326SRX Wet Bolts

[Desert185]

Well, today was the day. 70 degrees and no wind. Took a bit getting organized with the tools required as this was the first time for me.

Tools:
HF ball joint removal tool
8 ton bottle jack
Floor jack
Two jack stands
Misc wood blocks
Compressor
Pneumatic wrench
Pneumatic socket set
1/2" ratchet
Short pry bar
12" long 1/2" tapered punch
Ball peen hammer
Double-ended shock mounting bolt
Box end wrench for wet bolt heads
Grease gun
Mor/ryde wet bolt kit for CRE/3000 equalizer (Amazon.com $88)

The process:

Pre-grease wet bolts via the zerk fitting.
Begin with unhitched trailer (landing gear and rear stabilizers deployed)
Chock opposite side wheels
Loosen lug nuts
Jack under spring u-bolts at axle to clear tire from ground
Place jack stand and wood block close to fore or aft spring shackle
Remove tire
Repeat for other tire on same side
Remove one shackle attached to equalizer and spring end
(The MOR/ryde equalizer has bronze bushings, so if the trailer has relatively low miles it is not necessary to replace them with the bushings in the kit)
Remove plastic bushing from spring eye with tapered punch and/or double-ended shock bolt and hammer. The shoulder on the bolt will help punch out the bushing.
Grind down serrations on one of the shackle bolts near the bolt head and use to drive one of the kit's bronze bushings into the spring eye.
Use new shackle half already mounted with bolts and insert into equalizer and spring eye. Insert so hole in wet bolt is approximately at 9 or 3 o'clock. (There should no prying/alignment required at this point)
Remove shackle on other side of equalizer.
Remove top bolt on equalizer and replace bolt with wet bolt in kit.
Replace previously removed shackle with new one from kit.
Brace an axle with floorjack and remove that spring's outboard bolt on spring eye.
Lower axle just enough to punch out plastic bushing.
Install bronze bushing from kit.
Raise axle enough to line up spring eye with hole in spring hanger.
Insert new wetbolt with tapered punch on opposite side to align holes for bolt. It might be necessary to also use pry bar, but not much movement will be required.
Repeat for other axle.
Use bottle jack to raise one axle and install wheel.
Pull that jack stand and lower wheel.
Repeat for other wheel.

At this point, one side is done with the exception of greasing the wet bolts. Chock those tires and repeat the process for the opposite side. I installed the wet bolts with the zerk fitting on the inside, but if you have a grease gun with a hose, they can be installed with the zerk fittings outside. I like them inside because it forces me to crawl under the trailer to inspect the suspension more closely when greasing the wet bolts.

The ball joint removal tool is necessary for removing the three bolts attaching the springs and equalizer to the frame hangers. I wouldn't attempt this with a c-clamp.

I placed the jack stands on the chassis outside frame rails without removing any coroplast using a short 2x4 on top of the jack stand.

Doing only one side at a time minimizes movement of the axles and makes installing the new wet bolts relatively easy without having use another method to pull the axles back into position.

Hope this helps anyone who may want to attempt this.

Edit: One thing that might be of interest. I bought the Mor/ryde kit because my trailer came with a Mor/ryde CRE/3000 equalizer. The kit includes wetbolts for the equalizer pivot position. The parts, BTW, were Dexter parts.

[chuckster57]

Sounds like you had a busy day. Tomorrow for the other side?

Always good to hear of success stories on big projects.

[Desert185]

Nope. Did both sides today. The second side only took about 70 minutes. Learning curve...

[chuckster57]

Most excellent!!

[bartbill]

I too have the same Copper Canyon. So, did you replace the bushings with "wet ones" on your rig? If so where did you buy them. I plan on a trip to Alasaka and this thread has me plenty worried.

Regards

[Desert185]

I bought the Mor/ryde kit ($88.00) from www.smile.amazon.com after confirming which kit was compatible with the Mor/ryde CRE/3000 equalizer that came with my trailer. The kit items were made by Dexter for Mor/ryde, BTW.

The kit includes wet bolts, shackles and bronze bushings.

[bartbill]

Thanks much. Good to know

[Desert185]

www.smile.amazon.com supports the Semper Fi fund, BTW, as opposed to www.amazon.com. Good for Amazon.

[bartbill]

Desert,

Can I pm you? I'm having a bit of trouble following your directions (its me). I'm trying to get this all in my head before I start. Already have the parts.

Best regards

Bill

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by bartbill

Desert,

Can I pm you? I'm having a bit of trouble following your directions (its me). I'm trying to get this all in my head before I start. Already have the parts.

Best regards

Bill

PM sent. Ask away.

[bartbill]

Desert,

Thanks much for the help. Have about an hour in the morning to finish up. From the look of the bushings, I'm glad I did this.

Best Regards