Dexter Heavy-Duty Suspension Kit for Tandem-Axle Trailers - 1-3/4" Wide Double Eye Springs

During my yearly maintenance i found a issue with 1 of my spring equilizers and all of my bushings were worn out "got my moneys worth out of them" etrailer sent this kit and it only took me 2 hrs to install and get back on the road1750140

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by: Randall Spangler12/23/2023

The wet shackle kit was purchased for a Neo enclosed snowmobile trailer that worn out shackles and bolts in the suspension. Removal of the old hardware went fine and the clean up of the springs also. The assy of the new shackles and hardware was relatively easy. Initial greasing of the new wet shackle set up was difficult but ultimately I got all zerks to take grease except one of the pins in one of the shackle plates with two pins.
A couple of 300 mile trips and all took grease easily except that one pin and it still will not take grease.
Its almost as if there is not a hole for the grease to travel thru.1705000

Parts came on time. Great design to the grease fitting bolts1527098

Rodney

3/1/2024

Working well so far. A few of the grease through bolts are a little hard to pump grease to. But product is good

This is a very good kit. Over the standard kit, the big differences are: 1) bronze bushings instead of plastic, 2) greaseable (zerk fittings) hollow bolts for both ends of springs, 3) zerk/grease fittings on all three load equalizer bushings, and 4) extra thick shackle straps (1/2” instead of 1/4”). The only unfortunate part is the kit costs 3-4 times what the standard kit costs. In my opinion, it is still very worth it.
One part I didn’t like and didn’t have great luck with is the instructed method to install the greaseable bolts and the top equalizer bolts. Under the bolt heads is splined for about 1/4”. The splines MUST engage with the spring hangar hole to prevent the bolt from turning. If the bolts are allowed to turn in the hangar holes, the holes will quickly become oblong because the bolts will turn here instead of against the bushing as designed. This will quickly oblong/oval the hangar holes. The instructions say to use a piece of pipe over the grease fitting (to prevent damaging it) and to hammer the bolt in. This works marginally well, but I was not able to get any of the bolts fully seated with this method (by the way, a 3/8” pipe nipple 6-8” long from a local hardware store works perfectly for this). When hammering against the bolt heads, you’re really hammering against the spring hangar. It’s like hammering against a diving board (not very effective).
After starting the bolts with the pipe and hammer method, I made a special tool. It is nothing more than a piece of 1/4” thick steel with a half circle/recess torched out (see pictures). I then tapped this in between either the spring end or the equalizer (depending on which bolt I was working on) and the hangar with the bolt in the half circle/recess. This spacer allowed me to use the bolt nut to draw the splines fully into their hole.
All that said, I have a number of words of caution:
1. When using this special spacer tool, still DO NOT use an impact wrench to draw the bolt splines in! This will just spin the bolt and likely wreck the bolt and the hole. By hand only!
2. Furthermore, be careful how much torque you use to draw the splines in! It requires a bit more than the normal 50 ft-lb of torque when tightening the bolt, but definitely don’t use a 24” breaker bar. The bolts are 9/16” bolt, but the nut and thread are only 1/2-20 (fine thread). It would be very possible to use too much force and twist off/wreck the bolt.
3. To get my hangar holes back to their correct size (allowing the splines to engage), I welded up the edges of the holes, ground them flat, then redrilled to 9/16”. While this worked very well and is much easier and cheaper than installing new hangars, the weld metal is harder than the original hangar. This is likely why I had added trouble getting the bolt heads fully seated.
Two final notes:
1. When removing the old bolts without damaging/enlarging the holes under the bolt heads (assuming they’re not oblong/oval like most of mine were), an air hammer works great for this.
2. The spring hangars should be slightly wider where the bolt passes through them. Mine had become slightly collapsed here. I just used a big adjustable wrench to splay the two sides of the hangar apart from each other again. When installed, the bolt should draw the sides of the hangar back together (it’s like a spring). I used a bolt to gauge how far to go – farther than the shoulder of the bolt, but not so far you can’t get a nut on. They shouldn’t be splayed a whole lot – maybe 1/8-1/4” maximum.1193499

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Replaced everything on my 2017 trailer, all the parts fit like they should,and delivery was fast.I added a before and after photo and I would recommend everyone to check their trailer for wear.1588960

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A must have for any rv owner. The equalizer used on most rv’s are the cheapest they can put on and you won’t know how bad yours are until they fail. You cannot visually check the equalizer so a greasable assembly is an absolute must have and these are very reasonably priced.1718774

by: Ben 02/27/2024

Better than I thought it could be. Every part has a grease fitting, and the customer service was unbelievable.1739105

by: Mark 10/02/2023

I am glad i made the upgrade from stock parts. The trailer spring bushings were plastic and wiped out also the shackle plates were egg shaped from the bolts. Greasable wet bolts are the way to go and the plates are thicker ,i notice the trailer does not sway side to side while towing like before.1676117

