JBarca
Radnor, Ohio, USA
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Joined: 12/16/2004
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Hi NWElk
Welcome to the forum!
You mentioned the EZ Flex lowering your suspension by 1”, h’mm heads up that “might” be a concern. Some TT have 4" fender clearnace, some 3" and some less. What do you have now on the heavy side of the TT?
I’ll share with you my situation. My TT builder believed in keeping the TT as low as practical for less wind drag and more stable towing. As such my fender clearance on the stock setup is lower them the Dexter recommended 3” min. I had about 2 1/2" to 2 3/8” with the TT loaded. While that does not sound like that much of a change, it is about the minimum I would want to run. And in my case I upgraded to 6,000# axles which have different axle seats and I added axle adjusters. The axle seat 1/4” and the axle adjusters 1/4” lowered me 1/2” from an already low fender clearance. I do not like the close clearance in max suspension travel and as such I raised the suspension back up to stock thru the spring mounts.
If add the EX flex will lower your TT by 1” see what fender clearance you will have. I would not recommend must below 2 1/2” and like I said, Dexter recommends 3” as a generic rule.
If you want to test your setup before you do the upgrade, here is one method to see max travel, again for you present day TT loading. If you have a lot of cargo weight yet to be able to add before reaching GVWR, well you will need to make an estimate on how much that will drop your TT ride height making this rub problem worse.
I slowly backed up on wood blocks under 1 tire. The block height is enough to raise the entire TT off the ground leaving the rear tire spin in air. Granted this is extreme and max but again there in no bounce going on while driving and dropping a wheel in a pot hole or going over a high up bump under motion.
Here is normal
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/WoodchocksonT310SR.jpg)
Here is the ramp setup
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/EZ%20Flex%20Install/Supensionmaxtraveloutside.jpg)
The rear tire off the ground
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/EZ%20Flex%20Install/Supensionmaxtravelground.jpg)
And the inside looking out.
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/EZ%20Flex%20Install/Supensionmaxtravelinside.jpg)
And in my case I have a super slide. The slide side is lower due to the extra weight. Here is normal on the slide side
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/WoodchocksonT310SRslideside.jpg)
I raised my suspension in this manner and beefed it up in the process.
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/Axle%20Rebuild/bottomviewassy.jpg)
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/Axle%20Rebuild/Endviewassy.jpg)
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/Axle%20Rebuild/hexboltendassy.jpg)
Also don’t forget new tires eat up some space too.
Hope this helps and good luck
John
John & Cindy
2005 Ford F350 Super Duty, 4x4; 6.8L V10 with 4.10
CC, SB, Lariat & FX4 package
21,000 GCWR, 11,000 GVWR
Ford Tow Command
1,700# Reese HP hitch & HP Dual Cam
2 1/2" Towbeast Receiver
2004 Sunline Solaris T310SR
(I wish we were camping!)
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Snowman9000
IL
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Joined: 01/07/2009
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Does the EZ-Flex lower the height in all cases?
Currently RV-less but not done yet.
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JBarca
Radnor, Ohio, USA
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Joined: 12/16/2004
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Snowman9000 wrote:Does the EZ-Flex lower the height in all cases?
No, In my case I had a different rigid Equalizer. Actually it was an Alko, not a Dexter.
If you have a Dexter equalizer and it fits in the range the EX flex was made for, then there is very little if any ride height changes.
However.... there are some really strange long Dexter equalizers as well that will affect ride height. Best to check first which one you have. See this Dexter file. On the bottom of it are the actual dimensions of the EX flex. If you do not know what rigid equalizer you have now, you can measure it and compare this sheet.
http://i.b5z.net/i/u/1080235/f/Instruction_Sheets/059-867-00B.pdf
And if any questions, call Dexter customer support. They have free good customer support.
Hope this helps
John
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NWElkhunter
Oregon-the Dry Side
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Joined: 03/18/2009
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Hi John,
Thanks for the welcome!
The slide on my Jayco is on the left side and has the dinette and couch/hide-a-bed. The right side has the kitchen more or less over the wheels, and I think my FW tank is over the wheels or slightly forward. I like the procedure you came up with, and I will do the same to get an idea of the clearance I now have. I may pull the wheel skirts off to get a clear look at things as well.
Thanks for info, it is appreciated.
Happy New Year to ALL!!
Gary
TV 1996 F250HD 4x4 Powerstroke, 4:10's, MaxBrake controller
TT 2007 Jayco 28RBS, Bulldog 4k Electric Jack, more to come!
