factor? Also, I went ahead and ordered the complete equa-flex kit as we are preparing for a long road trip, and I figure it would be money well spent.

Hi,

Wheel alignment is not an issue with my Wildcat. I replaced the tires and wheels years ago with 16 inch rims and load range E LT tires. The tires have about 40,000 miles with no strange wear patterns and very little wear.

But now I have had another problem with broken springs. See the details here:
http://www.bobbystuff.com/RV/04-08-Broken_springs.php

I can't explain why I have had so much trouble with the under carriage on my Wildcat. I have weighed it a couple of times. I have never been over weight. I check the tire pressure before every trip.

However I do use my Wildcat. I keep a travel diary with a mileage log and I have about 61,000 miles on the Wildcat. I simply think the under carriage is not designed for that kind of use. From NC the cat has been to NY for winter sledding, Niagra Falls, Grand Canyon in 2002, Utah area in 2003, Montana in 2004, California in 2007 and many trips to the beach and mountains in NC.

Recent photo from the NC Mountains

That's scarry, Bobby. Have you ever thought about changing over to the Equa-Flex? I think this suspension would lessen the stress on the springs.

I've replaced mine twice. Once by me and once by hired folks, I
prefer the latter. Especially since when I did it I got to crawl
around on crushed rock.

All in all the FW has made 2 1/2 roundtrips on the AlCan, with stops in
Maine for a failure and Florida for the second prefailure
replacement. Seems like during each roundtrip I needed to do it,
not planning to do the other half of the drive. Leaving the unit
up here for simple summer use, only putting about 350-400 miles on it
each year. The first 1/2 roundtrip was when we bought the unit
down in America, December, and brought it back in April after living in
it.

I also should add that if you look at that first photo you'll see where
the shackle started moving around on the bolt, you can see the
differences in the rust. That's your clue you've got a wear
problem. Those bolts/nuts should not be rotating, everything is
supposed to be riding on the teflon inserts.

Bobby,

Sorry to see that kind of damage. I had to air up the tires on mine and did a pretty close inspection of the bolts, equalizer and shackles. They looked like they're in good shape so I'm not gonna worry, but thanks for the heads up on this one.

Looks like the rear shackle on the street side front spring, right? Also the top of the inside link and the bottom of the outside link cracked and broke at the shackle bolts? That's why I reposted your PIX.

Just a thought, but it took a lot of torque to make that happen. That kind of torque can take place when sideways force is put on the running gear by a very sharp backing turn. Not sure if that is your case, but I'm wondering ?????????

If it was the force of a large pothole or other straight moving obstruction, the force would tend to be equalized to either bottom or top, but seemingly not one side and the other, top and bottom. In this case, with the top of one and the bottom of the other the torque would seem to be a shear force or twisting force type of move.

Just my thoughts.

Received the equa/flex kit Friday, and the 'Cat goes to the shop Tuesday for the installation. I too think I prefer having someone else to do this that has the necessary jacks and space to do it. Probably going to be money well spent!

When ours blew out the first time we were parked. Sitting there
watching a DVD and BANG! That was the sound of a leaf spring
hitting the frame. A little while later there was another equally
loud BANG! That was the sound of the other leaf spring hitting
the frame when that T-shaped gizmo (hanger?) decided to shift.
Since we were parked and on the front landing gear and the rear
stabilizers nothing seemed to be wrong, meaning there was no change in
the leveling. On our unit there's a piece of flat steel plate,
the width of the bracket the by the thumb, welded at a 45deg angle on
both sides to the frame, took me quite a while to find someone to
straighten and reweld that.