Ok, I didn't get a whole lot done yesterday, but what I did get accomplished was big. At least for me it's big
I've been worried all along about losing strength in the tub after cutting out the tailgate.
Sure enough, the sides have bowed inward and closed my gaps at the top of the tailgate. I had perfect gaps when I first cut it out.
I really, really, really didn't want to do this, but it's time to put a brace in. I spread the tub back out by wedging in a 2x2 that I had laying around.
That opened my tailgate gaps back up, so I cut and welded in a permanent cross member. I couldn't decide where to weld the brace, so I finally put it where it is because I may weld in some a expanded metal across the top of it to make a shelf out of it. I figure that in a camping situation, the tailgate will likely be used as a table top or a place to put a small grill or something like that. A shelf above it would come in handy. At least that's how I'm rationalizing it to get over the fact that I had to put in a cross-member.
Now for the biggest problem to date. All along, I've been going back and forth as to whether or not I was going to put a lid on it. For camping, a lid is really nice to have, but as a utility trailer, a lid will likely be a hassle. A canvas top would be a good alternative. Plus, a lid will just add more expense. Another consideration is that I didn't weld in a floor drain when I replaced the floor. My thoughts were that it will have a tailgate and that when I wasn't using the trailer, I'd just park it with the bed tilted back to let the water drain out. Well, I ended up constructing the tailgate in such a way as to keep water out when driving in the rain. Unfortunately, that means that it will also keep water in.
After weighing all the pros and cons, I've decided to just go ahead with the lid. The lid itself will be fairly straight forward, but my biggest problem is that like the tub, the upper rails are just about as warped as they can be. The aren't just warped in and out, they are warped up and down.
It's a little hard to tell by these photos, but you can get a feel for just warped these rails are.
Well, how do you fit a square lid to a non-square trailer? After thinking a lot about it, I decided that it's not possible to do. I could beat the rails back in place, but there is no telling what collateral damage that would cause. So, I needed to figure out how to make the top of the trailer square. Since I really like the look of the squared off rails that the newer trailers have, I decided that some angle iron would do what I needed to do. I measured to find the widest spots both front to back and side to side and built a frame out of 1.5" angle iron to fit those measurements, making sure to keep it square. I was hoping all along that 1.5" would be enough to make up for warped rails.
Luckily for me, it fit nicely the first time and I can see what it's going to look like. It's going to make a huge difference both functionally and aesthetically. Definitely a good decision!!!
