Need Running Gear Upgrades for Your RV Trailer?

The running gear on a trailer is essential to enjoying the RV lifestyle, but for many RVers it is out of sight, out of mind. It consists of axles, leaf springs, wheels, tires and all the attaching brackets. A lot has been written about tires and wheels and many people are familiar with axles, but not much attention has been paid to the attaching components. There are a couple of simple running gear upgrades a trailer owner can make that will give peace of mind with components that will stand up to even the roughest roads.

Heavy-Duty Shackle Kit

Each leaf spring suspension has attaching parts that includes bushings, brackets, and bolts. The standard in the industry is:
• Plastic bushings
• ¼” brackets
• Dry bolts

Over time, the bushings wear which in turn, causes the brackets to also wear. If the wear on the bracket goes unchecked, it will fatigue. When this happens, your next call will be to your road service company. Fortunately, there are upgrades available to provide a more robust and stronger attaching kit.

MORryde’s Heavy-Duty Shackle Kit offers a significant upgrade over the stock kit. The kit includes:
• ½” brackets that are 2 to 2 ½ times stronger than the factory brackets.
• Bronze bushings that will not wear like plastic bushings.
• Greaseable bolts that give you the ability to apply grease to the bolt.

X-Factor Crossmembers

Crossmembers are a standard part of every frame and are located every 48 to 52 inches on the trailer. However, there is added lateral strain at each of the spring hangers which hang below the frame itself. This added strain can cause bending and even breaking of the hangers. MORryde offers a simple, bolt-in crossmember that can greatly reduce the lateral strain on the frame.

Spring hanger flexing and bending can be a thing of the past with the reinforcement the X-Factor Crossmember provides, as the lateral strain is reduced by up to 90% at each location. The X-Factor bolts to the spring hanger and spans side to side, effectively “boxing” in that section of the frame. Lateral strain is reduced, and the frame is reinforced. Installation is all bolt-on and can be installed at each spring frame hanger in about one hour per location.

These simple upgrades can help trailer owners have peace of mind knowing their running gear will stand up to even the roughest of roads.