New Springs

[Eric H.]

I might have an addiction to powder coating and I might have voided any warranty on the Dexter Equalizers but damn they look good and I'm glad I took them apart. The center pivot bushings were pressed in with some red powder coating in the bore so the grease grooves had a bunch of powder coating chips in them. The link bushings also had powder coating inside them so some of the bolts didn't go through plus the powder was baked into the bronze bushings. Powder coat is baked at 375-400 degrees so I replaced the already new link bushings in the equalizers. I got everything swapped out and gained about 1.75" in the back and it's almost level, but now I'm making 1.25" lift blocks to get it just right.

[dsol]

Looks very nice. You are quite the craftsman. I know I couldn’t do that myself and couldn’t part with the money to have someone else do it.

[Eric H.]

Originally Posted by dsol

Looks very nice. You are quite the craftsman. I know I couldn’t do that myself and couldn’t part with the money to have someone else do it.

Thanks, I started taking stuff apart before I was old enough to know why. Fixing & making things is how I make my living mostly. It's never too late to learn though with all the YouTube videos available.

The only hard part is having to do it on the street.

[Eric H.]

The lift blocks I need are 4" long x 1.75" wide x 1.25" thick so I scrounged through the shop to look for remnants of aluminum to make the blocks from. I found a couple options that would require quite a bit of cutting to get them to the shape I needed, but then I stumbled on the perfect match. 6061 Aluminum blocks left over from a job 3 years ago. The blocks were 4" long x 3" wide x 1.25 thick. One cut to bring the 3" to 1.75 and done for the finish size. I made four for my friend also and was able to line all eight up in the band saw at once so one cut and done for all eight. The blocks cost $5.60 a piece 3 years ago but they're probably triple that now. Then drill, tap & counterbore in the Bridgeport and they were done 1.5 hours later. 3/8-16 Socket Head Cap Screws used for the locating pins.

[ATCguy]

Just something to keep in mind, in re “lifting blocks”:

I’m not sure if your intention is to raise the suspension of your rig, or if you’re just just keeping it stock height. But, if it’s the former… you may wish to consider the effect of doing so on your rear ramp.

If you raise the suspension, the angle of your rear ramp-door will increase dramatically. If the toys you plan on loading in the back have high clearance, then it might not matter. But if not, you may be creating another problem for yourself.

My experience:

Not long after getting my rig back in 2013, I added the old CorrecTrac system to it. Adding this component increased my ride height about 2-inches… which I initially thought was a good thing, not even giving a thought that it would effect anything else. Then I went to load my Goldwing into the back, and discovered that the ramp angle… which was already a tad steep, was now MUCH steeper. Possibly an increase of 10-to-15 degrees.

So just saying, you may wish to do the math if you feel this might be an issue.

[Eric H.]

Originally Posted by ATCguy

Just something to keep in mind, in re “lifting blocks”:

I’m not sure if your intention is to raise the suspension of your rig, or if you’re just just keeping it stock height. But, if it’s the former… you may wish to consider the effect of doing so on your rear ramp.

If you raise the suspension, the angle of your rear ramp-door will increase dramatically. If the toys you plan on loading in the back have high clearance, then it might not matter. But if not, you may be creating another problem for yourself.

My experience:

Not long after getting my rig back in 2013, I added the old CorrecTrac system to it. Adding this component increased my ride height about 2-inches… which I initially thought was a good thing, not even giving a thought that it would effect anything else. Then I went to load my Goldwing into the back, and discovered that the ramp angle… which was already a tad steep, was now MUCH steeper. Possibly an increase of 10-to-15 degrees.

So just saying, you may wish to do the math if you feel this might be an issue.

Thanks, all good points and I do take all things into consideration. The springs were to upgrade the suspension with the added benefit of some lift to get it towing level. The tail was low a bit with my stock suspension 1 ton 4x4 dually. It is better now but not quite level and I only 5" to the bed rails so the blocks are needed. I'm hoping the blocks get enough lift to be able to drop my pin box a bit and get more clearance to the bed rails. My outer spring hangers are already boxed in and I'm planning on making an X-brace between the center hangers to help mitigate any extra leverage the blocks have on side loads (1.25" will be minimal). I have plenty of clearance with the 6" lift on the golf cart but wonder if it has the power to make it up the steeper ramp. If it doesn't make it up, I have the info I need to talk the wife into an AC motor upgrade for the cart. We already use a ramp for our dog to make it up the steps so I may need to extend the dog ramp a bit.

I also want to get it on level ground and park a forklift on either side to get an accurate overall height measurement so I have a real number instead of an estimate. Then I'll post the clearance in the cab of the truck.

[Eric H.]

It's pretty level now and I gained 3.5" at the back corner. I still have the pin box to switch out to get rid of the rotoflex box. I used the pullrite superlite so it doesn't like the rubber mounted king pin. I have the pullrite isolator installed but you can see it's getting beat trying to limit the movement.

