I picked up a 27 foot NEO inline trailer this summer and finally getting the things done to it that I should have done this fall. It was a bit neglected so I have replaced the tires, bearings, repaired the brakes (mostly bad wiring), and finally onto springs. One was cracked at the eye and actually came off the hangar when I jacked it up so definitely overdue. Had to basically cut everything off and want to replace all the hangars, coupler, springs, bolts, etc. Where should I source these from? Any particular recommended brands or something I should steer away from? How do I know what springs I need? Eye to eye measurement maybe... Thx
inline trailer springs?
- Thread starter tomcat
- Start date
wiharley02
Member
I just replaced the springs, shackles, equalizers, u-bolts, and u-bolt plates on my 23' inline. I'm largely an online shopper for this kind of stuff when I have time to plan/pick/wait for shipping.....etrailer and eastern marine were my main sources. For springs, not so sure there is really a super premium quality product out there on the market.....though etrailer does have a dacromet (silver appearance) coated spring that is more corrosion resistant. I went the cheaper route and went with black coated springs from eastern marine. I figure the cheapish springs that came on the dexter/alko axles originally lasted 9 years (only the plastic eye bushings were worn out, the metal still in OK shape), I'm not going to have the trailer for more than another 3 years or so. I was getting a lot of shaking when pulling the trailer empty like badly out-of-balance tires, I think my axles were wandering up-down-forward-back in all of the spring eye-shackle bolt clearances.
For springs, measure when there is no load of course, eye-to-eye, arch height, spring width (almost all our sprung sled inline trailers will be 1-3/4"), and number of leaves. Also helpful to understand the weight rating of your axles (likely 3500 lb each) and use that info as well when selecting a spring. Most of the websites have diagrams with the measurements you need to compare.
I upgraded my shackles and bushings to a "wet bolt" kit from etrailer made by MORryde. This gets you brass bushings (instead of typical plastic), bolts with grease zerks, and overly thick zinc plated shackle plates.
The upgraded shackle kit did not have the same shackle length (hole-to-hole) for me, but I wanted the greaseable and thicker side plate upgrade, so I sketched/mathed out the differences, and when I picked out my replacement equalizers, I picked an equalizer that had slightly different vertical dimensions than original, to better match the new shackles, in the end, I think my trailer might ride a nominal 1/4" higher than before....which is OK with me, as between the previous ride height and the wear that I had, my tires would just rub inside the fenders very occasionally (big bumps).
The most pain in the but thing about all of this for me was the hangers. My trailer design had a factory/custom made 60-some inch long 2x2x1/4" steel angle bolted to the aluminum tube frame of the trailer, and the 3 spring/equalizer hangers were welded to that. I wanted to get behind that steel to see how bad the galvanic corrosion between the steel and aluminum was. For 9 seasons (pressure washing almost after every trip) I didn't think it was too bad. My trailer has 1/8" wall thickness perimeter tube frame, I'd estimate the "pock mark" corrosion pits in the aluminum were maybe 1/32" deep and 10-15% of the area of the steel-to-aluminum interface. Rather than blast and re-paint my badly rusted weldments, I made new ones. That is also where some sketch/math came into play with the height of the spring hangers to make sure my ride height was near the same. I cleaned up my aluminum frame the best I could, and I put 2 coats of tar/sealant on the interface area, to serve as a barrier between the steel and aluminum to prolong the onset of further galvanic corrosion. I think I used something that came in a quart can made by Gorilla Glue. Similar to flex seal. Very thick stuff. I did 2 coats of zinc rich spray can primer on my new bracket weldments along with 3 coats of rustoleum spray topcoat. Not sure that coating is really going to hold up that long, my metal was cleaned of scale and degreased/cleaned, but not shotblasted. But most likely better than new. The spring and axle manufacturers (same exact stuff is used on campers, utility trailers, and our trailers) do not use anything special at all for coatings, just cheap and black. Only when you get to boat trailers do you see galvanized steel parts and stainless hardware.
Side note regarding galvanic corrosion. You would think that on an aluminum trailer that stainless hardware is better. It is not. Stainless and aluminum are actually further away from each other (more reactive) on the table of "galvanic activity", so adding saltwater between that combination leads to higher galvanic corrosion. Zinc (plated fasteners) and aluminum are closer to each other on the table, less reactive to each other in the presence of saltwater. Even with frequent pressure washing (I thought I did a pretty good job getting underneath the trailer), there was a lot of salt packed into the crevices/interfaces between the steel mounting hardware and the aluminum frame.
After 9 seasons or so, I am on my 3rd set of replacement brake assemblies. They just don't last in our environment. You'd probably have to take the hubs/drums off every off-season and lubricate the shoe adjuster and re-adjust the brakes annually to get lots of years of good reliable life out of electric brake assemblies. Instead, I just replace them every 3-4 years, when they are new I take the assemblies apart and clean and anti-seize the adjuster assembly, and use brake grease on the moving/sliding/pivoting interfaces. The adjuster is usually the first thing to seize then the brakes become less and less effective. The last set that I took off still had some remaining grease/dampness on the interfaces from when I originally installed them.
