Bantam T3C Bent Tub! (Tub Reparied: Success)

[parcours]

My T3C on it's maiden voyage suffered a bent tub.

Here's what happened:

The tub at the rear drivers side corner bent due to the weight of the top and RTT. It shifted ~ 3/4" towards the drivers side. The front of the tub is still intact.

We took the Mojave Trail from east to west over three days and went through some rough terrain. We didn't stay very much on the graded portion of the road and made quite a few side roads. I can only guess that the rocks and
constant beating with the added weight of the top and the RTT caused the rear corner to bend.

So... My question... How can I repair this? I tried to ratchet strap the two sides together, but it only sprung back. Is this something I can bend back using "home" tools?


You can see the shifting here: These two holes were aligned.

This angle and the tailgate should be aligned:

Here's the opposite side:

You can see the top how much it shifted from the opposite corner:

 

[johnspark]

Mine was like that when I bought it. I took ratchet straps and squeezed the &*(^ out of it and bolted it closed. Once that was done, I welded the top into position and bolted it on. It hasn't moved an millimeter. Of course, that method limits the use of the tailgate, but I wasn't worried about that anyway.

If you want to retain the use of the gate, try a welded or bolted interior gusset on each rear side after you ratchet it into position. It'll take up interior space, but will provide a retaining support. The top is to heavy not to have fully supported walls all the way around, that's why I bolted mine closed. It's like nuking things from orbit....they only way to be sure. LOL

 

[OverlandKyle]

Mine is like that even now..... My solution was to use a pry bar and pry the holes close enough together to slip a bolt through the two and then to use a wing nut to clamp it together... Takes me a few extra minutes to open and close the tailgate but I don't mind it too much.... Interestingly enough, it's on the same side as yours

 

[parcours]

I guess this is a normal issue with trailers that have a RTT atop a cover. Don't hear much about this issue. ... if I would have known I would have added the necessary reinforcement. Now I have to deal with the LineX. ...

 

[parcours]

SUCCESS!!!

Well, I repaired the bent tub... A little ingenuity and some hydraulic muscle :sombrero:

Harbor Freight comes through again....

8ton extended length ram.

I pushed the corner towards the center of trailer while the lower portion of the trailer was held in place with straps. The corner moved easily and I was able to get it realigned perfectly back to original...

 

[grnhornetcustoms]

What is the plan to keep it from bending again like that?

 

[parcours]

What is the plan to keep it from bending again like that?

Working on that. The plan is to build a 1x1 square tubing reinforcing brace to tie both sides of the trailer together. Will make the tail gate unusable to pass large items in, but it will still fold down.

I'll post pics as I get it built.

 

[grnhornetcustoms]

Working on that. The plan is to build a 1x1 square tubing reinforcing brace to tie both sides of the trailer together. Will make the tail gate unusable to pass large items in, but it will still fold down.

I'll post pics as I get it built.

Good plan. I was going to make that suggestion because it was what I did with mine. I thought about cutting the 1x1 at each end of the tail gate to make it removable by bolting or even pinning it together. I found that the 1x1 wasn't really in the way of anything I need to load. It has never been an issue. It was that reason my lid was hinged in front so that I could have the edges go down along the 1x1 in case I had side load issues. Hope that makes sense.



It might be possible to reinforce externally without changing the look but your line-x job is nice and it

 

[parcours]

Here's the final fix..

Got the cross brace Linex'd. Came out pretty good. The top lines up actually better than before. I also added support bolts to the top angle at each hinge and latch, that really stiffened up the upper frame.

The Destaco's are much better latches that what I had before.

 

[67tank]

Very well done Sir.

 

[grnhornetcustoms]

Ok, looks like you can forget ever having that happen again. Is that just for travel and then you will remove it at base camp? Kinda defeats the tailgate option. Just interested in your thoughts and how you use your trailer. Thanks for sharing. This is one of my favorite builds here.

 

[parcours]

This is a permanent install. Or at least not easily field removed. It's bolted in 7 locations, the lower 3 are into the rear frame cross member.

I'm surprised that others building T3C's (factory tailgate) haven't posted about having this issue. I ran my trailer pretty hard through the Mojave Road and noticed this at the end of the first day.

I've lost the practical use of the tailgate but it now serves as a table. I'm not planning on removing the cross brace.

And thanks! I appreciate the kudos.

Planning our second outing... Possibly Mammoth, White Mountains area(s). Stay cooler during the day and nice cool evenings.

 

[OverlandKyle]

The fact that you had this happen got me nervous as I'll be traveling nearly 6,000 miles to Overland Expo and back from New Jersey so I decided to go ahead and strap it back into alignment and bolt it in place today as we had some gorgeous weather

My Actionpackers fit with 1/8 of a inch to spare and I put some rubber edging on the upright portion of the angle iron to provide some more support for the RTT

The bonus now is that for the first time ever, I can close my tailgate easily and have to bolted together very straight as compared to the way it was

 

[parcours]

The fact that you had this happen got me nervous as I'll be traveling nearly 6,000 miles to Overland Expo and back from New Jersey so I decided to go ahead and strap it back into alignment and bolt it in place today as we had some gorgeous weather

My Actionpackers fit with 1/8 of a inch to spare and I put some rubber edging on the upright portion of the angle iron to provide some more support for the RTT

The bonus now is that for the first time ever, I can close my tailgate easily and have to bolted together very straight as compared to the way it was

That should work. You might consider adding some diagonal bracing. Depending on how much weight you have atop the trailer.