Prepping for EZ -Flex Installation

[Bob Landry]

I met with one of our members, Jay Pat, on Tuesday to observe/assist with the installation of the Dexter EZ-Flex suspension kit on his Sprinter. He had a guy from a local RV mobile service come over to do the actual work, so I made it a point to take careful mental notes. BTW, the guy did the complete installations pretty much single handed in around three hours and that included stopping to answer our questions. We are going to be doing my Outback sometime next week.

I started prepping the parts for mine today. It consisted of chamfering around the large holes in the shackles to aid in aligning the wet bolts and also chamfering the grease holes on the wet bolts. I then cleaned any shavings out if the grease holes with the appropriate size drill bit. I also filed a mark on the heads of the wet bolts to indicate the orientation of the grease hole, since these have to be installed in a horizontal orientation. One thing, to anyone anticipating doing this mod, notice by the photo that the grease hole does not necessarily correspond with a flat side of the head on the wet bolt. It should be obvious to anyone doing this but you never know, and anyone can get easily distracted, myself included.

I'll add to this thread as I go along, and hopefully will have photos of the entire installation.

http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_130308_0_e007b5c36046eef3dee3439047f40d3e.jpg (http://s102.photobucket.com/user/rlandry6/media/EZFLEXprep_zps1413e4da.jpg.html)

[therink]

I installed ez flex wet bolt kit two years ago on my last keystone fiver. I watched a Youtube video or two, did some forum research and went to it. It took about 3 hours to do the first side and about 2 to do the second. It went fairly easy. The biggest help was having a ball joint removal press kit on hand to drive in the new bolts. I loaned it for free from Advance Auto Prts store near me (a lot of auto part chains have a tool loaner program). The hardesr part was getting set up and jacking the trailer. The old parts came apart fairly easy and I dont remember any setbacks.
Good luck with it and you will have a new sense of concidence wifh your suspension and should notice an impromemt wuth axle tracking and handling.
Steve

[Bob Landry]

I went ahead and picked up the ball joint kit from Harbor Freight. I figure that after I put the kit on, I'll sell it on Craigslist. The guy who did Pats installation was pretty heavy with the hammer and everything went well, butI'm just not comfortable beating on suspension brackets.

[grampscamper]

Good luck with the installation. I'm waiting to do mine. I have EZ Flex but not the wet bolts. The dealer told me I would void the warranty if I installed the wet bolt kit within the first year. I will be doing mine in Sept. when my warranty expires.

[WaltBennett]

Did our Monty last year. No problems at all save for having to use a 'come along' to pull an axle so the spring end would align with the frame mount. I had installed the center shackle first and couldn't get the spring end to the right spot no matter how much jacking I did. The axle didn't need a lot of pull to get it right, but it was more than I could do by hand. Someone else posted on MOC that they had the same issue & solved it the same way.

[bobbecky]

grampscamper, I think your dealer doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. If you give Keystone a call, I'm pretty sure they will confirm my thinking on this. Why would upgrading components on your suspension void a warranty? All they could tell you is, the warranty doesn't apply to the new components, and who cares?, there is probably some sort of warranty on the new parts anyway.

[Bob Landry]

It has taken years of hard work to achieve the status of "Entitled Curmudgeon" and I intend to enjoy every minute of it.

[Bob Landry]

Good luck with the installation. I'm waiting to do mine. I have EZ Flex but not the wet bolts. The dealer told me I would void the warranty if I installed the wet bolt kit within the first year. I will be doing mine in Sept. when my warranty expires.

I agree that the dealer, like so many, has no idea what he is talking about. You may void the warranty that is to do with suspension items, but then they would have to prove that what you did was the cause of the problem. It would not affect the warranty on the rest of the trailer, but do what you think is best for your situation.

[grampscamper]

I agree that installing a wet bolt kit shouldn't and most likely wouldn't void the warranty. When I called the dealer that is what I was told.
I think I'm likely safe to do it. Now I just need to make the time. I purchased a couple of bottle jacks to do the job. I also have a large floor jack. I'll need to get at it soon.

[bobbecky]

A suggestion on the installation of the bushings. I saw that when pressing or driving the bushings, especially in the springs, the bushings can deform a little and make the bolts very difficult to install, plus could make greasing them very hard. It was suggested to use a hand reamer through the bushing to true up the hole so the bolt is not in a bind.