Did my Andersen No-Sway WDH do this???
Or did the trailer service center? I'm not sure, what caused it, but after hooking up last night I noticed chunks of aluminum on the ground under my setup. I had just got my trailer back from serv...
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Ron Gratz wrote:09KZMXT266 wrote:I'm guessing that the trailer only appeared to have a perfectly good frame when you dropped it off.
How do you explain I dropped the trailer off with a perfectly good frame, and I picked it up with a damaged one. I didn't tow it home with the plate, so the plate could not have caused it on my 7 mile drive home. To be fair I only saw the hole after installing the plate and tightening the chain nuts. Maybe I should have titled the thread did installing the Andersen damage my trailer frame?
It is quite possible that, in the 2000 miles of towing, the horizontal friction force caused by the plate rubbing against the bottom of the weld bead resulted in cumulative low-cycle high-stress fatigue damage between bead and frame metal.
Certain aluminum alloys are know to be susceptible to stress corrosion cracking.
The microscopic cracking might have gotten worse over the winter due to humidity and other factors.
When you got the trailer home, it is quite possible that installing the plate and tightening the chain nuts caused 1) the rear of the plate to push upward against the bottom of the weld bead, and 2) the rear of the plate to rotate to the right.
The right-directed friction force acting on the bottom of the bead could have caused the final failure of the already-weakened weld.
So, I think it is quite possible that the 2000 miles of towing with the plate rubbing against the bottom of the bead weakened the weld,
and the installation of the plate after returning from storage was the "final straw" which caused the bead to separate from the frame metal.
Ron
Wow, this whole thing is stressing me out. BTW, the over 2K miles or towing with the Andersen was just in the last month. My trailer was not in storage. It sat at the service center for two weeks awaiting some work. I am not saying you Re wrong, but I would hope that the Andersen WDH isn't destroying my trailer.
Also, i just got home from another 600 mile tow. No additional damage that I can see with the exception of some additional rub marks on the plate.
