Trailer rebuild Ep7 - frame welds, wheel assembly

Used a 1/2 ton chain block slung off a stout rope to lift/ flip the frame over easily.

Frame separation _the old and new

Cutting up the old frame

Welding joins up with 2.5 mm rods

Welding all joins down hand - flip frame over to do other sides

Fillet welds

The running gear needed a clean up, one wheel was seized. So dismantled everything there.

Hub and spring assembly inverted for disassembly, axle u-bolts at top

The wheel seizure was caused by rusted (and expanded) brake pad backing plates. Unbolted the U bolts holding the wheel assembly's on, unbolted the leaf springs. Bolt threads etc were a bit corroded so it took awhile with penetrating oil and elbow grease.

Dismantled for maintenance_axle and hubs

Unbolted the brake calipers and removed the brake pads. These needed rust treatment, chipping layers of rust away, one pad was de-laminated from its steel backing plate so epoxy glued it together. Cleaned axle grease out of the inner hub with old newspaper (it squeezed past the inner seals due to bearing buddy grease pressurization) The bearings seemed OK as they always were well greased by the bearing buddies. The hub housing and brake discs are a very robust looking design, (the brake discs are about twice as thick and smaller diameter than the ute's front disks_which, by the way, were recently honed and re-padded by a local mobile wheel specialist)

Temporarily reassembled the brake callipers and pads so as not to loose any critical components (being a vintage era trailer they could be hard to find)

Wheel hub bearing housing and disc brakes

Started rust treatment on the parts. Chipping and phosphoric acid. The axle wasn't too bad_ its made of 40 mm solid rod bars, very heavy construction.

 The box beam (for the leaf spring attachment) on the mudguard needed more work. These fittings have probably never been separated from the trailer frame for decades, so crevice corrosion occurred between them. The trailer was coated in a high build epoxy paint though which kept allot of corrosion at bay but once rust get underneath the paint it is lifted off.

The mudguard box bar_hollow and sealed at ends so no internal rust. Good for a restoration on the exterior surfaces.

Trailer frame finishing work. Trimmed the end beams off, welded on brake wire eyes (made from heavy chain link) and ground-off welded joins and sharp edges etc.

Possible keel slide beams with an aft roller

Started thinking about the keel roller refit. There is nearly a ton of boat plus gear weight concentrated over the aft three frames, at least one roller pin had bent which prevented turning under load which was probably one of the the hidden causes of the boat getting stuck on the trailer when launching.

Found that 4x2" hardwood beams fit nicely on the aft frames, leaving a 15 mm gap between (for a water hose jet to clean the centerboard case). These can bolt on to the beams channel flange and would be capped with teflon-like plastic for easy keel sliding. Rollers can then be fitted fore and aft the keel slide woods. The only downside would be crevice corrosion between wood and galvanized steel beams_ maybe some mastic could keep the salt water out between maintenance checks.