Grease Zerks

[mhs4771]

Well crawled under the Rig today to check zerks and add some grease. Had several missing, a few that took 1/4 turn to tighten, the rest were ok. Now for the problem, I have about 4 fittings that won't take grease, removed the zerk and can pump grease through it so that not the problem. So I wondering if I have some wet bolts that were never drilled all the way through. Anybody else have this issue? Just an FYI, on the Tri-Glide, inaddition to the 6 fitting (3 on each side) if you look up under from the back side, you'll find 3 more on the upper piviot points of the Tri-Glide.

[Dave&Ginny]

I got my grease Zerk from the factory on Wednesday. I couldn't believe they just stuck it in a business size envelope. It was ripped to shreds with a damage note from the post office. I wonder what fool mailed it out like that?

I went around and found several loose and one that will not take grease as well.

[mhs4771]

I wonder if the wet bolts are the same or similar to what Keystone is using on some Montanas. If I remember right the folks that bought a kit to add wet bolts, that the bolts had to be installed with the grease holes facing a certain way, so I wonder if those that won't take grease need to be turned. Guess it's time to e-mail Brian and see what he has to say. When and if I get an answer I'll post it for general reference.

[lillyputz]

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

I got my grease Zerk from the factory on Wednesday. I couldn't believe they just stuck it in a business size envelope. It was ripped to shreds with a damage note from the post office. I wonder what fool mailed it out like that?

I went around and found several loose and one that will not take grease as well.

probably the same one that does the QC.



Lillyputz

I have never notice my
tires and wheels have this problem,thanks.</span>

[Adamsvr]

That's because they are bicycle wheels. I'm beginning to believe these posts are nothing but spam and have no place in this forum.

[mhs4771]

Especially when a post makes no sense at all. Like the one just added to the Balanceing the wheels post taking about semis. Redwood better get on the stick and start watching who gets access here or the rest of us will be gone, leaving only the spammers.

[Adamsvr]

Took a look under our 36RL and found nine grease zerks on each side of the leaf springs for a total of 18 zerks.Topped them all off.A couple of them wouldn't accept any grease and am curious whether they are drilled through.

[mhs4771]

I have an e-mail into Brian to see if the bolts have to be positioned in a certain orintation to accept grease. If I get a chance, I think I'll loosen one that's not taking grease and slowly turn it while appling pressure with the grease gun and see what happens. I did look up info on the Dexter Wet Bolt Kits, and there is a Caution note to install them per their pictoral to allow the full flow of grease. My thinking is these used on our units may be the same way and may need to be turned.

[mhs4771]

Update on the grease zerks:
From Lippert via Brian,
The wet bolts do not have to be in any certain position to function. Just remember to keep the grease zerks to the outside and that is about all you have to do.

Thank You,

Lippert Components, Inc.
Kinro, Inc.
Customer Service Division #39
Divisions of Drew Industries
1701 Century Drive
Goshen, IN 46528
574-537-8900
Fax: 574-534-7161

I have sent a follow-up asking them to explain how some can accept grease without a problem, yet others, no matter the amount of pressure applied won't.

Stay tuned for the next exciting addition

[Dan]

mhs4771
Thanks for keeping us informed on the Zerk problem, it will be nice to find out the final out come on how to fix

[John317]

I wonder if it is a clearence problem. Do the bolts that will not take grease seem to be tighter than the ones that do ? I also wonder if it could be defective Zerk fittings, did you try swapping some of the Zerks that you know for sure take grease for the ones that don't? Just a couple of thoughts....when you are still waiting for your unit that's all you can do....sit around and think.

[5th_Time]

Enjoy the time. After your unit comes in, you'll be busy for a solid couple of weeks...

[John317]

Originally Posted by 5th_Time

Enjoy the time.Â* After your unit comes in, you'll be busy for a solid couple of weeks...Â*

Yeah, just trying to find out if my unit has any of the many Gremlins reported on this forum. After many months of reading about problems one begins to question whether the Redwood has the level of quality a unit in this price range should have.

[5th_Time]

I know...



