A little history

So, what is running gear? I had heard the term years ago and knew it referred to suspension components of a trailer. But according to Webster’s New College dictionary it is “1) the wheels, axles, frame, etc of a cart or carriage. 2) the parts of a motor vehicle not producing or controlling power, including the frame, suspension, steering, and brakes.” It a reference from the horse and carriage days.

Inspect

If you read RV blogs and spend time in the various forums you know how common running gear repairs are. My goal was to educate myself on how to prevent running gear breakdowns and extend the life of its components. The best way I know of is to perform frequent inspections. Here what I do every time I stop (usually every two or so hours to stretch my legs and break up the driving).

My infrared thermometer, which lives in the side door pocket of the truck, in hand, I walk around the rig. I “shoot” my truck rotor temperatures to see if they are consistent across the axles. Two years ago, I actually found a sticking caliber by doing this, preventing a likely breakdown or inconvenient repair.  I also shoot the tires, and give a quick visual inspection to the area, including the tire surfaces. Nails and screws haven been found three times using this method, since our FT adventure began. Each time, I was able to make repairs or replace without getting a flat.

I found an inexpensive IR thermometer at Amazon for only $10.99. Buy it now by clicking link below.

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If you think the IR thermometer is cool, check out the other 24 items we selected that RVers should have in their rig here.

12 Days of Christmas

Next I shoot the tires and hubs of the trailer. This tells me if my brakes are actuating equally and/or if my wheel bearing are overheating. Readings outside of “normal” or dramatically different from another tire/hub are an indication of an issue that needs further investigation. Next I give a quick look at the tire surfaces. I inspect the shock mounts, leaf springs, equalizers, shackles, and all attaching hardware. This may sound like a lot, but the reality is that it only takes a few minutes.

It had been a little over a year and 10,718 miles since I had done a full running gear inspection. Our 5th wheel now has 31,870 miles on it.

I always have a set of grease seals and grease with me. This prevents scrambling for parts when I get enough time, good weather, and a place that doesn’t mind me working on my rig. This can be a challenge at times when we are busy or moving every few days. While working at Amazon was a good time and place for this maintenance. We had 10 weeks to fit it in. It might sound like a lot of time, but I struggled a bit to find a good window. Looking back, we were pretty busy working 40 to 50 a week, long with a pretty full social calendar.  We visited 5 distilleries, went to the movies, saw a play, toured downtown Bardstown, organized and hosted an RVillage gathering, dined out 26 times (OK, this is very high for us, 10 of them were at the College canteen and the average cost was under $10/meal), and many happy hours visiting with our friends.

Finally a window of warmer, weather and a few hours became available. For a step by step guide for how to repack bearing and inspect brakes check out our post about it here.

Repack wheel bearings and shackle upgrade

When I perform my annual maintenance I use a hammer and strike the bolts to look for any movement. Movement indicates wear and a closer look as to why. This is how I was able to determine how my shackles and bolts were worn out 1 1/2 years ago. This time when I was striking various bolts I noticed a little movement. It also felt different like there was some give or cushioning. Here is what I saw.

This is the rear leaf spring attachment bracket on the door side. It felt “funny” when I was checking that bolt for wear.

If you don’t recognize this bolt it’s because it is part of the Lippert correct track alignment system. The octagon shaped washer is captured by the hanger bracket. The washer is also fixed to the bolt. By removing the washer/bolt assembly and putting it back in a different orientation you can change the spacing in 1/4″ increments to properly align the suspension.

OK, back to the bracket. Here is a close up of the hanger.

If you zoom in you can see where the weld that attaches the hanger failed. The hanger is only being held in place by the weld on the back side of the hanger. Not sure how long it was broken but the rust in the gap told me it was probably not a recent event. I now have an additional item to inspect at every stop. It is fortunate that I found it before the back weld failed due to the additional stresses from being held by a single weld. I am also fortunate to have had some time to deal with it before we left Amazon.

Getting the fix

A quick internet search and discussions with fellow workampers revealed two welding company options. One never called me back but Green River Welding did and they had a mobile welder. I was happy I wouldn’t have to break camp and bring it to them, even though they were only a couple miles down the road. Also in their favor was the fact they they made custom trailers and had 3 full-time fabricators. I felt good about their expertise.

A few days later he came by and re-welded the hanger.

I raised up the rig using the 6 hydraulic jacks to give him more room to maneuver. I was going to remove the tire to give him even more room , but that was unnecessary. He had plenty of room and proceeded to work. In a matter of minutes the job was finished. He charged $100 for the repair. I thought it was fair given the fact he came to me.

Here is a close up of the weld.

He had the current up pretty high on the welder to get good penetration. He hesitated slightly causing a minor melting of the hanger/beam area when he started the bead but smoothed our nicely for the balance of the weld. A much better job than I could have done! I know enough about welding to know I should get someone who knows what they’re doing! I will clean up the area with a wire wheel and paint it to give it a cleaner look and make visual inspections easier. With a nice even coat of paint on it I will be able to see it the weld is separating.

If your curious what the small rectangular metal tabs welded to the I-beam frame above the hanger is read on. That small piece of metal was Lipperts answer to problems they were having with cracked I-Beams over the leaf spring hangers.

When you park a 5th wheel and have your truck and trailer at an angle greater than 30 or so degrees, you probably notice the axles twisting and the wheels bent in opposite directions. This puts incredible stress on your tire sidewalls and your frame rails. If the I-Beam is allowed to twist to much and to often (especially at very steep angles) it can weaken the metal to the point where it develops a crack. Think of when you bend a paper clip back and forth until it breaks. Here a picture of a cracked frame.

This is from my friend Jim’s (of explorvistas) rig. You can read about his cracked frame repair here.

Cracked frame repair

I asked the welder why he thought the weld broke. He said judging by the way it failed he believed the weld was not as deep as it should have been. He looked at the others and thought they looked OK. I will definitely keep a close eye on all of them. Well the good news it that the rest of the inspections were all good. Wheel bearings are holding up well with very little scorching. The grease is doing its job. You can tell the grease needed to be changed because it turns black and loses some of its viscosity.

The brakes are a little under 50% so I have some time to plan for that.

Well that’s it for now. Safe travels everyone!

Final Thoughts

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