John,
Thank you for the response. I kept my original question short on info to keep from boring anyone. I had reviewed the work you did on your hangers and I have congratulated you many times in my mind over the past year. If I had the ability to weld mine would look very much the same as yours especially with the load distribution across the frame.
My signature shows what I pull and with what. The unit sits on top the springs and I had 2" box steel inserted between the springs and axles to level the 5er stern-aft when towing. Yesterday I made two cardboard templates the size of the K71-653-00 and K71-652-00 EZ Flex Equalizers (1 ea) per specs Dexter provides guessing at the bolt hole size for 7/16" or .4375" bolts. Also made 2 shackles, guessing at size being 3.5" x 1.25". Attached shackle templates to equilizer templates and hung the unit(s) on the existing 4" equilizer hanger mounting bolt. Result indicates a 1.4" reduction in overall 5er height; which does not present a tire-to-fender problem, but counters the 2" original lift for towing.
It appears I have 4 options. 1) Trade for a new 5er, 2) Learn to weld, 3) Find a capable person to weld the mod, 4) Install HD suspension parts from Dexter having improvement over plastic bushings. Option 3 being more difficult than it should be or else I'm just too picky about QA, but I'm not going to change at my age.
Thank you for your posts, pics showing excellent processes/work/mods, and support. You and Les always take the time to help others as we all make our way.
R. Kaiser
USACE Retread
