Changing Leaf Springs Tutorial

**FULL TILT** · Jan-08-2006, 11:36 PM

this is a pretty easy do it yourself job....but it IS time consuming and you'll need some tools, some grease, lots of beer and glacoma medication to make it thru.

the springs and front hubs really looked like shit and needed replacement. do yourself a favor and DONT try and recycle parts....i've learned my lesson the hard way from previous experience. for a two axle trailer, 4 jack stands and a 20 ton canister jack were required to remove the wheels and take the weight off the shitty old springs:

once i got the trailer up on jacks, the real fun began. remove the bearing buddy by tapping it horizontally with a hammer or a mallet. once the bearing buddy is off, remove the cotter pin and then remove the castle nut. the hub should slide off without a fight. with the serious corrosion, it was "easier" for me to cut the fasteners off with a grinder equipped with a metal cutting wheel. i cut the forward bolts and axel bolts off with the grinder and then cut the balancer in half so i had enuff room to use the sawzall to cutt the balancer bolts off. it is convenient to have a jack stand for the axel, or you can tie it to the frame. here's what it looks like with the hub off

i used a jack stand for the brakes as they were kinda heavy to try and tie to the frame

once i got all the gear off, i scaled the trailer to remove as much rust as possible and then painted that shit with zincpoxy rust resistant primer.

i then installed the load balancer, then the forward spring and finally the rear spring. next was the new front hub and i sprayed some rust resistant man juice on them to see if i can control the rust for a day or two

40 beers, 2 gallons of sweat and 2 turds later, VOY-LAY!

time consuming, but doable.

next job: bunk pads

PS: Aros Trailers does NOT give BD discounts anymore

Swazi · Jan-08-2006, 11:53 PM

Nice job Vince, thanks for the tips. I came close to pulling the hubs to check the brakes today. Maybe tomorrow.

Mots · Jan-09-2006, 04:37 AM

Very cool Vince, I really like the pictorial

Just did the same shit, but I whimped out and had Smokey do it

Dos Locos · Jan-09-2006, 05:08 AM

Very nice job vince.

aclemieux · Jan-09-2006, 07:57 AM

Very nice job. Thanks for the tutorial.

KC Kevin · Jan-09-2006, 09:39 AM

Trailer work SUCKS.

Mot's Sr. · Jan-09-2006, 09:46 AM

Cool Vince, nice job. Had Freeway Trailer in Escondido do the same to mine, I also had to install a new coupler, my old one was causing to mahy problems.

Good job man. Nice tutorial and pictures.

vlionetti · Jan-09-2006, 10:05 AM

If you buy a shit load of baring grease and coat the shit out of springs, hub and all the parts with a paint brush it will repel the salt water. I just did the same job on my fathers boat and it worked bitchen.

**FULL TILT** · Jan-09-2006, 03:21 PM

thanks for the props doods! yeah, doing these little projects was time consuming, but well worth it.

vilionetti- i ran out of bearing grease on the LAST hub, but i plan on putting a healthy amount on the springs and anything else that can rust.

i am also experimenting with salt away to see if it will protect against rust. rust test in progress!

mokahehteh · Jan-09-2006, 03:56 PM

Just a thought: you might wanna pad the jack stands so you don't scratch any of the galvy coating on your trailer.

Jeffrey · Jan-09-2006, 04:23 PM

GO to dixie line and buy a can of Rust destroyer . Spray over rust or spray the new springs . Will never rust except were they pivot Awsume stuff $14.00 a can

**Saluki** · Jan-09-2006, 04:29 PM

Nice job Vince!!!

We'll be calling you soon to do ours