Aluminum Fabricator Recommendation?

[elkaholic]

Do we have any skilled Aluminum Fabricators in the club or does anyone have any recommendations? On our way back to town from WY, something kicked up from the road and did a number to my 18 foot car hauler. I have talked with the manufacturer of the trailer in KY and their initial ballpark estimate seems a bit high (granted they are going from pictures and do not want to under "quote" the repairs).

As it is, I can get the road side ramp out of the pocket with a crow bar and I can open the pocket door on the curb side, but that ramp is not coming out no way no how given the warpage in the rear crossmember

The task will not be an easy one since to fix it correctly will likely require cutting off the last 12-18" of deck, some structure, and the rear cross member and replacing. I'll take it to Golden Gait Trailers to see what they say, but my trip may be more costly than I'd bargained for.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Dude, what the heck did you pick up, an anvil?

 

[elkaholic]

I do not know. It was ~11PM at night in a construction zone. Changing lanes to pass an 18 wheeler. Front axle of the motor home hit a pothole in the lane seam and there was a minor bump. Rear axle hit and the motor home rocked - big time - (I suspect a chunk of concrete broke off). A split second later, there was a loud bang and the whole shebang (motor home and trailer with my 200 on board) shuttered - it felt like something grabbed us and pulled backwards. We were grossing 37,000 to 38,000 pounds at the time and moving 70 MPH.

With no place safe to pull over, I drove another 10 miles or so to an exit. When I went back with a flashlight I saw no damage until I got to the back of the trailer ... then WTF

Closer inspection reveals a strike on the tongue of the trailer (small scrape), a couple of scrapes on the axles and wire ties broken, then the major damage. That rear cross member is between 3/8 and 1/2 aluminum C channel. My only guess is that a chunk of roadway kicked up and tumbled under the trailer. Thank God no one was anywhere near me since I think the back end of the trailer was picked up with the tires probably coming off the ground. I can only imagine the damage that something capable of doing this damage would do to a vehicle after it was spit out from under my trailer.

As a testament to Trailer World trailers. We had another 700 or so miles to travel. The trailer tracked perfectly. There is no weird wear on the tires. And the lights still work. It is just hard to load and unload when I can only get one ramp out.

Initial ballpark figures are ~50% of replacement cost or ~90% of what I paid for it 10 years ago.

 

[Mtbcoach]

That's going to need some structural eval, I'd take it to a trailer/frame shop...

 

[elkaholic]

My ME training from college says the same thing, though the longitudinal stringers and perimeter frame other than the rear transverse frame appear to be true and A OK.

It's probably going back to the manufacturer

 

[NCFJ]

I agree, taking to either the OEM or a closer trailer shop is a good idea. If you could sell it to someone that wants to repair it themselves for 50% of the replacement cost and then add the other 50% you can buy a new one.

 

[elkaholic]

Yeah, I hear you Stan. It looks like I'll be filing an insurance claim and seeing where that goes. I have an Agreed Value Policy so we'll see wher that goes.

 

[elkaholic]

To close the loop on this, I picked up the trailer yesterday. Damage was not as bad as feared and for less than the initial estimate, I have it back repaired and improved with an air dam and spare tire mount.

Apologize for the poor quality iPhone photos

 

[JohnVee]

Nice. Win win. Should put a winch on it, too. Then let me borrow it.

 

[elkaholic]

I've gotten 10 years and about 50,000 or so miles of towing out of it. I hope the refresh will bring me that much more.