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Snowman9000
IL
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Joined: 01/07/2009
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JBarca wrote:Snowman9000 wrote:Does the EZ-Flex lower the height in all cases?
No, In my case I had a different rigid Equalizer. Actually it was an Alko, not a Dexter.
If you have a Dexter equalizer and it fits in the range the EX flex was made for, then there is very little if any ride height changes.
However.... there are some really strange long Dexter equalizers as well that will affect ride height. Best to check first which one you have. See this Dexter file. On the bottom of it are the actual dimensions of the EX flex. If you do not know what rigid equalizer you have now, you can measure it and compare this sheet.
http://i.b5z.net/i/u/1080235/f/Instruction_Sheets/059-867-00B.pdf
And if any questions, call Dexter customer support. They have free good customer support.
Hope this helps
John
OK, thanks! I already have the kit in hand. In my case I have the exact part number equalizer on the trailer that is listed for replacement by the EZ-Flex. So I should not lose any height. Whew.
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mudpuppi
Fredericksburg, Virginia
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Joined: 12/25/2009
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I'm new to RVing and learning alot from you guys! Thanks for sharing all your hard work making it easy for the rest of us. I am really interested in making this mod to my TT after reading this. Even though it is an '09 model some of the roads beat me to death! On certian portions (concrete sections)I can hardly talk to my wife sitting next me due to the jerking and bounce that does a number on our voice waves! Once I get my coach out of storage and look at the setup I will be ordering the EZ-Flex and the shocks! After tenting for 20 years we are loving our TT!!!
2009 Puma 26FBSS
2006 Ford F250 Lariat SuperDuty 6.0 Turbo Diesel
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amdriven2liv
Oregon
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Joined: 09/02/2009
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mudpuppi,
You will enjoy the EZ-Flex system. I put one on mine in September and have enjoyed the ride. Really softens the road. My suspension had about 4000 miles on it, and the plastic bushings were already cracked and decaying. If anything, the ability to grease the suspension will surely help the suspension last longer!
P.S. I really needed the ball joint tool from harbor Freight. I tried a large C clamp, didn't work.
Amdriven
2004 F350 6.0L 4x4 CC LB King Ranch, Scangauge II
2010 Mountaineer 324RLQ,
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mudpuppi
Fredericksburg, Virginia
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Thanks Amdriven! I have a large C clamp that I use on a lot of things but I think I will go ahead and get the ball joint tool just to save me some frustration. I'm sure that once I do my TT our friends will want to do theirs (they are already asking a lot of questions about it. The tool should pay for itself. I really like the fact that each bolt can be greased.
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RCMAN46
NorthWest
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Joined: 02/24/2008
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mudpuppi wrote:Thanks Amdriven! I have a large C clamp that I use on a lot of things but I think I will go ahead and get the ball joint tool just to save me some frustration. I'm sure that once I do my TT our friends will want to do theirs (they are already asking a lot of questions about it. The tool should pay for itself. I really like the fact that each bolt can be greased. Believe me you will probably need the ball joint tool. When I did mine there is no way a c clamp would have done the job.
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JBarca
Radnor, Ohio, USA
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Joined: 12/16/2004
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RCMAN46 wrote:mudpuppi wrote:Thanks Amdriven! I have a large C clamp that I use on a lot of things but I think I will go ahead and get the ball joint tool just to save me some frustration. I'm sure that once I do my TT our friends will want to do theirs (they are already asking a lot of questions about it. The tool should pay for itself. I really like the fact that each bolt can be greased. Believe me you will probably need the ball joint tool. When I did mine there is no way a c clamp would have done the job.
Yes you are correct that it does take a lot of umf to push the bushings in or worse the spring bolts. If your clamp has a 3/4" thread it can just get you buy. Mine did. However I have large clamps with 5/8 threads and they are not striong enough. So defining large, it needs to be 3/4 acme thread or larger which is what the ball joint tool adds. I think it is 1".
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/EZ%20Flex%20Install/17Wetboltinstall.jpg)
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/EZ%20Flex%20Install/18Wetboltpress.jpg)
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/EZ%20Flex%20Install/13Bushingpressing.jpg)
![[image]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/JBarca/T310SR%20Camper%20Upgrades/EZ%20Flex%20Install/12Cclampbushingpress.jpg)
Mine worked, but it just made it. So "Be Prepared"
Hope this helps
John
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