I have made a mistake. Not only did I make a mistake, but I was going to try to cover my mistake up. Try to hide it from everyone. I think I could have pulled it off, but I would not have been able to live with it. You see, when I welded my newly built rear frame horns onto my existing frame, I did not take enough care to ensure that it was all lined up, straight and level. The worst part about it is that when I tack welded everything in place, I actually saw that the rear of the frame did not quite match up. I figured it was only off a hair, so it was good enough. Well, it was not until I got the wood floor in and was bolting it up that I realized that my mistake was a pretty big one. Look at the gap I have between the rear crossmember and the floor. It's nearly 3/4 of an inch. I got disgusted with myself and walked away from the trailer for a week. I thought about building a spacer out of aluminum to take up the space. Then I thought about making a spacer out of steel. Then I started thinking that I could just use wood to take up the space. However, like Frank told me; if it ain't right, it's wrong. Today I'm going to take the rear piece of plywood out, cut the frame, and reweld it level. Fix it right. It's my trailer, it's my hobby, and it's my therapy. I need to do it right.
Thank you to Frank for giving me the balls to post my mistake on my blog. It's a little bit humbling to show everybody my mistake, but if it keeps others from doing the same thing, then I feel good about it. Thanks again to Frank for lending me his rivet gun, bucking bar, and rivets. Hopefully soon I'll be putting them to use. And a huge thanks to Rob Baker for delivering the rivet gun to my trailer. He brought it up from Baltimore for me and dropped it off before he went away on a trip with his family. If you understand how little time Rob gets to spend with his family, you realize what a huge thing it is for him to take a the time to help me out. With friends like these guys, I am truely blessed.
I have made a mistake. Not only did I make a mistake, but I was going to try to cover my mistake up. Try to hide it from everyone. I think I could have pulled it off, but I would not have been able to live with it. You see, when I welded my newly built rear frame horns onto my existing frame, I did not take enough care to ensure that it was all lined up, straight and level. The worst part about it is that when I tack welded everything in place, I actually saw that the rear of the frame did not quite match up. I figured it was only off a hair, so it was good enough. Well, it was not until I got the wood floor in and was bolting it up that I realized that my mistake was a pretty big one. Look at the gap I have between the rear crossmember and the floor. It's nearly 3/4 of an inch. I got disgusted with myself and walked away from the trailer for a week. I thought about building a spacer out of aluminum to take up the space. Then I thought about making a spacer out of steel. Then I started thinking that I could just use wood to take up the space. However, like Frank told me; if it ain't right, it's wrong. Today I'm going to take the rear piece of plywood out, cut the frame, and reweld it level. Fix it right. It's my trailer, it's my hobby, and it's my therapy. I need to do it right.
Thank you to Frank for giving me the balls to post my mistake on my blog. It's a little bit humbling to show everybody my mistake, but if it keeps others from doing the same thing, then I feel good about it. Thanks again to Frank for lending me his rivet gun, bucking bar, and rivets. Hopefully soon I'll be putting them to use. And a huge thanks to Rob Baker for delivering the rivet gun to my trailer. He brought it up from Baltimore for me and dropped it off before he went away on a trip with his family. If you understand how little time Rob gets to spend with his family, you realize what a huge thing it is for him to take a the time to help me out. With friends like these guys, I am truely blessed.
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5 comments:
John,
Before you start ripping the floor out, I would suggest you cut the frame rails with a sawzall from the bottom until you are able to jack the frame into alignment. You will not need to cut through the whole depth. Then you can have your welder weld up the small "V" gap the you have created. It will probably be only an 1/8" wide at the bottom.
Steve
It takes a big man to admit his faults it takes a real man to admit them and then make them right. I am proud to have you as a friend.
Hang in there John, you'll feel much better after you correct the problem. It would always have bugged you if you left it.
-Marcus
Steve,
That's what I'm planning on. I am taking the floor out, though. I was going to install the grey tank later, but decided that now is the time. It'll only take me an hour or so to get the floor out, and it'll be so much easier to mount the tank that way. I have been making mistakes by rushing things, so from now on I will take my time and do thing right the first time.
No need to take the floor out to install a grey tank. Having the floor bare is already a huge step. I have a grey tank model that will make it very easy to install. I an send you pictures of it if you want, although my good camera is on the fritz...
It holds about 25-28 gal, and does not extend below torsion axle beams, so in your case with leaf sprung axles, you should be fine with it.
Uwe
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