Suspension upgrade

The thing that annoys me is there really is not a way to check how bad the bushings are.

The fact that the TT manual says to check every 3000 mile should tell you something I guess.

WNYBob wrote:
Finished one side of my upgrade to Dexter E-Z Flex on my TT. (Only 25 degree and windy.)

Great job and you're gonna love it. Report back after some towing and tell us how much the improvement is. :)

Our TT came stock from the factory with Lippert's Equa-flex. Only has the ordinary (crappy) plastic bushings. We installed the Dexter EZ-Flex setup (at time of TT purchase) and love it. Hard to tell how much the EZ-Flex improved handling since we added shocks at the same time but both together made a HUGE improvement in handling. As some might expect from Lippert, their Equa-Flex equalizers just aren't anywhere near as well built. I believe the Mor/Ryde equivalent is pretty good but have not seen it in person.

On our previous TT, the standard plastic Lippert bushings were all shot in just over 2K miles from Indiana to the dealer on the west coast. It boggles my mind that Lippert makes their "Never Fail" plastic bushings but install the crappy ones in all their frames that can't even make it to a dealer's lot without damage. Must be because they save a buck or two per trailer... :R

My Denali 270FK has nearly ten thousand miles on the suspension and I probably should evaluate it, although it still tows fine. The last hard ninety degree turn I made into a fuel island the axles were certainly flexed to the max.

For the price and a bit of work seems worth it. Mine is a 2004 Arctic Fox and quite heavy so will need replacing sooner than later. We have a 20 ft dovetail we haul tractors on and it fishtails but I need to put the lift hitch on it to stop that. It's new.

Andy F wrote:
Very seriously considering this upgrade this spring with my upcoming new tire purchase (got 5 seasons and many many miles out of our factory original tires). Is the Dexter option the best for this upgrade? Any estimates on what I might pay for an install? A little above and out of my skill level I think. Unless I get a buddy mechanic of mine to help me.

I did the Dexter upgrade to my first toy hauler.
night and day difference.. worth it..

Looks nice.

I have the same problem with the trailer "rolling around" behind the truck. I know my suspension is worn, it makes terrible squeaky noises. I may fix it this spring season and see of that solves my problem.

I did the MORryde wet bolt kit this weekend. My factory spread axle equalizer tows well already so I just did bolts and shackles. I had miserable weather as well. It was much warmer than your location, but poured non stop and I ended up having to do the whole thing in a rain suit lol. It was well worth the effort. I started to get the telltale low speed creaking and popping when turning and knew what it meant. Every single plastic bushing was worn clean through.

There is another system from lippert called equalflex. However it raises the trailer up and from some of the videos I`ve seen there is a lot of side to side flex at the spring hangers. then there is the center point by Trail Air. it is an Airbag equalizer that looks like a good setup, however this too raises the trailer by at least 2". Not something I want on my already tall TT at 11.5ft.

Very seriously considering this upgrade this spring with my upcoming new tire purchase (got 5 seasons and many many miles out of our factory original tires). Is the Dexter option the best for this upgrade? Any estimates on what I might pay for an install? A little above and out of my skill level I think. Unless I get a buddy mechanic of mine to help me.

And to top it off, those shackles only had approx. 7k miles on them!