Edited by: 5th_Time

[5th_Time]

Originally Posted by John317

Yeah, just trying to find out if my unit has any of the many Gremlins reported on this forum. After many months of reading about problems one begins to question whether the Redwood has the level of quality a unit in this price range should have.

It's frustrating. Many of these defects are completely avoidable by better training and/or better quality control. Also, some of these recurring issuesare due toearly failures fromtop namemajor suppliers (which is surprising that the RV component supplier's reliability and quality controlstandards lag so far behind the auto industry). The Redwood brand ends up with thetarnished image.



Redwood'smission to design and engineer a price-leading high-end unit, with virtually everything you could expect or opt for, is so apparent.Theyreally have thought of everything. And when I got the quote from my dealer(s), I just shook my head in disbelief.You simply can't find a brand with better engineering, style and available options in this price range. Not even close. Plus, have you seen how "tacky" most of the competitors and lesser units are? Redwoods are beautiful, tasteful and impressive.



It's the executionof the mission that needs improvement. It's possibly unexpected growth and/oran undertrained workforce. There is an article online that said they have produced 1,000 units since March '11. When you think about all the complexity, that's a huge number and something had to give.Whatever it is, it must be costing the company a fortune.



BTW, did you buy the silicone for yourshower unit yet? Ha. Edited by: 5th_Time

[John317]

No, but thanks for reminding me.

[TravelinAnderson]

Since Redwoods are built in the same geographic location as many other RV builders I can't help but wonder how many Redwood employees are people that have worked in the industry for other manufacturers. It only seems logical that the unemployed workforce from a downsizing or out-of-business manufacturer would then be hired by a new or growing manufacturer.
This practice is both good and bad. Good in that you have a workforce that's been trained on someone else's dollar but bad because a worker's bad habits or poor training could be carried over from their last job.
The reason I wonder this is because the sawdust and jumbled wiring that was present in my Forest River travel trailer was also present in my Redwood.


Edited by: TravelinAnderson

[mhs4771]

Well here's the latest saga in the Grease Zerks, I received this reply from Lippert:

Ms. Sullivan,

This is the first we have heard of an issue with the wet bolts. Can you give us your coach information so we can start a file on your coach and the wet bolt issue? What we would like to do is send you a new wet bolt kit so we can get the ones you have returned for inspection. Do you have a tandem set up on your trailer? If you could get us all of your coach information and the date of manufacture and your date of purchase we will get an order started for the wet bolts. DO you have a service facility that you would like us to send the kit too?

Thank You,

Lippert Components, Inc.
Kinro, Inc.
Customer Service Division #39
Divisions of Drew Industries
1701 Century Drive
Goshen, IN 46528
574-537-8900
Fax: 574-534-7161

I would advise anyone else that has the problem of Wet Bolts not accepting grease to suppy the same into as they have requested from me.

The saga continues

[John317]

Steve, in response to your post above, excellent observation. It would seem that a Company founded by the former Preside</span>.</span>nt of Carriage would be more on top of these issues, especially in light of his comments after acquiring the "Intellectual property and name of Carriage in Feb.</span>
</span>
Emahiser said his own personal link to Carriage — he was president of the builder prior to moving to Thor two years ago and helping to establish Redwood — was an element in the decision to acquire the Carriage brand.“Not only that,� he added, “but we have a lot of Carriage DNA throughout Redwood and CrossRoads. Likewise, the changes we have going on here have attracted people with Carriage in their background.<div id="attachment_66212" ="wp-capti&#111;n="" alignleft"="" style=": left; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb221, 221, 221; border-right-color: rgb221, 221, 221; border-bottom-color: rgb221, 221, 221; border-left-color: rgb221, 221, 221; text-align: center; : rgb243, 243, 243; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; width: 310px; ">A mobile auction stand moved among equipment grouped into thousands of lots.“We have, beyond myself, in other executive positions, group leaders, foremen, all the way down to entry-level spots. So we have a good amount of the carriage DNA here. When the brands became available to us it was almost a natural to try to make a play for them.�</span>According to Emahiser, there is no timetable or firm plans to announce when the Thor division will bring back the Carriage name, which was reportedly purchased for $100,000</span>
Edited by: John317