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Old 02-20-2018, 09:44 PM   #21
travelin texans
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On my new 5er a few years ago the plastic bushings, rather what was left of them pushed out with a screwdriver.
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Old 02-21-2018, 03:17 AM   #22
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Thanks Brent! Yes, since my RV is brand spanking new. I wanted to do this right away. I knew it would be a good investment.
Congrats on your new upgrade, you won't be disappointed!
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Old 02-21-2018, 09:47 AM   #23
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A pneumatic hammer will drive the plastic bushings out easy, if you are planning on doing your own work.
Actually I do have a pneumatic chisel, but no air at my lot. I have to use this instead. Just to speed up the bolt removal.
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Old 02-21-2018, 09:52 AM   #24
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Actually I do have a pneumatic chisel, but no air at my lot. I have to use this instead.
If you haven't done your RV yet, not sure if pics you posted are pics of yours or not but someone posted that getting either a ball joint puller or some tool used on the frontend repair of a car is great for getting the bolts backed out of the hangers because of them being pressed in on a spline. I had to pound mine out and then pound the new ones back in. The puller had I known about it would have been much easier!
Just looked online, its the ball joint service kit. Advance auto will let you use one with a small deposit. I'm sure other stores will to, just have to check.
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Old 02-21-2018, 10:00 AM   #25
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I used a large C clamp to press in the new bushings, with a dab of grease on them they pressed in wth no problem.
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Old 02-21-2018, 04:08 PM   #26
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Since mine are so new. I can't imagine that they would be SET in there that bad. I do have a nice array of pullers and front end tools, so thanks for the comments. The job looks fairly straight forward. There is a great video out here ->
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Old 02-22-2018, 12:13 PM   #27
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Woohoo! The new kit is in!
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Old 03-11-2018, 07:43 AM   #28
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Dexter E-Z Flex Equalizer Installed

Well I was finally able to install the Dexter E-Z Flex this weekend. Boy what a difference in the quality of parts over stock. Check out the before and after photos. Also the Dexter bushings were far superior to the Mylar bushings in the stock arrangement. The shackles are beefed up. The wet bolts provide a source of lubrication; although they have not yet had grease pumped into them in this photo, and the install was fairly straight forward. I can't wait to road test it this month.
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Old 03-11-2018, 02:40 PM   #29
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Well I was finally able to install the Dexter E-Z Flex this weekend. Boy what a difference in the quality of parts over stock. Check out the before and after photos. Also the Dexter bushings were far superior to the Mylar bushings in the stock arrangement. The shackles are beefed up. The wet bolts provide a source of lubrication; although they have not yet had grease pumped into them in this photo, and the install was fairly straight forward. I can't wait to road test it this month.
Looks good. I'm looking at upgrading the shackles and installing a wet bolt kit for my Bullet this summer prior to a big 3 week vacation. Was the install difficult? Did you jack up one side at a time? The Dexter E-Z flex doesn't look like an option for my Bullet as the wide stance axles are mounted via a very long hanger. Will have to look at other options for a hanger replacement.
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Old 03-11-2018, 04:54 PM   #30
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Alternatives to Dexter

Well the install was fairly straight forward. I posted a video earlier in the thread from the folks at eTrailer. I used a tool called a Safe Jack which is very robust (also very expensive) to get the RV frame up in the air, and yes, I did one side at a time. (Remember to Never try to lift the RV by the axles). After I got it up on stands. I found one of the nuts wouldn't come off due to a stripped outter thread at the bolt of the rear spring eyelet. This apparently happened during initial assembly. I didn't want to get hung up on it, so I moved on. I was able to come back to it later, and get it out with a combination of tools. So all in all about two hours per side for me. Granted I was working remotely from my RV lot which is Gravel . I found that unlike the video. I had to remove all the nuts at the center hanger from both sides of the shackles. This made them come out more easily. Also I have long punches that go in my air hammer. I used my shop hammer to drive out the bolts. Oddly enough they wouldn't come out by striking the end of the bolt threads. So make sure and use a decent length punch of adequate size. Also I am used to the nuances of getting the leaf spring eyelet to align with the bolt holes in the hangers. So be patient! This can take a little back and forth haggling. Lastly Lippert also makes equalizers. You may want to look at them.
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Old 03-12-2018, 06:19 AM   #31
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Good job and thanks for sharing.
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