Brass Bushing Replacement?

[kevcarr59]

With all the spring & axle problems, adding $500 to a TT price tag is something I would gladly pay to have decent components underneath the trailer. I'm buying a 2020 2600rb this week, and already will put a MORryde CRE 3000 kit, plus the wet bolt kit/shackle kit on it. With our first 2 trips planned this year, we're gonna put about 8K miles on the rig by November. Seriously skeptical the stock suspension will give us a warm and fuzzy feeling without the upgrade. With GD's buying power, those upgrades would be a very cost effective price-point item that most people would gladly pay for.

On the talk of suspension, what do you do to the fixed-end, outboard axle hangers and bushings?? Don't really want to leave the stock plastic bushings in there with brass in all the other bushings....

Moderator note -- I copied from Product Suggestions channel so forum members have a chance to address question at the end. -Howard

[howson]

With all the spring & axle problems, adding $500 to a TT price tag is something I would gladly pay to have decent components underneath the trailer. I'm buying a 2020 2600rb this week, and already will put a MORryde CRE 3000 kit, plus the wet bolt kit/shackle kit on it. With our first 2 trips planned this year, we're gonna put about 8K miles on the rig by November. Seriously skeptical the stock suspension will give us a warm and fuzzy feeling without the upgrade. With GD's buying power, those upgrades would be a very cost effective price-point item that most people would gladly pay for.

On the talk of suspension, what do you do to the fixed-end, outboard axle hangers and bushings?? Don't really want to leave the stock plastic bushings in there with brass in all the other bushings....

Moderator note -- I copied from Product Suggestions channel so forum members have a chance to address question at the end. -Howard

I copied your post here to the Suspension channel--there are many suspension-smart forum members that will see this and chime in shortly. Welcome to the Technical Forum and congrats on the 2600RB!

[Cate&Rob]

kevcarr59
Welcome to our owners technical forum!

I can't disagree with your concerns about the stock nylon bushings. I did the same thing as you are planning, shortly after we got our Reflection. Many others on this forum have done the same thing. The MORryde heavy duty shackle/bushing/wet bolt kit will come with bronze bushings and wet bolts for the outer hangers. (At least, the kit that I purchased did). There are different MORryde kits for different applications, so shop carefully.

I can't comment on the content that Grand Design chooses for each model, but they are selling to a very price competitive market. What you might be comfortable spending a few hundred dollars for, would be considered unnecessary by many (most?) other customers. As you read through other posts on his forum, you will find that you are amongst like-minded owners!

Rob

[SBARLAG]

Speaking from a retailer perspective, I frequently hear people say, "it would only add a few more dollars" "it wouldn't cost that much more." If any manufacturer added together all of these items, no one would be able to afford a camper. Rob is correct though.

[TucsonJim]

I too changed from the initial nylon bushings on my TT to the MorRyde bushings, shackles, wet bolts and equalizer. it was a about a 2000 mile transport from Indiana to my home in Arizona. When the trailer got here, I immediately went to work on the suspension and found that the nylon bushings were already starting to wear through! Now normally, a worn bushing won't have an impact for many miles. But it will be noisy when there is metal on metal rubbing. So if any owners hear squeaking noises when moving their trailer, it's time to check out the suspension.

If the trailer is built in Indiana, and sold in a neighboring state to be towed to a seasonal site, then the OEM suspension components are just fine and will last many years. But if you're like me and put on over 10K miles per year, it's time to upgrade.

Here are some pictures of my Lippert suspension components upon delivery, and the MorRyde replacements. GDRV switched to Dexter components in 2017, but they are very similar to Lippert.

Jim

[Guest]

Here is a link to the MORryde heavy duty shackle kit that will provide an improvement to your suspension. This is an example where you will want to verify your particular shackle length.

https://www.amazon.com/MORryde-UO12-...21607127&psc=1

Jim

[Cate&Rob]

A comment on the MORryde heavy duty shackle kit. The parts come with the wet bolts pressed into the shackle plates. But, this is done with random orientation of the grease hole. The bushing will be easiest to grease if these holes are at the 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock position. I brought this the the attention of MORryde, but got no response. I pressed mine out, re-oriented the bolts and pressed them back into the shackle plates. I have had no problems greasing any of the bushings.

Rob

[Stilly1155]

I too changed from the initial nylon bushings on my TT to the MorRyde bushings, shackles, wet bolts and equalizer. it was a about a 2000 mile transport from Indiana to my home in Arizona. When the trailer got here, I immediately went to work on the suspension and found that the nylon bushings were already starting to wear through! Now normally, a worn bushing won't have an impact for many miles. But it will be noisy when there is metal on metal rubbing. So if any owners hear squeaking noises when moving their trailer, it's time to check out the suspension.

