PALTeam
Past Indiana Chapter Leaders
Pulling out of St Joe, MO, Oct 10, 2014, we were driving up the on ramp to westbound US 36 when I noticed blue smoke rolling from the left side of the "Clone". Immediately pulled over and found that the front and center tires were rubbing. Further noticed that both front EZ Flex equalizers had broken 'ears' (piece that rides against the rubber puck), which allowed the front axle to shift back, which allowed the tires to rub.
We called Good Sam Roadside, and they sent Ron from Osborn Automotive to help us out. Ron looked the problem over and whittled some wood down to fit between the frame and spring ends, separating the axles/wheels enough to let us limp off the road and back to their yard. After we got there, I contacted Dexter and explained the problem. Jim Miller from Dexter, who was great to work with, advised that sometimes the shackle links can get inverted, putting undue pressure on the equalizers and causing them to break. He thought this was especially true since both sides had broken, in the same place, apparently at the same time.
(We had stayed at Beacon RV the previous night, and the lot was pretty uneven, i.e., low in front; so my best guess is that when we leveled out the trailer, the front axle hung low enough for the shackle links to invert, the spring ends hammered the EZ Flex ears, etc.)
Jim Miller then said he'd try to track down replacement parts and would get back with us. He did and said he couldn't find EZ Flex parts anywhere near us, but did find stock equalizers at AA Wheel and Truck Supply in North Kansas City. The stock parts would allow us to get back on the road until we could get the EZ Flex.
This all started on a Friday morning, about 0900, so by the time Jim found the parts, it was too late to go to North KC. Osborn Automotive let us spend the night and plug into their 115v, so we had pretty much everything we needed, food, heat, etc. (Matter of fact, it was downright pleasant, almost like boon docking out in the middle of nowhere.)
Saturday morning I headed for AA Wheel & Truck, obtained the parts and headed back to Osborn. Luckily Ron was working on Saturday anyway and together we got the stabilizers installed and were back on the road by 1:30 Saturday afternoon (with five new tires - but that's another story/post).
Kudos to Jim Miller of Dexter, and to Ron and Kevin (owner) of Osborn Automotive! They all helped us - on Friday and Saturday - to get fixed and back on the road.
Lesson learned here was to regularly check the shackle link config, ensuring the links point 'up' from the equalizer to the end of the spring, both between front and center axle and between center and rear axle (which should look sorta like a 'W'). We do this before pulling out from any stop, as part of the 'walk around'.
We called Good Sam Roadside, and they sent Ron from Osborn Automotive to help us out. Ron looked the problem over and whittled some wood down to fit between the frame and spring ends, separating the axles/wheels enough to let us limp off the road and back to their yard. After we got there, I contacted Dexter and explained the problem. Jim Miller from Dexter, who was great to work with, advised that sometimes the shackle links can get inverted, putting undue pressure on the equalizers and causing them to break. He thought this was especially true since both sides had broken, in the same place, apparently at the same time.
(We had stayed at Beacon RV the previous night, and the lot was pretty uneven, i.e., low in front; so my best guess is that when we leveled out the trailer, the front axle hung low enough for the shackle links to invert, the spring ends hammered the EZ Flex ears, etc.)
Jim Miller then said he'd try to track down replacement parts and would get back with us. He did and said he couldn't find EZ Flex parts anywhere near us, but did find stock equalizers at AA Wheel and Truck Supply in North Kansas City. The stock parts would allow us to get back on the road until we could get the EZ Flex.
This all started on a Friday morning, about 0900, so by the time Jim found the parts, it was too late to go to North KC. Osborn Automotive let us spend the night and plug into their 115v, so we had pretty much everything we needed, food, heat, etc. (Matter of fact, it was downright pleasant, almost like boon docking out in the middle of nowhere.)
Saturday morning I headed for AA Wheel & Truck, obtained the parts and headed back to Osborn. Luckily Ron was working on Saturday anyway and together we got the stabilizers installed and were back on the road by 1:30 Saturday afternoon (with five new tires - but that's another story/post).
Kudos to Jim Miller of Dexter, and to Ron and Kevin (owner) of Osborn Automotive! They all helped us - on Friday and Saturday - to get fixed and back on the road.
Lesson learned here was to regularly check the shackle link config, ensuring the links point 'up' from the equalizer to the end of the spring, both between front and center axle and between center and rear axle (which should look sorta like a 'W'). We do this before pulling out from any stop, as part of the 'walk around'.
