Next up was folding up a piece to replace the worse effected part of the rusted out frame. Used the same gauge as stock.
Cut away the rusted out section. Can see it was pretty bad. The drain hole must have gotten plugged with mud.
Inside the frame was a reinforcement piece of channel that strengthened where the A frame bosses are and extended up to the front leaf spring mounts. I coated everything in weld through zinc primer. Welded the channel in place and made up new bosses for where the A frame bolts in. Didn't have any pipe the right size so drilled out some solid bar to match. Thicker wall than standard but don't think anyone will complain about that.
The front spring hanger was originally rivetted on. I wanted to match that look if I could in case a restorer bought the trailer. I rounded the bottom of the bolt heads before bolting it down while it is easier to do. The bolt head where then finished off with a die grinder. Rounding the bottom of the bolts worked well as stopped any gouging of the bracket. The nuts on the inside were welded to the frame and then the bolts tacked to the nut so it can't ever come loose.
The frame welded back in ready to get the floor section afterwards. I will only be repairing the floor that is over the frame rails to make it sound. Too risky to buy replacement floor and weld it in and not get enough resale for it. The floor section will be plug welded where the spot welds once were on both the bottom and sides. All welds will be ground and sanded smooth to blend in.
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