Gdetrailer wrote:
:h
That plate was not needed.
You could have totally avoided that mess if you would have had the shock directly mounted to the frame.
I would have drilled the frame, added a plate on both sides of the frame to add some reinforcement for the hole. Then you could have simply bolted the shock directly to the frame (with a couple of spacers to hold the shock away from the frame).
Welding can actually alter the strength of the steel anyways so a hole with added reinforcement would not have caused any problems for strength..
That setup was doomed to failure since it relied strictly on the top and bottom welds on one side.. It really needed a side gusset(s) to add more welding surface..
I don't see how the shock could have been mounted to the frame. I wanted a 3" wide plate welded to the top and bottom of the flanges, just like Lippert does at the factory for some frames to strengthen it above spring hangers. Seemed like the least intrusive was to do it. Why would welding to the frame be an issue when it's welded all over the place at the factory and the welds would be (well, should have been) at only the outer flanges of the I-beams. The shop decided on their own to weld to the sides of the beam webs and was not happy about it. The dealer was also supposed to have sent the factory a copy of my drawing for approval.
There were also obstructions to deal with like the slide out shaft which forced the mounting points to be as low as they are (just above the lower flange).
If they had chamefered the ends of the plates, there would have been a much better weld. The lower flange didn't even get hot enough to melt the steel at all.
