Bent leaf spring ?

Having no electrical power available at the storage facility, I had to unscrew the broken leaf's set of 4 nuts on the U bolts with just a ratchet. Had to use an extension bar to undo the rusty nuts. Used PB and penetrating oil. Took a long time and awkward.

Then I drove the trailer home. With power available, I cut the U bolts across the top with a dremel drill. Quite a snap open at the last 1/16th of an inch with the first U bolt. So much so I tied the 2nd U bolt up with rope. Did the job in about 15 mins. Much easier !

Getting the rusty bolt out of the fixed shackle was tough. I finally cut a short piece of 2" X 4", drilled a 1" hole in the middle, about halfway through, placed this over the bolt head, and then put a strong short clamp over the wood and and the other end over the end of the bolt behind the shackle. Turned the clamp handle with an extension bar, and finally was rewarded with a short snap noise, indicating the bolt had shifted. The trouble with my bolts were that they had splines at the head end, so could not be turned.

This was only partially successful, so I eventually used a large sized thick wrench over the head, with a short thick piece of metal over that. Then the clamp. (a large sized socket, into which the bolt head would fit, would do as well). Obviously, the other end of the clamp was over the other (the screw end) end of the bolt.

At any rate, mission finally successful. Both new leafs now installed and torqued according to Dexter specifications (despite the falling snow !).

Thanks for info on the wet bolts.

Of course if a thread is damaged you would replace it.
It seems it all has to do w/ the thread on a U bolt being rolled, not cut. And then a big story about what happens when rolled threads are reused a 2nd time, compared to cut threads.
No mention of why regular bolts, of which most all are rolled threads, can be reused. It also appears that the only "official" statement to not reuse, come from the mfgs and sellers of U bolts. At the bottom of one such article, and in smaller print, it stated that it was only their suggestion, and that you can do what you want,.......as if we didn't know that.:)

RJsfishin wrote:
I'm curious, someone have a good logical explain for not reusing U bolts ?
I've never NOT reused them, and I have NEVER seen a U bolt fail either.
I've done hundreds of valve jobs in my career, and never changed a head bolt either. But then, I never change a wheel bearing unless damaged either.

RJ, I'm with you and you'll probably never have a problem reusing them. I replaced mine because I went with a slightly larger diameter for greater strength with the heavier springs. They were pretty cheap too. Another reason is Dexter recommends against reusing them as I recall.

Some say the U-bolt stretches enough that the bolt will weaken each time.
Not sure I buy that either.

But then I used to tighten customer head bolts with an impact gun :)
Nothing ever failed....

I'm curious, someone have a good logical explain for not reusing U bolts ?
I've never NOT reused them, and I have NEVER seen a U bolt fail either.
I've done hundreds of valve jobs in my career, and never changed a head bolt either. But then, I never change a wheel bearing unless damaged either.

smkettner wrote:

ice2fire wrote:
What are "wet bolts" ?

This is the Dexter kit of bronze bushings and greasable wet bolts.

That's the Dexter kit I ordered and got the HD Equalizer too.

ice2fire wrote:
What are "wet bolts" ?

This is the Dexter kit of bronze bushings and greasable wet bolts.

ice2fire wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions. I like the idea of going from 3,500 to 4,500lbs and the bronze bushings.

Cheers !

When you go with the bronze bushings, you need to install "wet bolts", ie, bolts with zerks so they can be greased. You'll also need to replace the equalizer with one with bushings. The plastic bushings wear out in about 1-2 years if you use your trailer much.


I changed all 4 of the leafs on my old trailer with a custom set from a spring shop a while back after breaking a leaf spring. Cost me $400 for the heavier duty springs. The cheap off-the-shelf springs (usually China) run about 25 to 30 bucks. You need to replace the u-bolts too as noted above as they should not be reused.

What are "wet bolts" ?

I've used etrailer before and been very happy with what they supplied. However, this time I bought from a local large truck and trailer dealer. Prices about twice that of etrailer, but I needed them more quickly than etrailer could deliver. In addition, there were the shipping costs, which when added to etrailer costs didn't make the total cost that much different from my local dealer.

My shanks were fine, and I used them again. Better design than the local dealer's. His were just short shanks with bolts through them at each end with nylon locks. My old ones are the "stepped" type where the thread is only right at the end, such that you can't tighten them beyond a certain point, ensuring the leaf will be able to move easily up and down.

Another reason I used my old shanks was because they were about 1" longer. I had concerns about the set-up if I used his.

One completely done, the other tomorrow. The trailer is leaning a bit to one side now, as the new leaf has a nice bow, whereas the other old one is almost flat. A good sign I guess, if I had known, that it was getting worn out.

While I had the wheel off, I took off the drum and replaced the inner and outer bearings (6 years old with at least 40K miles on them) and examined the brakes. Latter OK for another year. I have a grease seal remover tool but it is difficult to use with just the drum. What I do is take off the wheel, then the drum, then put the drum back onto the wheel with a couple of the drum studs done up. Put the wheel and attached drum flat on the ground, insert the remover tool into the seal, and with one foot on the wheel, pull ! (It was so stuck inside, I had to slip a long bar over the tool's handle to give me extra leverage !)

Thanks all for the tips. A great forum !