I'm staggering along behind, dealing with 16 feet of acceptably good steel in front, and about 7 feet of rust and compost at the rear. Only one sheet of plywood will be required to resolve the floor, but the steel frame must be replaced. I can get plate steel bent to the same dimensions as original, but how to produce a strong and reinforced butt weld, starting just aft of the axles?
Thanks Jsutro! It's nice to hear from others in the AIR forum facing similiar frame problems. I know what you mean about replacing the main frame aft of the axles. I thought about doing the same thing until I discovered the rotted condition of the steel directly adjacent to the axle plates. I had no choice at that point: either abandon ship or replace the entire frame. The welder agreed. You can see the photos of that section in post numbers 20 and 67.
I'm clueless about the strength and reinforcability of butt welds. In my opinion nobody other than a seasoned welder will have a better idea of what the steel is capable of except maybe a good engineer. I suggest finding a welder and showing him the trailer in person. Then you can evaluate the quality of your welder while he or she is evaluating the trouble with your frame. I didn't settle on the first welder on the road either. I eventually talked to three different welders before I settled on the one who was interested in doing the job.
Good luck getting this done before Burning Man! That's a lot of work you describe. Be sure to keep us posted on what you discover!
__________________
Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
I'm ready for those axles too. It's pretty obvious but I'm learning as I go. So I didn't order the axles in time to coincide with the completion of the frame work. I also didn't plan on it taking 4-6 weeks for the axles until I had already started work on the frame.
Where did you order your axles from? I received mine in under two weeks
Where did you order your axles from? I received mine in under two weeks
My coin toss landed on the Henschen rather than the Dexter side. I sure could have used axles in under two weeks though. My welder isn't appreciating the delay! Might be costing me some storage fees in the mean time to stock beverages in his shop refrigerator to keep him cool. Welders aren't a very patient sort, at least this one isn't, especially in this central Texas heat!
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Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
My coin toss landed on the Henschen rather than the Dexter side. I sure could have used axles in under two weeks though. My welder isn't appreciating the delay! Might be costing me some storage fees in the mean time to stock beverages in his shop refrigerator to keep him cool. Welders aren't a very patient sort, at least this one isn't, especially in this central Texas heat!
Takes a lot of BEvERages to stay cool in this kind of heat.
At long last...the saga continues! Here's what appears to be a new set of Henschen axles being bolted up to a new axle mounting plate that has been freshly welded onto a new frame!
"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began,
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many path and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say"
-The Fellowship of the Ring
__________________
Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
Unfortunately it took approximately 9 weeks to get the Henschen axles. I'm told this is definitely not the norm which is usually 4-6 weeks. I was also told that this has never happened before. At a frustrated week number 9 and still no axles or answers Andy suggested I contact GKN directly. Interestingly the GKN website has a contact page with an email address which suggests that the European managing director of GKN, Domenico Traverso, will answer questions personally.
So late one afternoon I sent an email to the director through the website questioning the cause for the delay in my axle order and requesting a estimated shipping date. The next morning I was late arriving in the office but when I checked my email I was surprised to find a personal email from Domenico suggesting that he too was surprised to learn of the delay and promising an answer as soon as the sun rose in the United States. I also found two telephone messages personally from Jeff Moore the USA plant manager at Jackson Center that had been waiting since around 8:00 a.m.
When I returned the telephone calls later that morning I was told that Jeff was in a meeting. However I was immediately transferred to Rachel Jordan in customer service who was already up to speed on the issue. Rachel explained that the cause of the delay was a back ordered axle arm which had a 20-24 week production time. Rachel said that GKN had decided to remedy the situation by installing a heavier duty axle arm on my axles for no extra charge and promised to ship within 24 hours. And that's exactly what happened!
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Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
Yup, 20-24 week production time for the back ordered axle-arm. That's what GKN said. The exact cause of the back-order is a total mystery in my opinion. You can read a little bit more about the confusion in this thread: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f437...-rv-42664.html
So now you know why I started the Heavy Oxidation thread during the long hot WAIT of summer 2008!
__________________
Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
20 to 24 weeksproduction time? That's 6 months. Did they offer any explanation why such a long delay?
Jim
That was the time that a new employee, who was in charge of materials, quoted, since he decided to change a part.
Unfortunately, that fact was sort of not made known to production, who was caught with a huge back log.
Once the problem was discovered, that new employee was quickly terminated, with real good cause.
The issue is now dead, and current production is now 4 weeks.
The Corporate game plan, is to reduce that time to 2 weeks, as soon as possible, which was the original lag time.
Because of the huge back log, it's estimated that it may take as long as 3 months or there abouts, to get back to the original schedules.
Production is working 3 shifts, so hopefully, that time delay period will improve, at least one day at a time.
It's absolutely amazing, how one person can so quickly turn a situation, upside down.
Perhaps he can find a job more suited to his talents, like making hamburgers, with fresh meat, of course. But maybe even that might be more than he can handle, all at one time.
Hey Todd, hope all is well, and wondering how your project is going?
By the way, Vernon and I have challenged you to have your trailer ready for the Texas State Vintage Rally on Feb 4-8, 2009. We're shooting for that as a target date for our work as well. This year it is just outside of San Antonio, so you have no excuses!
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