Wet bolts

[chunker]

On a trailer suspension with wet bolts, do the bolts have "witness marks" to show correct installation. Everything I read says the lubrication holes should be at the 3 or 9 o'clock position but when inspecting, how would someone know without pulling and looking. I have a Keystone Raptor 356 on order and I expect to spend a good bit of time inspecting. I plan to take a creeper and check what I can underneath and reports of inadequate lubrication to the wet bolts is reported. Improper installation is also reported to one of the reasons for improper lubrication.

[450Donn]

Does it come with wet bolts? More likely it will come with plastic bushings good for one or two trips.

[JJ&QM]

I don’t think so, mine didn’t. The only way you are going to see the holes where the grease comes out is by pulling the bolts. Mine is the Morryde wet bolt kit

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by chunker

On a trailer suspension with wet bolts, do the bolts have "witness marks" to show correct installation. Everything I read says the lubrication holes should be at the 3 or 9 o'clock position but when inspecting, how would someone know without pulling and looking. I have a Keystone Raptor 356 on order and I expect to spend a good bit of time inspecting. I plan to take a creeper and check what I can underneath and reports of inadequate lubrication to the wet bolts is reported. Improper installation is also reported to one of the reasons for improper lubrication.

I would strongly suspect it will not come with wet bolts, unless ordered with disc brakes, our Road Warrior did not come with the wet bolts. Our Road Warrior came with plastic bushings and they only lasted a little over 12 months. One way to tell if you have wet bolts may be to look and see if you have brass bushings installed. Our new kit came with brass bushings.

During the national rally for Heartland in June 2019 I had disc brakes and wet bolts installed. For all 6 wheels right around $4200. But I think if I remember correctly the price for the wet bolt install kit was around $150.00.
I had Performance Trailer Braking do the install. You may contact them for information. You can find them on here on some of the comments sometimes.
But there is no way to check if the bolts are installed in either the 3 or 9 position without pulling the bolts. Then when you reinstall will it stay in the correct position?

[LAKnox]

Originally Posted by chunker

On a trailer suspension with wet bolts, do the bolts have "witness marks" to show correct installation. Everything I read says the lubrication holes should be at the 3 or 9 o'clock position but when inspecting, how would someone know without pulling and looking. I have a Keystone Raptor 356 on order and I expect to spend a good bit of time inspecting. I plan to take a creeper and check what I can underneath and reports of inadequate lubrication to the wet bolts is reported. Improper installation is also reported to one of the reasons for improper lubrication.

I've never heard of any FW, other than a true high end or custom build, having factory wet bolts. As such, installing a wet bolt kit should not affect warranty. That's a great idea / thought about the witness marks indicating the lube hole alignment. When I do mine, I'll be sure to mark them with a punch prior to install. On your new rig, the fact that zerk fittings should be present if you have wet bolts, will be an indicator.

Lyle

[n0mad]

Originally Posted by LAKnox

I've never heard of any FW, other than a true high end or custom build, having factory wet bolts. As such, installing a wet bolt kit should not affect warranty. That's a great idea / thought about the witness marks indicating the lube hole alignment. When I do mine, I'll be sure to mark them with a punch prior to install. On your new rig, the fact that zerk fittings should be present if you have wet bolts, will be an indicator.

Lyle

My 2015 Keystone Alpine came with them and 1/2" shackles. Alpine isn't terribly high end, basically on par with their Montana.

[chunker]

Originally Posted by LAKnox

I've never heard of any FW, other than a true high end or custom build, having factory wet bolts. As such, installing a wet bolt kit should not affect warranty. That's a great idea / thought about the witness marks indicating the lube hole alignment. When I do mine, I'll be sure to mark them with a punch prior to install. On your new rig, the fact that zerk fittings should be present if you have wet bolts, will be an indicator.

Lyle

It's a Keystone Raptor and it does have the wet bolts except on the ends of the spring eye. Don't know what they wouldn't put them there also so probably something I'll add later. Considering disc brakes but will give it a trip to see how I feel about stock brakes. No one has to convince me disc is an improvement but whether the $$$ is available at the time.

[Yosemite77]

You could always take them out and add your own witness marks using a Dremel tool or something similar. You shouldn’t have to do it, but the same could be said about a lot of things on RVs.

[bddadles]

Mine has wet bolts on both ends of the springs and at the equalizer. The bolts will break because I have had to replace some. I generally replace the bronze bushings at the same time. This is not hard to do just be sure you get the correct length of wet bolts. And remember if you change the shackles to the thick ones the bolt length will change. A very easy thing to overlook when picking up parts.


Brad

[chunker]

I sent a message to etrailer asking about orientation and marks and got the following message


"That's an excellent question. In regard to installation of a wet bolt in bronze bushing, you won't really need a proper position since the grease will end up working itself around. As such, these bolts do not come with witness marks. I hope that helps."


So I guess it doesn't matter which way they are in. I wondered about the claim some have about 3 or 9 position. The hole shouldn't care which way it's pointing for grease to come out.

[grindstone01]

I installed the Moryde wet bolt kit on our fifth wheel and did not know about the grease hole orientation at the time. Afterwards I discovered that 3 of the installed bolts stopped accepting grease after a year or so. I removed the 3 bolts, and sure enough, the holes were in the wrong orientations. I reinstalled the 3 bolts in the correct way and left the other bolts alone, since they were/are still accepting grease.
The theory is that if the grease hole exits at the 12 o'clock position, then the trailer weight pushing down on the bolt and grease hole will not allow grease to be pumped into the bushing.
The best way to check if the bushing will accept grease is to use a grease gun and try it. If the bushings were greased, there should be evidence of residue grease.

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by chunker

I sent a message to etrailer asking about orientation and marks and got the following message


"That's an excellent question. In regard to installation of a wet bolt in bronze bushing, you won't really need a proper position since the grease will end up working itself around. As such, these bolts do not come with witness marks. I hope that helps."


So I guess it doesn't matter which way they are in. I wondered about the claim some have about 3 or 9 position. The hole shouldn't care which way it's pointing for grease to come out.

Straight from Mor Ryde about the wet bolts:

http://www.morryde.com/uploads/downl...0for%20LRE.pdf
But with the disc brakes yeah a big difference in stopping. The first year or so the electric brakes were okay, but the disc made a huge difference. Really glad I made the jump to disc system.

[Grafton Guns]

I installed the MorRyde wet bolt kit from Amazon on my 5th wheel Jayco 2 yrs. ago. I marked each bolt head with a "dimple" made with a prick punch. This way I was absolutely sure of the grease hole orientation at 3-9 o'clock. Also, I made sure to check each wet bolt zerk fitting. I had to drill out two of the tiny grease exit holes as the grease barely oozed out. I believe I used an 1/8" drill bit.

[chunker]

Originally Posted by hamm2018

Straight from Mor Ryde about the wet bolts:

http://www.morryde.com/uploads/downl...0for%20LRE.pdf
But with the disc brakes yeah a big difference in stopping. The first year or so the electric brakes were okay, but the disc made a huge difference. Really glad I made the jump to disc system.

I read that install procedures but no mention of any witness marks. I have to question though their jacking suggestion. I don't think jacking in the middle of the axle is a good idea. Guess I'll hope for the best on the inspection. I will lube when I get home.