Broken shackle

oldbeek wrote:
Dexter wet shackle kit for $80.00

Ok.. what's "wet" mean?

Nick's truck parts in Penn. Has the Dexter wet shackle kit for $80.00 They are drop shipped straight out of Dexter phone #877-428-9683 or customerservice@nickstruckparts.com Changed mine in about 4 hrs.

The shackle is the weakest link. Mine had 50,000 miles and 12 yrs on it. Now 78,000 ,18yrs with 2 trips to Alaska with 1000 miles of back country dirt roads, still only suspension part replaced.

I think I'll visit the local RV shop tomorrow and see about getting the whole suspension replaced.. shocks, springs..

The rig is 10 and it seems a good bet the rest of it will start failing. Don't need that on the road.

2oldman wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Op I personally don't trust LS with anything.

Yeah, we're a bit short on competent auto mechanics around here. How far can I drive in this condition?

I wouldn't move it a foot , too many things can go wrong, axle can shift, ruin the tires ,ruin the axle, then you got real problems. The least I would do is get a couple new shackle plates, and bushing and hook it back together, and then get it to someone to replace all of them with wet bolts. The rest of your shackles cannot be far behind in failure. Or as one suggested get a spacer of some kind in it, and then strap it down before moving.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Op I personally don't trust LS with anything.

Yeah, we're a bit short on competent auto mechanics around here. How far can I drive in this condition?

Six Robblees in the on the east side of Spokane has these parts in stock most always.

N. 909 Fancher 99212
(509) 535-8862
(800) 275-2709
Fax: (509) 535-4061
7:00-5:00, Mon-Fri

larry barnhart wrote:

Passin Thru wrote:
If both you have Dexter and they are the same wt, 7500 lb they will fit. Dexter makes a lot of interchangeable parts. What a good company to do business with too. We do trailer repairs here and if I run into a problem I call the techs. They always seem to love a good challengge.

did you think his springs were getting flat> I was thinking they were.
chevman

I would say he should be keeping an eye on them. I have seen worse!

Op I personally don't trust LS with anything. Tell them to order the wet bolt kit from Dexter and do both sides. Labor is the same, do it right.

I was going to replace our springs this summer but coming back from Az we had a spring break and about the same look as the OP's picture. We were not flat as I feel his look like but just my opinion. We have 4 new springs. If any of you don't know what spring you have it is on each spring with a stamped code on the metal band bent around the spring. Hard to buy what you need on the road so we made it home with the wrong spring but it worked for the last 300 miles. Always a good idea to inspect our suspension.
chevman

Glad you found the broken shackles at home. They're not hard to change at home but it's a different matter on the road. Any trailer repair place or competent RV shop should be able to do the job.

This shackle links are a wear item. If one set has torn out, you can be sure that the rest need to be replaced too. The bushings are probably completely worn out too.

Your springs are looking a little tired too. Time to consider replacing them?

Some photos of the job I did last week on my 5er:

Dexter EZ-Flex and wet bolt upgrade.

Had the same thing happen on my 5er. Checking underneath and found one side of the shackle broken. Had to have happened on our return journey of 2000 miles home last summer. I took it to a spring shop here and they replaced the shackle. They gave me a couple of spares . Just a bit over a hundred dollars for the work to be done.