Today’s roads are very rough causing extra wear and tear on our toyhaulers as we are cruising down the road. Standard suspensions on most multi-axle trailers use a steel leaf spring equalizer which transfers road bumps and imperfections directly to the trailers interior. This is one of the things that make objects inside your trailer fall as well as placing a lot of stress on the box of the coach. Taking our toyhaulers off-road all the time just compounds the problem. I wanted to see if there was an easy way to combat some of this road wear.

I began looking for a way to make the suspension a little better. After doing some research I found what I believe to be the easiest and most cost- effective thing to improve the ride of my trailer. The solution was to replace my steel equalizers with the Trailair Flexible Equalizer. The “Equa-Flex” is a rubber cushioned equalizer that is a direct replacement for most standard ridged leaf spring equalizers on two or three axle trailers. This product is constructed of a specially formulated rubber that absorbs road imperfections. It was tested against other like products at Roush Industries, Inc. and judged the “best ride” of the equipment tested.

I contacted Trailair and told them what kind of toyhauler I had and gave them measurements from hub to hub on my axles and the dimensions of the stock equalizers. On a triple axle trailer the front equalizer is different than the second one. For this reason they need measurements for both equalizers. What they are looking for is the distance from the center mounting bolt to the front bolt and then from the center to the rear bolt. Next, they need to know how wide the originals are centered, front and rear.

I got the Equa-Flex kit within a week; the kit included the four equalizers, all the mounting hardware, new bronze leaf spring bushings (optional), shackles, and the optional bolts with grease(zerk) fittings installed (make sure you get these). The instructions were very simple, remove original equalizers and install new rubber cushioned ones. No welding, cutting or fabricating involved.

The first thing we did on the install was to layout all the parts Trailair sent us and make sure everything was there. Next, we jacked up and supported one side of the trailer, then removed the tires. We took one equalizer off at a time using a floor jack to support and maneuver the axles. To take the equalizer off all we did was remove the nuts and bolts. Then we removed the original Teflon bushings in the leaf spring mounting holes and replaced them with the new bronze ones. We lightly greased the new bushings to make installation easier. Much to my surprise the Teflon bushings were worn-out after just one year of use. The shackle bolts are knurled and should be pressed into one of the shackle plates before assembly. Then we installed the new Equa-Flex equalizer, shackles, and nuts and bolts. Torque the nuts to 50 foot-pounds. When installing the new equalizer make sure you install the grease fittings towards the inside of the trailer so you can grease them next time with the tires on. Also, make sure the grease holes on the bolts are facing up otherwise the weight of the trailer could block the hole not letting the grease go in easily.

If you have a triple axle toyhauler move on to the second one on the same side. Remember the front equalizer is different than the back–don’t get them mixed up or you will cause yourself all sorts of problems. On a two axle trailer you only have one per side. After you get the second one installed, grease all the fittings and reinstall the tires.

With the one side done you can move to the other side of the trailer and start over. After you are done with the install take the trailer out for a ride and feel the difference. Remember it is not going to make a big difference on smooth roads. However, where you will notice a difference is on the rough and dirt roads. Common sense tells me that my trailer will last a lot longer with a smoother ride when I am towing on bumpy roads.

To contact Trailair call 800-998-4238 or check out the other trailer products that they offer at www.trailair.com. They have Equa-Flex equalizers that come in different weight ratings with kits starting at $395 for 2 axle trailers and $810 for 3 axle trailers delivered. The kits include the Equa Flex equalizer, shackle plates, nuts, and bolts. The bolts with the grease fittings and bronze bushings are sold as an option.

-THM