geneseo1911
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2011
- Messages
- 183
My boat sits on an '82 Roadrunner trailer, which came with it originally. It is a tandem axle. I bought it from a friend who lived 2 miles from the ramp, so he never worried about the brakes or suspension. I have to drive about an hour to the lake, so after surviving on luck last year, I'm trying to get it back into tip-top shape.
My problem is this: the plastic bushings in the equalizers (double eye springs) wore through, and the wore about an 1/8" groove into the metal. Unfortunately, these particular equalizers appear to be unobtanium. They are 5" straight, and the only ones I can find that are straight are 8".
Do I
1) run the 8"'s and don't worry about it
2) Fill the damage with JB Weld, drill out, and use a new bushing (flipping it over so the main stress is on the cast iron)
3) buy "curved" equalizers, which will lift the trailer a bit (which it needs anyway), even though this would cause the springs to no longer sit parallel with the ground. The center hanger is long, so I suppose I could drill a new hole to hang the equalizer and keep the springs in the right orientation.
4) Flip the equalizers and don't worry about the wear
5) enter your suggestion here
I'm leaning towards #2, as i would prefer to not alter the factory suspension geometry, and I worry that not filling the groove would simply cause the new bushings to be destroyed, but think JB would be strong enough to withstand the rather small force on the EQ as the trailer comes down off the bump. I assume it would be tougher than the nylon bushing.
My problem is this: the plastic bushings in the equalizers (double eye springs) wore through, and the wore about an 1/8" groove into the metal. Unfortunately, these particular equalizers appear to be unobtanium. They are 5" straight, and the only ones I can find that are straight are 8".
Do I
1) run the 8"'s and don't worry about it
2) Fill the damage with JB Weld, drill out, and use a new bushing (flipping it over so the main stress is on the cast iron)
3) buy "curved" equalizers, which will lift the trailer a bit (which it needs anyway), even though this would cause the springs to no longer sit parallel with the ground. The center hanger is long, so I suppose I could drill a new hole to hang the equalizer and keep the springs in the right orientation.
4) Flip the equalizers and don't worry about the wear
5) enter your suggestion here
I'm leaning towards #2, as i would prefer to not alter the factory suspension geometry, and I worry that not filling the groove would simply cause the new bushings to be destroyed, but think JB would be strong enough to withstand the rather small force on the EQ as the trailer comes down off the bump. I assume it would be tougher than the nylon bushing.
