Fifth wheel suspension maintenance

[Coachman_Owner]

I have a 2004 Coachmen Chaparral 277DS fifth wheel with the standard cast iron Dexter equalizers and spring suspension. I've read articles where people have experienced catrostophic damage from broken shackles, broken spring bolts, and worn through equalizers. There doesn't appear to me to be be any maintenance to the system other than a complete teardown to inspect, replace worn pieces, or just put in new while it's dismanteled. Are there any suggestions of what to do, what to look for, and what to replace with if need be or suggestions?

[fj12ryder]

They bought Dexter Chassis Group, not Dexter Axles. Dunno about Moryde.

[Shepherd]

I thought lippert bought dexter and moryde?

[garyp4951]

I would buy a Dexter, or MoRyde product over a Lippert one. Just do a search on Lippert equalizers failing after a year or two.

[Coachman_Owner]

Has anybody used Lippert's "Road Armor" equalizer? Tests measuring shock to the trailer look better with them than the others but the tests could be biased by Lippert and nobody talks about life expectancy of their products other than Lippert's "never-fail" bushings.

[BarneyS]

I would recommend, as the others have, you inspect carefully and replace at least the shackles that attach between the spring ends and the trailer parts. Those do not last long at all. In addition, the bearing surfaces in the spring ends and the equalizer wear very quickly in most units.

I, along with many others, have replaced my spring hanger parts with the Dexter EZ Flex unit and shackles and wet bolts. There is a comprhensive thread about the installation from me and several others, complete with pictures, here. . The first parts pictures do not show up well but my install begins on P.4 and the pics are fine. Hope this helps you out a bit.
Barney

[azdryheat]

Coachman Owner wrote:
Did you do this as routine maintenance or did the stock suspension fail?

The metal plates attaching the springs to the frame were loose yet the connections were tight. Something wasn't right.

EZ-Flex ran me around $600 for 3 axles and I did the work in 2 days doing a side half a day. Best money spent.

[Lynnmor]

As you are seeing in the above comments, the stock suspension is junk and you should do the upgrades like wet bolts. I also spray Fluid Film on the springs and associated parts to lubricate and prevent rust.

[pcm1959]

I have had the heavy duty wet bolt kit since 2011. I grease it before every trip. Most my trips are under 400 miles round trip. On longer trips, I grease it again before the return. I'm amazed how dirty the old grease is that gets pushed out in such a short time. Just goes to show you how much movement is going on in the shackles.

[southernsky]

Had the Lippert Equa-Flex system go out on my trailer. Replaced it with Dexter E-Z Flex heavy duty wet bolt suspension. Three years and lots of miles with no problems

[B_O__Plenty]

Only real way to check it is to take some of it apart. As long as it's apart why not upgrade to wet bolts, heavy shackles and cushioned equalizers. You will be glad you did.
B.O.

[fj12ryder]

azdryheat wrote:
I took the 5 year old stock suspension components and replaced them with EZ Flex and wet bolts. What a difference in the ride, tremendously reduced the bucking going over bumps. And the wet bolts eliminated all the squeaking.

This is the best way to do any maintenance on OEM suspension. Basically the OEM suspension is so bad there is no real way to lube anything or do any real preventive maintenance. You just check it, and replace the parts that are worn out. It should be a crime to put that kind of suspension on anything that cost more than a #1.98.

[Edd505]

Routine inspections & the first sign of an issue up grade the suspension. We travel a lot, 10,000+ year so I put Morryde sre4000 & Morryde heavy duty shackle kit in. I can now grease the suspension and do not worry about worn nylon bushings, the replacements are bronze, 500-600 in parts.

[Coachman_Owner]

Did you do this as routine maintenance or did the stock suspension fail?

[azdryheat]

I took the 5 year old stock suspension components and replaced them with EZ Flex and wet bolts. What a difference in the ride, tremendously reduced the bucking going over bumps. And the wet bolts eliminated all the squeaking.