Down to the Frame
Here you can see here the previous owner cut off the ends of the rotten stringers and added the cross piece between both frames. The cross piece is removed. With the floor completely removed, it was easy to see the work that needed to be done to the frame. Some rust removal for sure, some straightening of bent supports, and some welding type of repairs. I noticed when pulling Otis to the shop that the trailer appeared to “bounce” or rock forward and backward. Once I got to this stage of the teardown, I realized why. The frame had two serious stress cracks in the wimpy c-channel where they were welded/attached to the front L-channel cross member support. It’s apparent that the weight of the body puts a lot of stress in this area. I would eventually repair this with an extra plate of steel in these areas. I would also weld some brackets in the areas of the leafspring eye supports the width of the c-channel, in a sense, boxing in those 4 areas. There were also seve
