CJW8 wrote:
At least with flying, you'd be reasonably assured when people worked on your aircraft, they'd be certified to do so. Trailer frame welders, not so much. I see nothing wrong with your design as described. I'd only suggest a cylindrical spacer around the bolt between the 3" plate and the main frame web. That way when all bolted up tight, some of the stress would be transferred to the frame web instead of all of the stress being on the 3" plate.
That is a good idea. Only problem might be is that we have an enclosed underbelly and it's really hard in spots to get fingers in there. I think now that I
have to do something, I will do something stronger. I might even just get a local frame & axle shop I know that does excellent work to take care of it (it's only a bunch more $$ down the hole).
I'm not a trained welder, but how hard can it be to properly weld two pieces of 3/16" mild steel together? I learned how to do basic MIG and gas welding from restoring and modifying vintage cars and while it may not look the prettiest, I know it's important to get correct penetration. But a weld not sticking to the base metal piece (the I-beam flange) at all and on a critical suspension component??
