U-Bolt Spec. Headaches!!!

[fishmaine]

Hi Folks.....

I have a 2004 Newmar Scottsdale gasser (8.1) on a very short 2003 Workhorse chassis (30.5 feet long).

I am in the process of installing a rear sway bar and need longer "leaf spring to axle" u-bolts.

I need longer u-bolts because the "to be installed" metal plate (below the axle that the sway bar attaches to) is 1/2 inch thick, and when the additional thickness is added below the axle (above my current u-bolt nuts), my current u-bolts aren't long enough to accommodate the additional thickness of the plate. I need 16 inch long u-bolts and currently have approx. 15 inch long u-bolts.

What I am looking for is the workhorse original equipment specifications for the u-bolts on my chassis. I know that the rod is 5/8" (screwed part), the bend is "semi-round", and I know that I want a leg length of 16" or slightly longer. But I still need to know:

1) the precise inside width of the u-bolt. It measures a little over 3 1/8 inches with my crude tape measure laying under the rig and measuring, but am wondering if it was originally less than that (and they've stretched a bit).

2) the grade of the steel, were they grade 5 or grade 8?

3) are these still available off-the-shelf anywhere...if so where??????

Any help on this would be appreciated!

[edgray]

Your best bet for those kind of details is to call Jon Brazel or Alan Sanders at ultrarvproducts.com. They are experts on WCC

[MoCoTom]

We have a local truck spring shop that will make U-bolts to your spec. Maybe check to see if there is a truck spring shop within a reasonable distance of you that could possibly match or make what you need. If so I would remove one of your original U-bolts to take along so they can match the over axle bend radius. Hope you have some luck with your search.
Tom

[pushtrk99]

Do you mean track bar instead of sway bar-either way Joliet Springs in Ill have or make them but they would need a good measurement-Can you post a Picture of what you are trying to accomplish, maybe a pic will help us help you

[fishmaine]

I currently have trac bars on the front and back...and now want to add a sway bar on the rear to start with....and possibly a sway bar (or 2.5 inch stabilizer shaft) on front.

Also I currently have the Roadmaster steering stabilizer and may want to upgrade to the larger, beefier Safe T Plus steering stabilizer.

See photos of area needing larger u-bolts. Probably have to go with the Hellwig sway bar (mounts to the rear of the axle) as the Roadmaster sway bar (which I would prefer) will hit the evap. canisters about 7-10 inches ahead of the rear axle (on driver's side see separate photo). I could move the evap. (vapor) canisters to do the install but that would probably be quite hard. Also been told the Roadmaster sway bar I want to install (1 3/4 inch diameter) will not work for me because my rig is less than 33 feet (vapor canisters the problem?). There is a smaller RM sway bar option available with (1 1/2 inch diameter) but I would prefer to install the Hellwig in that case which has a 1 3/4 inch diameter.

I am running into quite a few problems as you can see, but will continue to search out something that will work. Obtaining longer u-bolts is a pain but don't see many other good options at this point.

This problem with this install appears to be unique to my very, very, short class A (only 30.5 foot). Guessing problems are considerably less with normal length motorhomes.

Thanks for your thoughts.

PS - If someone can advise me how to rotate downloaded photos to the correct position I would appreciate it.

[Ultra RV Products]

The Roadmaster 1259-109 comes with longer u-bolts as part of their kit so they can be purchased separately. Call Roadmaster and reference #15 in the parts list

[Full.Monte]

Originally Posted by fishmaine

I currently have trac bars on the front and back...and now want to add a sway bar on the rear to start with....and possibly a sway bar (or 2.5 inch stabilizer shaft) on front.

Also I currently have the Roadmaster steering stabilizer and may want to upgrade to the larger, beefier Safe T Plus steering stabilizer.

See photos of area needing larger u-bolts. Probably have to go with the Hellwig sway bar (mounts to the rear of the axle) as the Roadmaster sway bar (which I would prefer) will hit the evap. canisters about 7-10 inches ahead of the rear axle (on driver's side see separate photo). I could move the evap. (vapor) canisters to do the install but that would probably be quite hard. Also been told the Roadmaster sway bar I want to install (1 3/4 inch diameter) will not work for me because my rig is less than 33 feet (vapor canisters the problem?). There is a smaller RM sway bar option available with (1 1/2 inch diameter) but I would prefer to install the Hellwig in that case which has a 1 3/4 inch diameter.

I am running into quite a few problems as you can see, but will continue to search out something that will work. Obtaining longer u-bolts is a pain but don't see many other good options at this point.

This problem with this install appears to be unique to my very, very, short class A (only 30.5 foot). Guessing problems are considerably less with normal length motorhomes.

Thanks for your thoughts.

PS - If someone can advise me how to rotate downloaded photos to the correct position I would appreciate it.

Hi! I don't think any sway problems you are having are related to the length of your coach. Mine is 3 feet shorter than yours and, while I have front and rear sway bars and a steering stabilizer, I have no sway problems. Good luck figuring it out.

[CamJam1]

Just installed a Hellwig sway bar on my 34' W22. Had a shop put the plates on the u-bolts for me (since I didn't have tools big enough for the job) and I did the rest. Installation was straight forward and the u-bolts must have been long enough as they didn't charge me for new ones. I do know the rear lower shock mount changed between 2003/04, so maybe Workhorse made the u-bolt longer at that time?

