69 Sovereign rear cross beam

[jbknowso]

My last cross beam on my trailer is rotted and needs to be replaced.
My heart wants me to replace the U shaped beam with a more rigid angle iron.
Has anyone done this and if so what size did you use.

Jbknowso

[Belegedhel]

When I rebuilt the rear of my trailer, I ended up buying a factory produced cross member, but then it turned out I needed two, so my welder just fabricated one from a piece of relatively heavy channel. I used the heavy one for the rear most cross member since that one has the hold-down plate attaching the shell. Anyway I haven't seen any down side to a heavier gauge cross member, though I can't say that it was needed either. Just the avenue of necessity.

good luck!

[jbknowso]

Thanks for your reply! I hear people talking about a hold down plate all the time. I don't have such. I have a rear door compartment door right above the C Channel. I would think I should have a hold down plate.

[Belegedhel]

I don't know about your particular year and model, but the rear hold down plate is very short--could be that you had one and it disintegrated like the rear cross-member. If there is a row of bucked rivets across the center section of the back of your shell, within 1-2 inches of the frame, then that may be where a hold down plate used to be.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by jbknowso

Thanks for your reply! I hear people talking about a hold down plate all the time. I don't have such. I have a rear door compartment door right above the C Channel. I would think I should have a hold down plate.

The "hold down plate" is basically an angle iron. It keeps the rear shell attached to the frame and floor.

[jbknowso]

Excuse my ignorance but the angel iron your talking about, is that the last cross beam attached to the 2 rails that the wood floor rests on and is all bolted together with the c channel?

[Belegedhel]

Have a look at this picture. You can see the flame-cut rear-most cross member made from a steel channel of the same gauge as the new rear frame rails that you can see in cross section. That rusty plate/angle sticking up right at floor level is the rear hold down plate on my '73. In this configuration, it is sticking up about 3/4" higher than it was in the original design, as I made some creative changes to the configuration back there.

Good luck!

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by jbknowso

Excuse my ignorance but the angel iron your talking about, is that the last cross beam attached to the 2 rails that the wood floor rests on and is all bolted together with the c channel?

Above post is correct