Equal-flex has only been on trailer 2 yrs. it,s a fith wheel sun dance 2900 , no off road, only travel mostly u.s. interstates. With many years in the trucking industry I,m very familiar with rubber being used in suspension systems an steering etc. just seems that the materials used in the equal-flex were substandard having failed with so little use. I,d post pic. If I can figure out how? But if you look at equa-flex system it's the rubber cushions that absorb the shock that are shot , cracked and deformed hope this answers some of your questions, still going back and forth with lippert , have to see what happens.