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maintenance of dexter ez flex ???


BorninPalatka

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Aside from the 12 month /12,000 mike change of grease lubricant , is there any other maintenance recommended ?

We just took possession of our Ollie this week and were told to grease them every 3000 miles - six grease fittings on each one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Darrell & Kathy


2013 F-250 Diesel 6.7


2018 Oliver Legacy Elite II (Hull #319)


https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054187086533485920


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As Darrell stated, every 3000 Miles is recommended. That means that on a long trip, you would need to grease them at least once or twice. Obviously this requires you to pack along a grease gun loaded with the proper grease.

Steve, Tali and our dog Rocky plus our beloved Storm, Maggie, Lucy and Reacher (all waiting at the Rainbow Bridge)

2008 Legacy Elite I - Outlaw Oliver, Hull #026 | 2014 Legacy Elite II - Outlaw Oliver, Hull #050 | 2022 Silverado High Country 3500HD SRW Diesel 4x4 

 

             801469912_StatesVisitedTaliandSteve08-23-2021-I.jpg.26814499292ab76ee55b889b69ad3ef0.jpg1226003278_StatesVisitedTaliandSteve08-23-2021-H.jpg.dc46129cb4967a7fd2531b16699e9e45.jpg

 

 

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There are six fittings per side you can see easily including two fittings on the left & right sides of the tires not seen in this photo. There are also two additional fittings hiding above the EZ Flex assembly per side where I'm pointing, making eight fittings per side.

 

Hope this helps,

 

i-gZzxVs2-L.jpg

 

 

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LE2

 

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dexter ez flex

Scubarx

 

We have an appointment at the factory in a few weeks to have a few upgrades to our 2016 trailer. Were having the EZ Flex installed, also having a Microair Easy Start installed. I would like to hear your opinion on both of these upgrades. OTT has warned me that the easy start would void my warranty on the AC, but I believe that it's out of warranty now anyway.

 

Hap

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Hap - I know that you asked for Steve's opinion but that will not stop me from offering mine.  I had the EZ Flex installed last year and I think that it is great.  I've only towed with it for about 1,000 miles but the Ollie is now virtually silent while towing at low speeds around corners - it used to be a bit embarrasing going in and out of parking lots, campgrounds and the like because of the suspension noise.  Since Twist has always just followed the truck while towing at speed and I've never had problems with anything inside being bounced around, I can only suppose that the ride quality is better.  Certainly I like the idea of being able to grease the suspension as I think that in most certainly will make it last longer.  Speaking of which - soon I will be posting some details on my recent adventure in obtaining small grease cartridges for use while on the road, stay tuned.

 

Bill

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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My easyflex is due for a grease job. I figured it would be a part of my Spring wake up call. But, we have planned an early "breakout". However, I think I am getting too old to be crawling around in a wet cold snowbank with a grease gun. Besides I just don't want to. So we just listed in our preflight list a grease gun and two cartridges. They are hanging in the garage in a couple of plastic bags. (That should keep the mess out of the trailer basement). We will wait until we find a spot closer to swaying palm trees and no fire ants to crawl under. It shouldn't take too long. Wonder if I can use the picnic tablecloth to lay on? You are right, I better take a small tarp. Does everybody jack up the side they are greasing to take the load (pressure) off and allow more room for the grease?

 

Think Spring

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Does everybody jack up the side they are greasing to take the load (pressure) off and allow more room for the grease?

 

Pin grease galleys are installed on the horizontal plane for the pins/bushings to take grease easily. One of the bronze bushings was still a little tight and had to take some weight off of that pin with Ollie's jack for it to take grease. After a few thousand miles of wear on the bushings, no longer need to use the jack for the pin to take grease.

 

We're ready to go camping soon, too!!!!!!!!

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LE2

 

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I recently greased my Dexters for the first time. (Thanks to rideandfly for help!)

 

Here is a view of one of the hidden fittings. (The two fittings are symmetrical, one reached from the other side.)

 

IMG_2093

 

I did not jack up the trailer, just wore old jeans and sweatshirt, and climbed under on the cement floor and got very dirty.

 

Before we picked up Ollie I bought a nice rechargeable flashlight that has been useful on many occasions. It has an adjustable stand, and it was very helpful when greasing.

 

IMG_2096

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David Stillman, Salt Lake City, Utah

2016 Oliver Elite II  Hull 164    |    2017 Audi Q7 tow vehicle. 

Travel and Photography Blog: http://davidstravels.net

 

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I should have cleaned and painted the steel mounts during EZ Flex installation. Had some oxidation on the Dexter EZ Flex/axle steel mounts. Just finished cleaning and painting parts of the steel mounts on both sides with Rust-Oleum. Greased before cleaning/painting, too.

