shots from the garage...
October…. Our “false fall” month has arrived. Been starting to look at a newer trailer. While this 16 year old Cargo Mate has served us well with only a couple structural hiccups, we’d like something a little bigger and taller to accommodate our SxS….. basically a toy hauler capable of hauling a car. The torn shackle (one on other side was cracked) was an interesting deal. We started getting tire wear on the RR and it always ran 10-15 degrees warmer. I’d also damaged a side panel on the left side and found a trailer repair place to have this taken care of. After determining that everything was still square they suspected the rear axle and I made the call to replace it. While it was apart they upsold me the Dexter EZ flex equalizer and wet bolt shackle kit. Ton of miles on the rig and there was definitely some wear on the OE dry set up. Long story short…. and I do mean short, just shy of two years after this repair I was leaving for work and was going to put the tire covers on (got in late the night before) and I could hardly get my hand between the tires on the right side. After some serious research on leaf spring trailers i finally figured it out. They installed the Dexter EZ flex for a 33” axle spread…… our trailer is a 35”. So basically my axles were in a game of tug-o-war with each other. I’m neither a “welder” or a structural engineer, but to be honest for the weight involved those long shackles always kind of bothered me for the weight involved. Welded one new hanger on and I made plates to overlay all of them. So far it’s been doing just fine…..
October…. Our “false fall” month has arrived. Been starting to look at a newer trailer. While this 16 year old Cargo Mate has served us well with only a couple structural hiccups, we’d like something a little bigger and taller to accommodate our SxS….. basically a toy hauler capable of hauling a car. The torn shackle (one on other side was cracked) was an interesting deal. We started getting tire wear on the RR and it always ran 10-15 degrees warmer. I’d also damaged a side panel on the left side and found a trailer repair place to have this taken care of. After determining that everything was still square they suspected the rear axle and I made the call to replace it. While it was apart they upsold me the Dexter EZ flex equalizer and wet bolt shackle kit. Ton of miles on the rig and there was definitely some wear on the OE dry set up. Long story short…. and I do mean short, just shy of two years after this repair I was leaving for work and was going to put the tire covers on (got in late the night before) and I could hardly get my hand between the tires on the right side. After some serious research on leaf spring trailers i finally figured it out. They installed the Dexter EZ flex for a 33” axle spread…… our trailer is a 35”. So basically my axles were in a game of tug-o-war with each other. I’m neither a “welder” or a structural engineer, but to be honest for the weight involved those long shackles always kind of bothered me for the weight involved. Welded one new hanger on and I made plates to overlay all of them. So far it’s been doing just fine…..