As for sway issues, i think this is common on W series. I have front and rear trac bars, rear anti-sway bar and front Sumo springs and the moho finally drives the way I think it should.

My previous P32 26 foot had some of the same issues with passing trucks, but somehow the tail-wagging-the-dog effect was more pronounced (i.e. scarier) on the W22 before I did the upgrades. Trac bars fixed most of that.

[fishmaine]

Hi CamJam1....I saw your earlier post (thanks much for including it) that shows the integrated shock mount (that you have...have attached photo of yours below) v.s. the non-integrated (a separate rear axle shock casting plate...see photo above) shock mount that I have. As I am unable to use the Roadmaster sway bar (per their mfger rep because the hardware drop links are too short), I am wanting to put in the Hellwig. But Hellwig does not include the longer u-bolts in it's installation package which requires the customer to go out and buy their own u-bolts which turns out to be quite technical. The diameter of u-bolt rod, the length, and bend type is no problem, but the inside width of the u-bolt and the grade of steel (grade 5 or 8) is. These longer u-bolts are really something Hellwig should provide in their package, or at least they should provide the proper specifications at a minimum if you are going to buy their product! Roadmaster does make longer u-bolts for the workhorse chassis that can be bought independently (which you might actually use in this application) but they say that their rod dimensions are 3/4" v.s. 5/8" (mine are 5/8") and I don't want to put different width u-bolts rods on the same axle without someone telling me that this is a safe alternative. Thanks for your input and will let you know how it all turns out!

[fishmaine]

Here is an extra photo of my shock set-up (has separate mounting plate) which clearly shows my separate shock bracket v.s. your mounting plate with integrated shock bracket, shown in the photo in the above post......you can see I need longer u-bolts on the back side of the axle plate but not the front side...to accommodate the thicker u-bolt mounting plates on the back side (mounting plate + shock plate).

[Dougsee3]

I installed the 7237 sway bar 5 or 6 years ago. the Hellwig web site was somewhat a little better back then, mentioning the two differant shock mounts. They did not for some reason mention that i needed to modify my exhaust at the time. (4" pipe up over the rear end interfering with Hellwig cross member)

The 7219 was for the two piece shock mount that you have. They show in the insructions it all bolted up with may be no threads showing beyond the nuts but I think the plates are only 3/8 or maybe 5/16" thick.

At the time the install Hellwig looked easier than the Roadmaster and it was a lot cheaper. I see the price like everything these days has gone way up.

I really like the sway bar for the way it handles and it was a worth
while upgrade.

And in the install insructions for the 7219 there must be just enough U bolt threads to hold it all together with out using or needing longer U bolts. it looks as there are washers that will not be needed between the shock mount and factory plate as well.

Ordered mine on a sale or a discount from Summit Racing

[CamJam1]

Perhaps I'm stating the obvious here, but the exhaust pipe interference isn't a problem if the pipe outlets are in FRONT of the rear wheels. That's how my Dolphin is.

[fishmaine]

Hi CamJam.....the exhaust piping is not an issue with my installation as the exhaust does exit ahead of the rear axle (like yours does) and the Hellwig sway bar is mounted on the back of the axle. I do have the evaporation canisters mounted on the front side of the rear axle which would give me problems should I want to install the Roadmaster sway bar which mounts to the front of the axle. But, as I am planning to mount the Hellwig to the rear of the axle the only issue I am now really facing is the need for longer u-bolts....as I only have about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of thread left to install the mounting plates which reportedly are about 1/2 inch thick. Thanks for your thoughts......apparently Dougsee3 ran into the exhaust problem with his installation.

[Dougsee3]

Exhaust is only a issue if it goes up and over the rear end and exits behind the rear wheels. In the year after I installed they mentioned this on the web site. I see there are no warnings now they must have fixed it?

I saved the old PDF files and the 7219 design has changed somewhat the install looks easier now and has that 3" strap crossmember like piece like the 7237.

It seems like Hellwig is on top of there designs and have done modifications to improve the product.

I do understand it is hard, not to have exposed threads coming though a nut. But the extra thread does not hold anything.

The ubolts are are holding the rear end to the springs not holding the whole weight of the motorhome, unlike cars that the rear end is above the springs.
You do not want to jack motorhome to far as the wheels must stay on the ground with some weight on them. The ubolt can be removed and taken for a sample at any time even after you have done the install.

I would kind of like to trust Hellwig that there is enough thread to hold it together. Rather than the hassle to to find and pay for ubolts that are not really necessary.

If you have access to a spring shop they certaily can make or get you longer ubolts. I would be almost certain that the ubolts are not special one off Workhorse items.

You can see in the picture that there is little to no threads on the shock side. This is the same as the old 7219 pics with what seems as no thread protruding from nuts.
https://www.hellwigproducts.com/wp-c.../135007219.pdf

The 7219 and 7237 are different in that the ubolt plate mounts below the factory plate on one and sandwiched on the other.

My Motorhome is surrounded by a foot of snow right now i will be headed south after Xmas and can measure my plate thickness then if that would help.