If the trailer is built in Indiana, and sold in a neighboring state to be towed to a seasonal site, then the OEM suspension components are just fine and will last many years. But if you're like me and put on over 10K miles per year, it's time to upgrade.

Here are some pictures of my Lippert suspension components upon delivery, and the MorRyde replacements. GDRV switched to Dexter components in 2017, but they are very similar to Lippert.

Jim

Hi Jim, Quick question. We just bought a new 2020 337RLS and one of the first things I did was crawl under the trailer and grease the zirks. I thought with the new dexter suspension all would be good and no more nylon to deal with. Am I wrong?

[TucsonJim]

Hi Jim, Quick question. We just bought a new 2020 337RLS and one of the first things I did was crawl under the trailer and grease the zirks. I thought with the new dexter suspension all would be good and no more nylon to deal with. Am I wrong?

Hi Tim. Nope, if you have zerk fittings, you are golden. I think all the fivers have the upgraded suspension on them. It's the travel trailers like mine that still come with components that are iffy.

Jim

[Running from Gnats]

I changed out the suspension on our 2020 Imagine 2600RB within 2 weeks of purchasing it. We went with the Lippert Road Armor equalizer and wet bolts. Having used the MORRyde equalizer and wet bolts in our previous trailer (Jayco), I found the nylon bushings worn out and shackles showing ware after a 2500 mile trip. However, after 6500 miles on the MORRyde rubber mount started to tear. MORRyde said we had done something (misaligned, damage for road) and wouldn't warranty it. We replaced it with the same, but took a hard look at the Road Armor. I feel it is a better design and less likely to be damaged in use. We also found it gives a smooth ride to the trailer, with less shock from the road. A glass left on the counter was still there after a 400+ mile run which included I-80 in western Illinois. I would have expected it to be on the floor if not broken.

If you are looking for an equalizer, check it out. One thing you have to be aware of, measure the height of the equalizer to the ground and make sure you get the right length to maintain the correct height.

[Cate&Rob]

If you go the LCI route, they will encourage dry bolts and their "Never Fail" plastic bushings. I tried these before I went with the MORryde bronze bushings and greased wet bolts. The Never Fail bushing kit that I purchased from LCI (at a Grand Design Rally where they assured me in person that these were the right parts for my suspension) would not fit my LCI equalizers and were very difficult to get into the the spring eyes. Once I got these plastic bushings into the spring eye, they had compressed to the point where the bolts would not go through. I did not have any of these problems with the MORryde bronze bushings.

Rob

[Guest]

I changed out the suspension on our 2020 Imagine 2600RB within 2 weeks of purchasing it. We went with the Lippert Road Armor equalizer and wet bolts. Having used the MORRyde equalizer and wet bolts in our previous trailer (Jayco), I found the nylon bushings worn out and shackles showing ware after a 2500 mile trip. However, after 6500 miles on the MORRyde rubber mount started to tear. MORRyde said we had done something (misaligned, damage for road) and wouldn't warranty it. We replaced it with the same, but took a hard look at the Road Armor. I feel it is a better design and less likely to be damaged in use. We also found it gives a smooth ride to the trailer, with less shock from the road. A glass left on the counter was still there after a 400+ mile run which included I-80 in western Illinois. I would have expected it to be on the floor if not broken.

If you are looking for an equalizer, check it out. One thing you have to be aware of, measure the height of the equalizer to the ground and make sure you get the right length to maintain the correct height.

The Road Armor looks strong where it cushions in both directions of the equalizer motion. Interesting design.

Jim

[Jimmer]

My newly purchased 2021 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS Travel Trailer comes with wetbolts/zerks, the MORyde CLE3000, MORyde shackles. Glad you guys complained enough that this upgraded feature is now standard on the 2021 Reflection travel trailer.

[BobinICT]

The Road Armor looks strong where it cushions in both directions of the equalizer motion. Interesting design.

Jim

That's what I went with along with the MORRyde shackle wet bolt kit and one MORRyde X-Factor between the equalizers. I'm impressed with this setup. Ride went from a 6 to a 10. Very glad I did it. Note: if you do the X-Factor, use the bolts it comes with and not the bolts for just the stock Road Armor bolts on the initial install because, they are longer. Do it once, do it right. Also, I loosely installed the X-Factor and then drove around a little and parked in a level parking lot and crawled underneath with tools and torqued everything down. All zerks took grease.

[TucsonJim]

My newly purchased 2021 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS Travel Trailer comes with wetbolts/zerks, the MORyde CLE3000, MORyde shackles. Glad you guys complained enough that this upgraded feature is now standard on the 2021 Reflection travel trailer.

That is really good news! Thanks for sharing.

Jim