57 overlander tail sag

[louvalake]

any help with information concerning 2inch tail sag in a single axel 57 overlander? we are considering buy this trailer, it has a sag and seller states he was advised it could be fixed by bolting angle iron to frame and keep extra weight from rear. any help?

[Over59]

Could be one or both main frame rails which run from the front to the rear are rusted through, if so the floor is holding the thing together. You would need to look at the frame with the belly pan off aft the axel. If it is missing rivets in the outer or inner shell panels or there are "replaced" rivets or screws it may be breaking rivets from over flexing. Look at the rivets on the roof which can get alot of stress with a bad rearend.
Stand on the rear bumper and see if it moves different than the shell, ie floor separation. If you are going to park it somewhere and not travel with it then you can just put jacks under it. If you plan to travel with it be very careful unless you have lots of time and money to make it road worthy. If the frame is cracked the trailer will tear itself apart. Of course most all things can be fitted with time and/or money.

[Ken J]

I agree with everything Over 59 said above - and would add that I don't think the steel plate would be a good fix on this trailer - that fix was suggested for the 70's trailers that had rear end sag. I think the most likely cause is floor rot (we hope at least) - if the frame is good, then fixing the floor will solve the problem.

Another question - does it have a spare tire hanging on the back - that caused a lot of rear end sag on the 50's trailers.

I echo the advice you got in that if you do get if fixed - keep as much weight off the rear as you can.

Ken

[59toaster]

I would side with floor rot as well after having done a shell off floor replacement. Look that the coach in my avitar. If you notice the side look a little bowed out. Its from rotten floor deck. When looking under the coach there was noticable sag from axle back. Once the floor was replace the structural integrity came back and it pulled the tail up and that bulged side went away.