Trailer frame repair / pulling???

[oddave715]

So I picked up a nice "looking" M101A3 from LeJuene. Darn thing has had a forklift ram into the frame right at the rear spring hanger and has bent the frame over an 1" or 2". It pushed the other side frame rail over a little as well. My first attempt to fix was chain it to a tree an hook my winch to the most damaged area and attempt to pull. Well that was unsuccessful. Winch drug my Cherokee. I don't think a ports power is gonna work due to both rails being bent. I am thinking thatif I am going to resurrect this frame Ithat I may have to take it to have the frame pulled. Any advice on getting the frame pulled? Expected cost to have that done?

Thanks

David

 

[doghead]

I had one that had frame damage.

The frame was very brittle and tore/craacked/broke, when pulled.

I would replace it.

With no box attached, the frame is very "movable".

 

[oddave715]

I hoped to not have to pull the bed. But that will be my next attempt. With the bed on I can see right where it should be due to undercoating.

How bad was yours doghead?

 

[Jeepsinker]

Chain it to a tree about 1' from the bend on either side, then hook the pull chain right at the bend and pull with a larger vehicle like a deuce if you have one available.

 

[doghead]

Mine was very bad.

I attempted to simply make it movable in the yard for storage.

Every single weld tore on mine.

 

[wdbtchr]

I've straightened several bent frames and my favorite tool is two trees. I've used two chainblocks pulling from opposite directions to do amazing things even correcting out of square bends with a 10 ton porta-power from Harbor Freight. But then I have a lot of big oak trees in my neck of the woods. I also have a BFH(big freaking 12# hammer) for fine tuning.

 

[Flyingvan911]

Do you know anyone with an acetylene torch? If you pull the bed and heat the frame at the bends you might be able to get it straight.

 

[oddave715]

I am going to try to hook to it with my 3/4 ton suburban today and see if that works. It's already chained to a tree. And the sledgehammer may get brought out if needed. Torch will definitely be needed for final adjustments at a minimum. Where the fork hit it there is a significant dent that pulling is not going to remove all of.

 

[oddave715]

Hooked the suburban to it yesterday. So far it's starting to come out. I need to pull the chains off so I can run my string down the side and see where I am at. I may need to move my chains in a little closer to the major part of the bend. As you get away from that part the bend was more gradual. Once I evaluate where it's at I will pull again. I took some real hard jerks to get it where it's at. So far no welds tearing like Dogheads trailer did. I am thinking that I may weld some braces inside the frame at the rear spring mounts as that is where must of the bend is and the metal is stretched and fatigued there.

 

[DrillerSurplus]

It is generally not a good idea to weld on frames- welding can create a stress point that causes it to crack. Haven't seen any photos, but are you sure frame even needs reinforcement? If it does, bolting something in would be better.

 

[oddave715]

The frames are welded together. Are these frames heat treated?? It is just a small simple trailer if you think about it. Most commercial trailers are much bigger & longer and are just mild steal welded up with no heat treatment.

I haven't decided for sure if I will do any bracing. Gonna wait until I get the rest of the damage repair work done and then decide. It's coming out really well. It has taken some pretty good jerks though. Broke two straps. I am using them to prevent tree damage and prevent damage to the shackle tie down bracket. I'll try to get some pics of the setup today. I was really unsure of how to do this and watched a lot of frame pulling videos on YouTube and looked at tons of pics. So far I am very pleased with the results.