RE: disappearing dogbones
Well i'm going to suggest suspension travel. Im guessing the sand is fairly bumpy and gives your suspension a decent workout throught its entire travel.
The space that the dogbone sits in likely changes slightly throughout the travel, so theoretically it could be secure at DBL (dog bones level) but pop out when the suspension is fully compressed or extended.
I'd start checking that before hunting gnomes, pixies or any other mystical creatures.