Installed on a 2018 Prime Time Avenger ATI. Rear axle failed (lost its arc resulting in a burred spindle and inconsistent tire wear). During inspection of the hanging components, found the OEM shackle links failed or in the process of failing. These new components are truly heavy-duty (just reading that they are ½” thick does not give as much of an appreciation as comparing them to the originals). Took approximately 12 hours (dodging periodic rainstorms) to replace rear axle and the suspension kits and springs for both axles. Installation was straight forward without complexity. I can now rest easy that these parts will last longer.1424631

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I bought these to replace an aged set of what looked to be OE hangers during a retrofit to raise the trailer. Three items that drove me to this set: wet bolts, included metal bushings, and the side plates are massive! They look to be well-built, and all hardware is included in the kit. I feel much better about the suspension integrity after adding these, knowing the load placed on them during tight maneuvers.786295

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Nathan

4/26/2021

Over six thousand miles, and all is well. Ive greased them twice probably overkill and not one creak or pop from the springs. Thanks again, etrailer!

by: Lee 08/09/2023

I installed these on a tandem boat trailer. No modifications needed. I am hauling a heavy fiberglass 22' boat and I like these heavy shackles. The old shackles had wore completely through. Because these bolts are locked to the shackles the pivot is on the bolt were it is designed to be spread out to the lubricated surface. This is better and stronger than the original. It is greaseable too.1642010

Every thing came very fast, took old parts out and installed new parts ,springs and hardware went together very good1690902

total rework of my enclosed 16' trailer new brakes, springs and a couple of wheels and tires makes it seem like new1649065

by: Jonathan08/28/2023

For the most part this kit worked nicely. However, there were some quality control issues. Two of the pin/shackles did not fit together even before I installed them. The shackle wouldn't fit over the pins. I ended up using a vice to close the pins a little but on the last shackle I had to drill out the holes. The pins on that shackle won't take grease so now I have to redo that pin/shackle.1656011

by: Richard12/27/2023

these are the best because they have grease zerk on them.1705439

by: Barry W07/13/2020

I installed them this spring, here are a few pictures. I also installed all new bushings and greasable pins. It was a good thing I replaced these as the center bushing on my old equalizers were broken. The new equilizers are a couple inches taller than the old one, raise my trailer over an inch. This worked well as my new truck is higher than my old one.837205

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by: Peter06/15/2023

Good quality kit, no missing pieces. My stock shackles were 1/4” thick with stamped holes so essentially 1/8” of bearing surface on the bushings. They wore out twice at about eight months each time. This kit has 1/2” thick shackles with machined holes so four times the bearing surface for the metal bushings instead of plastic. No issues so far and trailer feels steadier. I would reorder this kit when the time comes.1601382

by: Hunter07/18/2021

I used this kit to upgrade the suspension on my travel trailer. The original suspension was a "dry bolt" system with plastic bushings. This system allows me to lube all parts of the suspension, plus the bronze bushings will last much longer. This upgrade also eliminated all of the annoying squeaks I was getting a slow speeds and while maneuvering. I highly recommend it.1097679

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I have 6 and 1/8 th equalizers . i used Dexter heavy duty supension kit K71-359-00 removed bushings from equalizers in kit . removed old plastic bushing from my equalizers drilled 13/64 hole in center of top hole taped hole with 1/4 by 28.for grease zert replaced brass bushings from equalizers in kit to my equalizers then put it all together. great kit585401

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Great kit comes with good heavy duty links that are way better than the broken ones I removed. Plus they have bronze bushings instead of the teflon/plastic ones they are replacing, with grease fittings now, it will be a long term fix.1650262

by: Lonnie09/27/2023

We've had no suspension related issues since the suspension kit was installed.1673826

by: C Stewart11/24/2020

The suspension kit with Hardware made it nice to install on my 2007 Weekend Warrior toy hauler. I recommend this when installing new leaf springs as it makes it much nicer then having to fight with all the old bolts.915620

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Great kit but beware of your front and rear hangers.

Overall, I would recommend this kit and I would purchase the kit again. One thing that got me was the length of the front and rear shoulder bolts. They were a half inch short for my application due to my Keystone Outback having two 1/4" spacers on the outside of the frame mounting. It would have been nice to know ahead of time the length of those bolts (which are not listed on the website). I contacted etrailer about this matter and the confirmed that the bolts I received were correct for the kit. The bad news was that I had to purchase 4 additional wet shoulder bolts at 10 bucks a piece and pay shipping on top of that to complete the kit for my application. This turned my $[XX] parts kits into a kit that cost over $[XX]. (I used etrailer item # MR52HR for my application). I was a bit irritated that I have to wait a few more day to receive all the parts for my project. Also, it would be nice to return the 4 bolts that came with the kit for a partial refund (I have no use for them).1554449

Quality seemed to be good. I thought I ordered the kit for the 35" axle spacing but got the kit for the 33" spacing. Had most of the parts already installed by the time I realized the mistake. So, it cost me an addition $124.34 for the correct equalizer. I know ...my mistake for not checking all the parts before starting the install.1255661

Grant G.

1/31/2023

Good - No complaints

by: Scott05/14/2022

So much better than the original parts. Heavy duty shackles, brass bushings and it's all greasable! It'll last forever.1297938

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