 

After a couple thousand miles the excess grease collects lots of dirt/dust if not cleaned off after lubrication. Plan to do a better job keeping excess grease cleaned off of springs/pins/EZ Flex unit in the future.

 

i-cK9tmc5-L.jpg

 

After:

 

i-5FZChNq-L.jpg

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LE2

 

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Bill - nice job on the repaint!  Also nice to note that there doesn't appear to be any sign of anything happening to that anode in the picture.

 

Bill

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As ScubaRx points out above, the service interval for the EZ-Flex is 3,000 miles.  This means (at least for us anal types) that on trips longer than that we must pack a grease gun loaded with the recommended grease - N.L.G.I.:Grade 2 - sometimes called red grease.  Most auto supply stores and even WalMart sell this stuff in 14 oz tubes.  However, the grease gun that accepts these 14 oz tubes is rather large.

 

I happened to have a smaller grease gun that accepts 3 oz tubes of grease that I bought years ago for motorcycle maintanence - I've seen them at WalMart and Harbor Freight:

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/grease-gun-with-3-oz-grease-95575.html

 

and I remembered seeing the 3 oz tubes of red grease.  Unfortunately, when I went to purchase a couple of these smaller 3 oz tubes the only manufacturer that I could find that made them with red grease was Lucas Oil.  Simple enough I thought until I went to several auto parts stores (NAPA, Autozone, etc.) and all they had was a package of three 3 oz tubes - two of the tubes were standard normal duty grease and the third was what I was looking for - red grease.  Adding to the problem was the fact that none of the stores I went to would order (or could order according to them) either a single tube or a set of three tubes with all being red grease.

 

Indeed, a quick internet search showed that Lucas Oil did sell this grease in a set of three 3 oz tubes (product number 10318), but, Amazon didn't have it nor did phone calls to the stores I had previously visited produce any favorible results.  I then emailed Lucas Oil corporate office.  They got right back to me with the name and phone number of the regional distributor for my area.  A phone call to this individual resulted in him telling me that product 10318 was not available.  So, once again, I emailed the Corporate office and told them that either their regional distributor was incorrect or that the Lucas Oli website needed to be updated.  Again, they replied promptly with the phone number of a distributor that I think is on the West coast.

 

It took a bit of searching on the part of this individual, but, he found the product number and added it to his own website on Ebay:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LUCAS-OIL-RED-N-TACKY-GREASE-10318-1-PACK-OF-3-X-3OZ-CARTRIGE-MADE-IN-USA/253425934913?hash=item3b015ce241:g:JFAAAOSwlv9ag5eS

 

Yes, when you can get a 14 oz tube of this stuff for under $3.00, a three pack of 3 oz tubes at a price of $14.00 is a bit out there.  But, in the interest of not having to carry around a big grease gun....

 

Bill

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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dexter ez flex

Scubarx We have an appointment at the factory in a few weeks to have a few upgrades to our 2016 trailer. Were having the EZ Flex installed, also having a Microair Easy Start installed. I would like to hear your opinion on both of these upgrades. OTT has warned me that the easy start would void my warranty on the AC, but I believe that it’s out of warranty now anyway. Hap

Hap, I know Steve is traveling out west and will chime in when he can. I just had both the Dexter EZ Flex and the AC Easy Start added at the factory in December. We haven’t used the AC yet, so I can’t comment yet. Everything I’ve heard and read is that it should be a worthwhile addition.

 

We just got back from an AZ and NV trip, almost 3,000 miles. I’m very happy with the the Dexter. No more creaking and squeaking at low speeds.  After about 25,000 miles the old suspension was worn out. The Dexter is smooth and quiet.

 

I did get a grease gun and a tube of grease so I can grease it before our spring trip. Mike

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Texas Hill Country | 2016 Elite II #135 | 2020 Ram 2500 6.7L

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Mark - Thanks for bringing these to my attention.  It appears that the CRC and Harbor Freight products are the same (indeed, the Harbor Freight grease shows on the package that it was made by CRC).  I took a look at the product specifications of the CRC and it is NLGI #2.  Certainly if the assumption that the Harbor Freight grease is the same then it would be a bunch easier for me to come by as compared to the hoops I jumped through to get the Lucas Oil stuff AND it would be considerably cheaper too.

 

Bill

2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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The stock suspension bushings and equalizer are the cheapest "maintenance free" items that are really not worthy of our trailers.  Non-greasable nylon bushings that wear out and begin to wear metal to metal on the pins.  This leads to loose suspension and a weakening of the parts over time.

 

The EZ Flex is a good way to upgrade to the heavier duty parts and greaseable bronze bushings. It also has heavier shackles and a stronger equalizer.

