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SGCamper · 09-20-2023, 10:31 AM

Good morning. I thought I'd stick my neck out and share what I learned about the shocks on my 2018 Outdoor RV 24RKS. My shocks were yellow and didn't seem to show any brand/model info. I reached out to Outdoor RV via email. Outdoor RV responded to my email and told me if they were yellow, they were Monroe Shocks - Part Number 555001. I bought mine online at AutoPartsKart. Researching, I found Monroe 555001 shocks are: 11.875" extended, 7.875" compressed, a stroke of 4" and an S4 mount type. The Monroe shocks I purchased were black but the same part number. I asked Outdoor RV about KYB Shocks (Part #KG5514) and was told these would not fit on my RV. (KYB KG5514: 13.86" extended, 8.74" compressed, a stroke of 5.12" and an S1 mount type). Maybe the KYB would have worked too but I decided to go with Outdoor RV's recommendation.

I jacked up the trailer one hub at a time and removed the tire. Taking the old shocks off was more of a challenge than I thought it would be due to the rusting caused by road salts. The best approach I found was to use a small pair of vice grips holding the shock adjacent to the inner bushing and a 9/16" wrench. A large pair of vice grips was too wide. Out of the eight nuts removed (4 shocks total), four literally sheared off.

I purchased polyurethane bushings from Summit Racing (Part # ENS-9-8101G) and installed them instead of the bushings that came from Monroe. These polyurethane bushings come in red or black, I chose black. As a side note, the bushings that came off of my trailer were varied in their condition. Some were very deteriorated, cracked and falling apart. Others looked nearly new. I bought this trailer used in 2020 and can't imagine the bushings had been replaced from what was stock. No explanation, just an observation. I replaced them all to start a baseline.

While I had the tire off, I removed the hub and repacked my wheel bearings and installed a new seal. The bearings were in good shape, the seal I replaced was Part # 010-036-00. O'Reilly's Auto Parts had a Masterpro Bearing Seal Part 442109 that cross referenced. The details for the seal are:
12" x 2" Hub, 2.25 I.D, 3.376 OD (after 1998). The axles on this trailer are Dexter D-52, 6-lug, with a 5,200# capacity.

Embarrassingly, when taking one of the tires off, one of the lug nuts was too tight for me or my friend to remove. I actually had to take the trailer to a tire shop to have it taken off. They too had trouble getting it off and luckily they didn't twist the lug off. I don't know if they over torqued it the last time I had them rotate the tires or if the road salts had it boogered up. Also, I'm glad I wasn't on a roadside somewhere with a flat and unable to take the tire off. In any case, when I reinstalled the tires, I torqued the lugs to 110 ft/#.

Thank you to the forum members who posted information about this subject in other posts, it helped me performing this task. I'm sharing this experience with the hope it will help some other DIYer down the line.

ttavasc · 09-20-2023, 02:03 PM

That is interesting. My '19 23DBS had the black Monroe shocks on it and I did replace them with the KYB KG5514 and the red polyurethane bushings. I have not seen any evidence of any issues with the KYB's and it does ride better than with the Monroe's.

Cumminsfan · 09-21-2023, 09:01 AM

Replaced my worn Monroes on my 19 25RDS with KYB's about 2800-3000 miles ago. Looked under there recently and they look fine. The thing is if you look at the angle of the shock in relation to the spring travel it seems to me that there's not much travel involved when running down the road. Unlike a car or truck where shocks are close to vertical or vertical and need much more travel.

Promo714 · 09-21-2023, 08:22 PM

How do you know they're "worn?"

SGCamper · 09-21-2023, 10:38 PM

One of my shocks had a lot of grease on it, more so than the others. A few of the bushings were severely cracked and missing a few pieces. Like I said in my post, the other bushings looked great. I decided to replace all four shocks and all eight bushings.

Nwtravler · 09-22-2023, 06:24 AM

Great write up, thanks for taking the time to share.

Cumminsfan · 09-22-2023, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cumminsfan

Replaced my worn Monroes on my 19 25RDS with KYB's about 2800-3000 miles ago. Looked under there recently and they look fine. The thing is if you look at the angle of the shock in relation to the spring travel it seems to me that there's not much travel involved when running down the road. Unlike a car or truck where shocks are close to vertical or vertical and need much more travel.

I actually didn't know they were worn out when I replaced them. I was putting a new rear axle on along with new brake plates and a bearing regrease so I figured while I was that deep in I may as well replace the cheap Monroes.
A couple of the shocks barely rebounded after compressing them by hand.

I immediately noticed a big difference in the TT's ride after adding the KYB's. It's much more solid when going over bumps/dips. I have a section of road I always go over when coming and going from the house and the TT had some bounce prior to the KYB's. Now it's barely noticeable.

Cumminsfan · 09-22-2023, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Promo714

How do you know they're "worn?"

I actually didn't know they were worn out when I replaced them. I was putting a new rear axle on along with new brake plates and a bearing regrease so I figured while I was that deep in I may as well replace the cheap Monroes.
A couple of the shocks barely rebounded after compressing them by hand.

I immediately noticed a big difference in the TT's ride after adding the KYB's. It's much more solid when going over bumps/dips. I have a section of road I always go over when coming and going from the house and the TT had some bounce prior to the KYB's. Now it's barely noticeable.

ttavasc · 09-22-2023, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Promo714

How do you know they're "worn?"

In my case we were finding drawers popped open, the bathroom door popped open a couple of times, the heavy sink covers popped off. My thought was the ride was rougher than it should be. I found the Monroes to be in similar shape that Cumminsfan described - weak and the rubber bushings were quite deteriorated. After replacing with the KYB's I haven't seen any drawers or the bathroom door popped open or the sink covers being displaced. The ride is much smoother now.