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Old 10-20-2013, 02:52 AM   #1
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Never Fail Bushings

After reading several threads about bushings wearing out with low mileage I decided to change mine out to Never Fail Bushings. I had a friend help me. My Voltage 3950 has triple axles with Equa-Flex Equalizers. I brought 22 Never Fail Bushings for the triple axles. I found that two of the springs didn't even have a bushing at all. They were missing from the factory. I then discovered that the Never Fail Bushings would not fit the Equa-Flex Equalizers. The Equa-Flex Equalizers had bronze bushings instead of the plastic bushings every where else. I greased the 10 bronze bushings in the Equa-Flex Equalizers. I wish I had known I would have ordered wet bolts for those 10 bronze bushings. I brought the 2014 Voltage the last of July and drove it about 5000 miles. On October 15, 2013 here is what the old plastic bushings look like.

I hope to check on the bushings in about 10,000 miles and change out the bolts in the Equa-Flex Equalizers and put in wet bolts.

Steve Brown
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Old 10-21-2013, 11:42 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slb5146 View Post
After reading several threads about bushings wearing out with low mileage I decided to change mine out to Never Fail Bushings. I had a friend help me. My Voltage 3950 has triple axles with Equa-Flex Equalizers. I brought 22 Never Fail Bushings for the triple axles. I found that two of the springs didn't even have a bushing at all. They were missing from the factory. I then discovered that the Never Fail Bushings would not fit the Equa-Flex Equalizers. The Equa-Flex Equalizers had bronze bushings instead of the plastic bushings every where else. I greased the 10 bronze bushings in the Equa-Flex Equalizers. I wish I had known I would have ordered wet bolts for those 10 bronze bushings. I brought the 2014 Voltage the last of July and drove it about 5000 miles. On October 15, 2013 here is what the old plastic bushings look like.

I hope to check on the bushings in about 10,000 miles and change out the bolts in the Equa-Flex Equalizers and put in wet bolts.

Steve Brown
Steve,
Where did you buy your Never Fail bushings?
What made you check them? Any difference in towing after?
Where will you purchase the "wet bolts"?
Thanks for the info.
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Old 10-22-2013, 02:11 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by waytoogood View Post
Steve,
Where did you buy your Never Fail bushings?
What made you check them? Any difference in towing after?
Where will you purchase the "wet bolts"?
Thanks for the info.
Since I am in Houston, TX this week I brought the Never Fail Bushings off the shelf at Holiday World RV here in Houston.

I did not check the bushings before I brought the new bushings. I made the decision to replace them because of reading about so many other people having problems. I drive lots of miles every year and I don't want them causing a problem on the road. I was really surprised to find that my bushings were in such bad shape after only about 3 months of owning a brand new RV and only 5000 miles.

I have not towed the FW yet. I'm still in Houston. I don't expect any difference in towing but after the bushing are worn out then the shackle bolts start wearing into the metal and then comes the real problem. I plan to leave Houston in a couple days headed to North Carolina and then back down to Brownsville, TX. Lots of miles coming up.

I may buy the wet bolts off eBay because it's the best price I have found so far and they comes with HD shackles that are 1/2 inch thick instead of the 1/4 inch shackles that are on there now.

Steve Brown

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You can do a Google for Steve Brown Ministries and see where I'm headed. I don't think the forum rules allow me to post the link.
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Old 10-24-2013, 06:39 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slb5146 View Post
After reading several threads about bushings wearing out with low mileage I decided to change mine out to Never Fail Bushings. I had a friend help me. My Voltage 3950 has triple axles with Equa-Flex Equalizers. I brought 22 Never Fail Bushings for the triple axles. I found that two of the springs didn't even have a bushing at all. They were missing from the factory. I then discovered that the Never Fail Bushings would not fit the Equa-Flex Equalizers. The Equa-Flex Equalizers had bronze bushings instead of the plastic bushings every where else. I greased the 10 bronze bushings in the Equa-Flex Equalizers. I wish I had known I would have ordered wet bolts for those 10 bronze bushings. I brought the 2014 Voltage the last of July and drove it about 5000 miles. On October 15, 2013 here is what the old plastic bushings look like.

