Thanks for your very informative article, Les. Since I'm in the "faint of heart" category, I had my local RV dealer install the Mor/ryde heavy duty shackle kit that also had bronze bushings and greasable bolts. My trailer came with the Mor/ryde CRE/3000 rubber cushioned equalizer.
I had approx. 20,000 miles on my trailer and was pleased to see that there was almost no wear on my original bolts or shackles and very little wear on the plastic bushings, but still happy to now have the much heavier duty lubable shackle kit installed.
I did ask the tech to read your excellent article so he would be aware of possible bronze bushing damage as you experienced. He reamed out the holes as needed and said he had no problems.
I'm sure your article helped the job go well! Thanks.
