Equa-flex hangers facing down after tire problem.

[dehaile]

Hello. We lost two tires on same axle and had to tow trailer a couple of miles to get to town. We were towing on the rear axle at a very slow speed for just a small distance. After putting the tires back on, we noticed the equa-flex suspension is facing downward and not upward so that the axles are straight. When we lower the trailer, the equaflex hangers just pins itself to the side... still facing down. We did not unbolt the equaflex or the leaf springs. How did this happen? How do we fix? Will it happen again by just raising the suspension? Thanks

[BigDogF250]

I had the same thing happen while working on brakes and axle flip. there was enough play to flip it back over using a bar (24" long 3/8 socket pry bar in my case. There is enough forward/backward play when all the tires are off the ground.

Watch your fingers though, it moved pretty quick once it got half way.

[nayther]

pbmazda32 wrote:
Im curious about the EZ Flex.

The EZ flex is very nice mod. I did it to mine when the OEM hangers failed not only does it ride better but the hardware is far superior to the OEM ****. And you get wet bolts everywhere.

[pbmazda32]

Im curious about the EZ Flex.

[jmtandem]

Can you give me your thoughts on the suspension upgrade? Has it improved ride quality while towing? Do you consider it money well spent?

Who are you directing this question to? If it is about the Dexter wet bolt kit and EZ Flex suspension upgrade, I can say it makes a difference even noticable. For the wet bolts the bushings are now greasable and hopefully will wear a long time. When I went to the wet bolt and upgraded bushings, the original plastic compound OEM bushings were already showing wear at less than 5000 miles.

[pbmazda32]

Can you give me your thoughts on the suspension upgrade? Has it improved ride quality while towing? Do you consider it money well spent?

[jmtandem]

Contact Dexter or your axle manufacturer.

[dehaile]

Does any know what size (length) wet bolts I would need for these 8k axles? I would like to order some but do not have access to my trailer to measure.

[tinner12002]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Lost 2 tires on same axle.......at same time???

Rear suspension has been over extended due to carrying all the load

Will need to support axle, remove tire/wheel, remove leaf spring eye bolt at equa-flex, flip equa-flex back up into position and bolt up leak spring

Repeat for other side

You might be better off taking the front spring hanger bolt out instead of the equa-flex because the spring may be too close to the equa-flex and not let it pass by.

[jmtandem]

I hope you replaced or repacked all the bearings and checked to be sure there is not any spring damage.

[dehaile]

Thanks for all the replies. I left out the details of why this failure occurred but basically we lost a wheel bearing. Trailer has been weighed on a cat scale and was empty of all toys when it happened. We took the other tire off when it happened so that we could get it down the road. We replaced the whole axle assembly. The failure was troubling because I had packed the wheel bearings myself about 3k miles ago after the factory seals had leaked (like so many other lippert axles). Anyway, thanks again for all the help.

[RCMAN46]

dehaile wrote:
Hello. We lost two tires on same axle and had to tow trailer a couple of miles to get to town. We were towing on the rear axle at a very slow speed for just a small distance. After putting the tires back on, we noticed the equa-flex suspension is facing downward and not upward so that the axles are straight. When we lower the trailer, the equaflex hangers just pins itself to the side... still facing down. We did not unbolt the equaflex or the leaf springs. How did this happen? How do we fix? Will it happen again by just raising the suspension? Thanks

With the trailer as show in first picture with the tires off the ground take a second jack and jack the axle up and the hanger will probably flip back to correct position.

And yes it may happen again when you lift all the tires off the ground.

Two tires failing on same axle indicates that axle is overloaded. Is the trailer level when towing?

Suggest getting individual axle weights at a Cat or other local scale.

[taken]

jmtandem wrote:
I would remove the one bolt that holds the EquaFlex to the frame and re-positon the hardware. It will be easier if the wheels/tires are removed from the axles first. Put a little jack under each axle between and under the U bolts and if you have a friend they can move the axle a little by hand and you can repositon the EquaFlex into position correctly positioning the /hangers. Then re-insert the EquaFlex bolt back into the frame. It is not a hard or involved task.

This is the ticket. It can happen when both tires are off with one side in the air like you had. Same happened to me when I pulled all three wheels on one side to get my tires replaced. Once you raise the trailer and take your two wheels back off, you can reposition the Equiflex hanger by hand. Just make sure it stays in position when re-mounting the wheels and then lower. Good to go. Very easy fix.

[jmtandem]

I would remove the one bolt that holds the EquaFlex to the frame and re-positon the hardware. It will be easier if the wheels/tires are removed from the axles first. Put a little jack under each axle between and under the U bolts and if you have a friend they can move the axle a little by hand and you can repositon the EquaFlex into position correctly positioning the /hangers. Then re-insert the EquaFlex bolt back into the frame. It is not a hard or involved task.

This might be an excellent time to replace all the non greasable bolts with wet bolts if you have not completed this task already. OEM non greasable bushings wear quickly. Dexter makes a kit with all the parts including new bushings.

[dehaile]

Thanks old-biscuit. That is what I thought but wanted to make sure I did not miss anything.