5th Wheel Suspension Upgrade Problem

[Bipeflier]

Time to rebuild/upgrade the shackles/bushing on the Cruiser.

I bought the heavy duty shackle and wet bolt kit from MoRyde. I had recently had to replace the EquaFlex equalizers due to damage.

Installing the bronze bushing went well except they will not go into the EquaFlex equalizer. I thought all of the suspension bushing, whether plastic or bronze were pretty much interchangeable on 6000 lbs. axles but apparently not.

I did the same thing on the last trailer except used the Dexter rubber equalizers. They worked fine. Any ideas except drilling the EquaFlex out?

Shoulda used the Dexter product this time also I guess.

[Bipeflier]

TucsonJim wrote:
Yes, Very lightly grind the bronze bushings until you take off just enough material to start them into the Equa-flex hole. Then use a press to push them in. The hole shrink when you press them. Use a 17/32" drill bit on a bench press to redrill them. Make sure you go slowly so you don't leave any rough edges. It works perfectly.

A second option is to replace the EquaFlex with MORryde CRE3000 or CRE4000 equalizers which will accept the bronze bushings just fine.

Jim

That was what I figured out, wrong equalizers! Grinding down would be a chore as they are almost 0.030" too large in diameter. Drilling out the equalizers would be easier I think.

Thanks for the reply.

[TucsonJim]

Yes, Very lightly grind the bronze bushings until you take off just enough material to start them into the Equa-flex hole. Then use a press to push them in. The hole shrink when you press them. Use a 17/32" drill bit on a bench press to redrill them. Make sure you go slowly so you don't leave any rough edges. It works perfectly.

A second option is to replace the EquaFlex with MORryde CRE3000 or CRE4000 equalizers which will accept the bronze bushings just fine.

Jim

[Lynnmor]

My EquaFlex had brass bushings that were bone dry. I made custom wet bolts to grease them. There are several models and yours may not be the same.