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by Eric H.

It's pretty level now and I gained 3.5" at the back corner. I still have the pin box to switch out to get rid of the rotoflex box. I used the pullrite superlite so it doesn't like the rubber mounted king pin. I have the pullrite isolator installed but you can see it's getting beat trying to limit the movement.

Does it really help to have the extra ground height given by the upside down bucket thingies? Do you recommend them? They seem to be a bit overpriced..

[Eric H.]

Originally Posted by franktafl

Does it really help to have the extra ground height given by the upside down bucket thingies? Do you recommend them? They seem to be a bit overpriced..

I'm not sure what you mean about the buckets? The post is about the suspension upgrades I'm doing to get the ride height correct when towing and improve the ride. The buckets just happen to be in the picture because the trailer is in front of my house. The jacks are retracted in the photo and not contacting the buckets.

The Andersen Buckets are expensive but well worth it in my opinion. The buckets just make it so you don't have to extend the jacks as far and that makes the trailer more stable when parked. They are very heavy duty and should last for many years. I support the entire trailer on them parked off camber on the street with a slight angle on the gutter side buckets. Both axles off the ground for a week. I've put all 3 slides out and had 4 adults and an 80# dog inside while parked like this and it was very stable. The down side to the buckets is with them in place, the front of my trailer wouldn't lower enough past level to run the auto level sequence. I just leveled it manually but I'm hoping with the lift I installed that it will allow the front to dip low enough now to auto level.

[franktafl]

Good job on the springs by the way, it looks fantastic and probably will handle better also. The reason why I asked about the "buckets" is because I'm considering them in order to improve the bounce ability of the RV when parked. I didn't want to spend that kind of dollars for six things that were not going to help out anyone except the anderson company. Thanks again.

Frank

[Eric H.]

Originally Posted by franktafl

Good job on the springs by the way, it looks fantastic and probably will handle better also. The reason why I asked about the "buckets" is because I'm considering them in order to improve the bounce ability of the RV when parked. I didn't want to spend that kind of dollars for six things that were not going to help out anyone except the anderson company. Thanks again.

Frank

There are a lot of positive reviews about the buckets. The only negatives I found when researching was the price and people who don't own them but don't trust them lol. I remember one persons concern was how much farther the trailer would fall before it hit the ground if someone backed into your rig while you were sleeping.

[franktafl]

Lol!

Probably worried about the wind blowing it over too



They don’t give a break on price either…$300.00 for 6. Still 50 bucks each

[ATCguy]

Frank… don’t wanna derail the real topic here, but just to follow up on the buckets.

I’ve had them for the past 5 years now, and like them a lot… especially for the front 2 landing gear jacks, since the have the longest stroke. I ALWAYS use them for those front jacks, regardless of how many nights I stay in one place… but admit that I only use the other 4 when I’m going to be set up someplace for 3 days or more.

[Eric H.]

So my friend had an extra standard pin box after switching his TH over to a Gen Y Executive gooseneck conversion so I swapped out my RotoFlex for his standard box. Now the trailers not level again (not as bad as before springs & blocks) and I'm out of adjustment. I have another set of holes that would be perfect to raise the box but the holes are to close to the frame welds so no room for a bolt head. The standard pin box and spring upgrade really smoothed out the ride drastically. Every bump doesn't feel like it's lifting the back of my truck now and the RotoFlex isn't popping loudly every time I start and stop.

Now I think it's time for the Gen Y conversion.

[Eric H.]

I just ordered the 5.5k Gen Y Gooseneck Conversion so I'll have a Roto-Flex pin box and Pullrite Superlite single point hitch for sale soon if anyone's interested.

[Eric H.]

New spring update;

This last weekend, my wife and I took the little girl that she helps take care of to Tower Park/Jellystone Park in Lodi on Hwy 12. Hwy 12 between Fairfield and Lodi was tore up pretty bad and the patch jobs must have been done by prison roads crews. We hit some pretty big pot holes too but all of our cargo in the garage and on the floor stayed put. My wife brings a pet rat (its only a pet because it was too big to feed to her snake) in a small cage because she doesn't want to ask anyone to feed it while we're gone. The glass terrarium and our Keurig coffee maker go on the floor in front of the axles while traveling and neither one moved in transit. Even cargo in the garage barely shifted. The new GenY still has some breaking in to do but it's only got a couple hundred miles on it so far. I could definitely see it in the rear view mirror soaking up the bumps.

[Eric H.]

We just put 500 miles on the new suspension and Gen-Y hitch and it towed great. I could hardly feel the snow chain grooves on Hwy 80 over the Donner Summit. On our second to last day, I moved the trailer to a different spot in an unpaved camp ground with lots of big rocks. I forgot to remove the dogs water bowl before moving and expected to find a puddle in the trailer but not a drop was spilled.