Replacing worn out shackles.

So here is the disclaimer for what I am typing. One must keep in mind that not all traveled roads are made equal. In fact pulling a 5er or any other type trailer down the road is like taking it through a class 4 or 5 (depending on road surface condition) earthquake. So some parts take quite a beating and must be replaced as a regular item of repair.

The Story

After spending five gruelling hours yesterday working at replacing the suspension on the curb side of the 5er.. Today I am taking a much needed break.

The Process:

Keep in mind most of this is done while on my back crawling under the 5er:

First removed the slide out stabilizers and raise the rear stabilizers. Then raise the 5er using the front landing legs, set a 7 ton jack stand under the frame on the front road side and lowered the 5er on to the jack stand to take the load  both vertically  and horizontally off the landing leg.

Then raise the entire curb side of the 5er. using a 20 ton bottle jack, block it into position using the other 7 ton jack stand and some massive blocks of wood.Then remove the tires and block both axles using a 2 ton roller jack the neighbor browned us and we are finally ready to start removing the bolts, shackles, spring  bushings and trunnion assembly.

Now to say this was quite a task would be an understatement. Keeping in mind that they are original equipment and the 5er is an 02. So to say they took even a lot of persuasion would be an almost extreme understatement.

To give some idea of what it took. I tried a 1/2" electric impact wrench and it wouldn't even nudge the nuts loose on the shouldered bolts. So with liquid wrench in hand and a 3/8 drive 17mm deep socket and breaker bar it was manual labor on each bolt to somehow loosen and turn all 5 nuts off a 1/6 of a turn at a time. Then drive each bolt out of its location. Lastly remove the mounting bolt and drive the old trunnion out of it's mounting bracket. 

Next, after removing the old worn out plastic bushing  clean each spring bore and spring mounts using a rag, more liquid wrench and a wire brush. Then install the new bass bushings with a driver that was crafted out of some of the old parts that had been removed earlier.

After lubing each bore the bushings were installed and deburred checking all with one of the new greaseable bolts that would be used during reassembly. 

After lubing each bushing it was time to install the new trunnion using a upgraded MOYride rubber cushioned assembly. This unit will transfer more evenly the spring action while also dampening the bounce the 5er recieves going down the road. (so it says in the add).

Now it is time to install the new shackles which are now greaseable as well, not to mention twice as thick. Replacing the ones that were the reason for this task to start with.

So finally we are at the point of lining up and attaching the springs assemblies to the 5er's frame. Not a large task as it now has almost all new parts. But as it had been quite a while since I had done this type of work I of course installed the flexible (easy peasy lemon squeezy) end first making it impossible to line up the stationary connections at the frame with the tools I had.

No problem just take it "all apart again" to do it right. Did I mention I have been laying on my back on a concrete pad by now for almost 4 hours!!!!!

Ok less I regress, reassembled and lined up, axles jacked into position, bolts secured and torqued, wheels reinstalled and torqued it was time to lower the 5er back to the ground reversing the raising procedure explained earlier.

Tada! One side done one More to go!!!!!

But then it is Always an Adventure!