Another thing related to corrosion and wiring. The crimp and heat shrink seal butt connectors are no good, even the ones with hot melt adhesive that oozes out. They let salt water into the copper strands as well. I've found the best success using a separate high quality heat shrink with hot melt adhesive over the top of an un-insulated butt splice. The higher quality heat shrink does a better job of keeping the salt water out. It would be ideal if the brake manufacturers would leave 3 foot leads on the magnets, then a guy could bring the wiring splice connections up inside the trailer out of the elements. It would also be great if they could come up with a brake shoe adjuster that could be lubricated and adjusted more easily without taking the hub/drum off. But then somebody would overdo the lubing and get it all over their brakes I suppose!
For springs, measure when there is no load of course, eye-to-eye, arch height, spring width (almost all our sprung sled inline trailers will be 1-3/4"), and number of leaves. Also helpful to understand the weight rating of your axles (likely 3500 lb each) and use that info as well when selecting a spring. Most of the websites have diagrams with the measurements you need to compare.
I upgraded my shackles and bushings to a "wet bolt" kit from etrailer made by MORryde. This gets you brass bushings (instead of typical plastic), bolts with grease zerks, and overly thick zinc plated shackle plates.
The upgraded shackle kit did not have the same shackle length (hole-to-hole) for me, but I wanted the greaseable and thicker side plate upgrade, so I sketched/mathed out the differences, and when I picked out my replacement equalizers, I picked an equalizer that had slightly different vertical dimensions than original, to better match the new shackles, in the end, I think my trailer might ride a nominal 1/4" higher than before....which is OK with me, as between the previous ride height and the wear that I had, my tires would just rub inside the fenders very occasionally (big bumps).
The most pain in the but thing about all of this for me was the hangers. My trailer design had a factory/custom made 60-some inch long 2x2x1/4" steel angle bolted to the aluminum tube frame of the trailer, and the 3 spring/equalizer hangers were welded to that. I wanted to get behind that steel to see how bad the galvanic corrosion between the steel and aluminum was. For 9 seasons (pressure washing almost after every trip) I didn't think it was too bad. My trailer has 1/8" wall thickness perimeter tube frame, I'd estimate the "pock mark" corrosion pits in the aluminum were maybe 1/32" deep and 10-15% of the area of the steel-to-aluminum interface. Rather than blast and re-paint my badly rusted weldments, I made new ones. That is also where some sketch/math came into play with the height of the spring hangers to make sure my ride height was near the same. I cleaned up my aluminum frame the best I could, and I put 2 coats of tar/sealant on the interface area, to serve as a barrier between the steel and aluminum to prolong the onset of further galvanic corrosion. I think I used something that came in a quart can made by Gorilla Glue. Similar to flex seal. Very thick stuff. I did 2 coats of zinc rich spray can primer on my new bracket weldments along with 3 coats of rustoleum spray topcoat. Not sure that coating is really going to hold up that long, my metal was cleaned of scale and degreased/cleaned, but not shotblasted. But most likely better than new. The spring and axle manufacturers (same exact stuff is used on campers, utility trailers, and our trailers) do not use anything special at all for coatings, just cheap and black. Only when you get to boat trailers do you see galvanized steel parts and stainless hardware.
Side note regarding galvanic corrosion. You would think that on an aluminum trailer that stainless hardware is better. It is not. Stainless and aluminum are actually further away from each other (more reactive) on the table of "galvanic activity", so adding saltwater between that combination leads to higher galvanic corrosion. Zinc (plated fasteners) and aluminum are closer to each other on the table, less reactive to each other in the presence of saltwater. Even with frequent pressure washing (I thought I did a pretty good job getting underneath the trailer), there was a lot of salt packed into the crevices/interfaces between the steel mounting hardware and the aluminum frame.
After 9 seasons or so, I am on my 3rd set of replacement brake assemblies. They just don't last in our environment. You'd probably have to take the hubs/drums off every off-season and lubricate the shoe adjuster and re-adjust the brakes annually to get lots of years of good reliable life out of electric brake assemblies. Instead, I just replace them every 3-4 years, when they are new I take the assemblies apart and clean and anti-seize the adjuster assembly, and use brake grease on the moving/sliding/pivoting interfaces. The adjuster is usually the first thing to seize then the brakes become less and less effective. The last set that I took off still had some remaining grease/dampness on the interfaces from when I originally installed them.
Another thing related to corrosion and wiring. The crimp and heat shrink seal butt connectors are no good, even the ones with hot melt adhesive that oozes out. They let salt water into the copper strands as well. I've found the best success using a separate high quality heat shrink with hot melt adhesive over the top of an un-insulated butt splice. The higher quality heat shrink does a better job of keeping the salt water out. It would be ideal if the brake manufacturers would leave 3 foot leads on the magnets, then a guy could bring the wiring splice connections up inside the trailer out of the elements. It would also be great if they could come up with a brake shoe adjuster that could be lubricated and adjusted more easily without taking the hub/drum off. But then somebody would overdo the lubing and get it all over their brakes I suppose!
lofsfire
Active member
Might want to call NEO for a price. When I bought my R&R trailer (used) I did a bunch of changes. A lot of the standard parts they stock for their trailers were cheaper than many online places. Even cheaper than the RV surplus stores just down the road from both of them. For instance I had a 20' anning installed at R&R (in 2017) it was $500+ $100 to install it. At the time that was $200 cheaper than just the awning from other place...