I hope to check on the bushings in about 10,000 miles and change out the bolts in the Equa-Flex Equalizers and put in wet bolts.

Steve Brown
Is this something a dealer needs to install or could I do this at home, just trying to figure out how I would loosen axle spring bolt and still keep it aligned to re-install new bushings (Why after spending 70000 on a TH do I have to re-do all these things, china bomb tires, axle bushings etc.) starting to have doubts on this purchase
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Old 10-24-2013, 08:12 PM   #5
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While researching how to make my 5er pull smoother I read some comments about the Never Fail Bushings. I ended up up getting some and installed them at the same time I put the Equa-Flex Stabilizes on. I was amazed at how worn the plastic bushings were. The wear on mine were similar to what slb5146 had. We had put about 4200 miles on the trailer since we purchased it in Feb. I went with the Never Fails over wet-bolts since I am trying to make the trailer as low maintenance as possible. (Plus grease is just a substance that holds dirt in place).
There is much less "chucking" and jerking now. I also replaced the Kingpin box with a 5th Airborne at the same time.
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Old 10-25-2013, 07:35 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by lakebuster View Post
Is this something a dealer needs to install or could I do this at home, just trying to figure out how I would loosen axle spring bolt and still keep it aligned to re-install new bushings (Why after spending 70000 on a TH do I have to re-do all these things, china bomb tires, axle bushings etc.) starting to have doubts on this purchase
Sorry David, I don't think it would be any different if you had bought any other brand RV. I am not a mechanic. A friend helped me do the job. The biggest problem was the nut were very tight and had to use a cheater bar to get them loose. I don't see any way that you would have to worry about keeping it aligned. Just use the levelers to raise the tires off the ground. Take the tires off and lay them under the axle you are working on to hold it up while you take the bolt and bushing out.

Steve Brown
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Old 12-08-2013, 10:09 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slb5146 View Post
After reading several threads about bushings wearing out with low mileage I decided to change mine out to Never Fail Bushings. I had a friend help me. My Voltage 3950 has triple axles with Equa-Flex Equalizers. I brought 22 Never Fail Bushings for the triple axles. I found that two of the springs didn't even have a bushing at all. They were missing from the factory. I then discovered that the Never Fail Bushings would not fit the Equa-Flex Equalizers. The Equa-Flex Equalizers had bronze bushings instead of the plastic bushings every where else. I greased the 10 bronze bushings in the Equa-Flex Equalizers. I wish I had known I would have ordered wet bolts for those 10 bronze bushings. I brought the 2014 Voltage the last of July and drove it about 5000 miles. On October 15, 2013 here is what the old plastic bushings look like.

I hope to check on the bushings in about 10,000 miles and change out the bolts in the Equa-Flex Equalizers and put in wet bolts.

Steve Brown
What the hell? Those bushing actually fail that fast. What is the procedure in changing them? I read in one of your posts that your lift the tires off of the ground using the trailers hydraulic jacks? I just replaced my Chinese tires with Goodyear G614's and am thinking I should have change wheels and tires to 17.5" with Goodyear 114's. Now I see these bushings, yuck. How can you tell what condition they are it. It looking like dis-assembly is the only way.
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Old 12-09-2013, 04:18 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by lakebuster View Post
.... (Why after spending 70000 on a TH do I have to re-do all these things, china bomb tires, axle bushings etc.) starting to have doubts on this purchase
Where's the evidence that YOUR trailer has the SAME problem? Maybe you're worrying too much. Evaluate your rig before you start to worry. As for the tires, that's another area where people fret too much. Just examine your coach regularly, before each trip, and do your preventative maintenance. That should cover everything and let you sleep just fine at night. Or day. Or whenever it is you sleep.
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Old 12-09-2013, 04:36 AM   #9
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I did not have a clue that my bushings were that bad until I pulled them out. I really did not expect them to be that bad. I was just going to install Never Fail Bushings to ward off any future problems. I honestly did not know I already had a problem until I took them apart. Also remember that two of my shackles did not even have a bushing. You can not examine your bushings without pulling them out.
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