 

But, there have been some problems with the rubber bumper disintegrating.  There is a heavy duty kit that has all the better parts, including a heavy duty equalizer, and is greaseable, but doesn't have the rubber part.  It is also about $100. cheaper than the EZ Flex.  It's simply called the Dexter heavy duty suspension kit.

 

When I went to order my EZ Flex kit from a friend in the trailer business, he cautioned me and said he'd order it for me if I wanted, but did not recommend it.  So I ordered the heavy duty kit instead.

 

If you are wondering if it will make the trailer ride better, look at the Dexter video that shows it in action.  Is is shown on the road, but the rubber is doing nothing.  Turns out it is better for very stiffly sprung trailers where the rubber is forced to compress.  Our trailer have soft suspension that does not force it to work.

 

Either way, you're better off than with the stock parts, but I recommend saving the extra $100. and going with the heavy duty kit which will ride just as well and may be more reliable in the long run.

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John


"I only exaggerate enough to compensate for being taken with a grain of salt."


LE2 #92 (sold),   Black Series HQ19   

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Thanks to everyone that answered my questions. I probably should have asked if any owners have older trailers that have upgraded to the Dexter EZ Flex. I am concerned that small children, dogs, and the elderly like me will not hear us coming thru campgrounds and get out of the way after upgrading to the Dexter EZ Flex. Maybe I'll invest in an airhorn for the truck. (Just Kidding)

 

The great thing about OTT is that they listen to their customers and keep upgrading their product. If anyone is interested, you can look at our profile page and see the first OTT 2014 that we owned. The photo was taken on our way to Alaska. You will notice that it only had one step and a little white stool that my wife aka "THE BOSS" hated and let the Oliver folks know it when we picked up our trailer.  On our way home we stopped in Hohenwald for a tune-up, they proudly showed us the new two-step model and replaced ours.

 

Hap

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Hap - The EZ-Flex was not an option when I ordered mine back in September, 2015.  Nor was it available when I took delivery in February, 2016.

 

From what I have read (mainly here on the Forum by owners that have made the upgrade) the old stock suspension will wear out the bushings somewhere between 5,000 and 25,000 miles.  While my Oliver was never quiet at slow speeds, the noise was only getting worse.  This made me assume that with the 15,000 miles that I had on the Ollie the suspension was in need of attention.  From the time the EZ-Flex was made available shortly after I took delivery, I figured that I'd have this work done after what I had was worn.

 

I too had the work done by the guys at the Oliver Plant and ,out of curiosity, I should have asked about the condition of the old parts before I took off.  But, I didn't.  At least now I can sneak up on all those kids, dogs, and geezers without all of the howling, laughing and clattering of false teeth as I leave a campsite.

 

Bill

 

p.s. Raspy - since that rubber part is not being used so much on the Oliver, it will last a bunch longer?

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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MountainOliver got me looking a bit more into alternatives for the Dexter recommended N.L.G.I grade 2 grease in 3 oz tubes.  As it turns out the Dexter recommendation says that in addition to the grade 2 requirement, the grease should be Lithium.  However, they do not state that the grease must be "red grease".  I only assumed that this was the case because that is what Oliver used when they first installed the EZ-Flex on Twist.

 

A quick search has found that the Lithium based, N.L.G.I. grade 2 grease is available (in addition to Harbor Freight as Mark pointed out above) at Walmart (I assume that it is only at Super centers or online because my local WalMart does not carry it):

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sta-Lube-Moly-Graph-SL3144-Extreme-Pressure-Multi-Purpose-General-Purpose-Grease-3-oz-Cartridge-G/19282162

 

So, for those interested in the smaller 3 oz. tubes of grease, there are a number of alternatives both in brands, and where you can get it and certainly both Harbor Freight and WalMart are cheaper than the Lucas Oil product.  Perhaps we have members of this Forum that are much more informed than I am with regards to the exact differences between various brands and types of grease.  But, at least for now, I'm going to stick with the "Red N Tacky" stuff from Lucas Oil even though it is more expensive.

 

Bill

 

p.s.  Again, thanks to MountainOliver for opening the doors to a bit more knowledge!

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Are the small(3oz.) grease guns 'hand packable'? If so, cover your hands in Dawn, grab a large tube, open the cover, with a hammer handle or other specialized tool, push enough grease out to fill the gun. Fill the gun. Wash hands. Pores and hands are clean. Job done...

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Canoe12 - I see no reason why one could not "hand pack" one of the 3 oz cartridges - simply take the spent cartridge out of the gun, re-pack it and then put it back in the gun.  However, my main purpose for wanting these small cartridges in the first place was to save space and to make the maintenance of the EZ Flex as quick and painless as possible while on the road.  Obviously this would limit the option of re-packing.  Yes, I guess one could save the spent tubes, cart them home and re-pack there.  I may be frugal, but, I have my limits, particularly with nasty, greasey little spent tubes of grease.

 

 

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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