Well, 2 weeks ago I noticed a broken leaf spring on my boat trailer. The Leaf Spring hangers were bent on 1 side and everything was rusted to the point where it looked like everything was ready to break IMO.
Last Saturday I put her in the water and took the trailer home to begin the repairs.
I ordered everything except the axles and the rear hubs.
New 5 Leaf 26" Leaf Springs (I had 4 Leaf 26" Leaf Springs on it)
New Spring Hangers
New Tie Down Eng. front hubs with 12" Vented brake rotors w/ Aluminum calipers
New Dexter EX Flex suspension system (Equalizer bar, shackles and hardware all with Grease Zerk fittings) http://www.dexteraxle.com/inc/sdetail/18099
New Axle U-bolts and assorted hardward.
Monday afternoon I started tearing the trailer apart. I had to cut off the Leaf Springs and the U-bolts that held them to the axle. I removed the front hubs and all 6 Leaf Spring hangers.
I had to cut the Leaf Spring hangers off of their galvanized mounting plates and grind them down flat so I could have the new spring hangers welded on. Needless to say that absolutely sucked.
Thursday morning the new parts came in.
I met Del Dickens in New Bern, NC at his shop on Thursday afternoon and he welded the new spring hangers on for me. He did a perfect job. He is also the one who built the tower on the old and new RUN-OFF, Energizer, Bluewater and more. He is awesome at what he does for sure.
Thursday evening I painted the new spring hangers and mounts, U-bolts and other hardware. I sanded the rust off the axles and the rear hubs and painted them as well. The axles had huge amounts of rust on the brake flanges. I never did get a good picture of the rust on them. I hit them with a hammer to knock off all the big chunks, then I hit them with a wire wheel. I did the same thing with the rear hubs.
Friday I installed the new hangers on the trailer frame, bolted the leaf springs to the axles and installed the EX Flex system on the center hanger. Got the front and rear axles mounted and bolted down as well.
I installed the new front hubs with the 12" brake rotors and installed the calipers. By that time it was 9:30 at night and my fun meter was pegged. LOL
Saturday morning my son had a soccer game that I went too. Then I went to the RUN-OFF to help Bill install a thru hull fitting. By the time I started back on the trailer it was noon. I pumped all the old brake fluid out of the master cylinder and brake lines. Then I flushed the system with new brake fluid. Hooked the lines up to the calipers and bled them.
Then I put the fenders back on and bolted the wheels on. I took her for a test drive and everything was great.
Saturday evening I put the boat on it and everything went to crap.
The EX Flex system on the center spring hanger was bottomed out against the frame in the front on both sides. (see pic)
So, all the work I have been doing to try to get the boat out of the water for this storm coming did not work out like I thought it was going to.
I put the boat back in the water and took the trailer home pissed off at the world.
Monday I called the company that I bought the parts from and Dexter Axle who make the EX Flex system. Come to find out that my spring hangers were to close together. So, there was not enough room for the springs to flatten out under load. The EX Flex system should look more like \__/, mine looked more like |__|.
SO, last night I had to move the front spring hanger forward 2 inches and the back spring hanger back 2 inches. I had to do that on both sides of the trailer. I had to take the wheels off, take the leaf springs down in the front and back and take off the front and back spring hangers. Then I had to mark where I was going to put them, drill the holes and mount everything back up. Finished up about 10 pm.
Today after work I am going to be putting the boat on. So, we will see what happens. Everything should be perfect though.
This was definitly a hard ass job. I thought it was going to be just a simple bolt on replacement parts job. Turned out to be much more then that.
The EX Flex system is awesome. The shackles are twice as thick as the ones that were on there. The Equalizer bar is 2 pieces pressed together with a rubber stop in between them. Its designed to flex forward and backward and make the rids smoother and easier on the trailer parts. The Equalizer bar also has 2 Grease zerk fittings on it. The shackles have a zerk fitting on each bolt and the bolts that hold the front and back of the leaf springs have zerk fittings in them too. Really a very heavy duty well designed system.
I also went from 4 leaf Leaf springs to 5 leaf Leaf springs. So, I went from 2000 lb capacity to 2500 lb capacity on each Leaf spring. Now I am at 10,000 lb capacity with springs and the 2 5,000 lb axles.
I also went to a 12" vented brake disk from a 10" regular disk. The calipers are also a little bigger and made better.
Everything that I replaced I put back together with assembly lubt and anti-seize compound. I also used a 1.5 cans of Fluid film on all of it once it was back together. I can't do anything else to keep it from rusting. I think its going to rust no matter what.
Here are some pictures of the before, during and after.
Nice looking job John. Since you did such a good job on yours I'll be more than happy to drop mine off over @ your house, cause mine needs that done too and I dread doing it.
Nice looking work John. I admire your patience and mechanical aptitude.
Hanging with captain Billy, you'll be rigging all manner of contraptions before too long!
Biscuit
We got the boat on yesterday and everything was perfect. The EZ Flex system really works good. The trailer has a much smoother ride now.
The 12" brakes are unbelievable....I am talking night and day difference better then the ones I had on there.
1 question though.....Does anyone have the lock out silinode for the brakes on their trailer? Its what allows you to back up without the brakes engaging.
I need to hook this up and I was wondering if it goes to the center pin on a 7 plug harness coming off the truck labled "Back up lamps"??????
Looking at your old calipers, I imagine it does stop a lot better. Did the old brakes even work? They look pretty bad. I feel your pain on the trailer deal. I had problems with my tandem axles when I first got it and after having all 4 bearings fail at different times I finally got new axles. I still constantly check my hubs to make sure they are not hot because of the issues I used to have.
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cause mine needs that done too and I dread doing it.
