Has anyone ever straightened their frame?

[AndyW]

My '82 Burro is in pretty decent shape, but the frame was tweaked when we got it. The tongue triangle is visibly skewed and the rest of the frame is off, too, although I've never measured how much. That hasn't stopped us from towing all over Colorado and banging it through some vicious desert washes, but it does put a nasty wear pattern on the tires.

Towing, you can tell it's not pulling straight, but given that we're pulling with a 95 Montero that weighs 3 tons, it doesn't seem to affect mpg or cause sway.

I have a new, bigger set of tires and wheels I plan to put on this summer and it would be nice not to trash them in the first 1,000 miles. I put a new axle on last summer and tried to offset the axle so the wheels would be straight even if the frame wasn't, but that doesn't seem to have made a major difference.

Has anyone ever had a body shop put their trailer on the rack? I'm a little concerned about stressing the fiberglass -- although I imagine having the frame tweaked stresses it, too. Cracking the frame would stink, too. What would it cost?

[Gary Lynch]

I had a 82' Burro myself. The original owner cut off the tongue and the rear bumper. He left the rest of the frame intact but set it on a new much beefier frame with 14" wheels. So I am assuming the frame was failing.

There are laws about what you can and can't do to frames. At least in the word of trucking. I'd check that out along with have an expert welder/engineer type examine your frame and give you advise. Always think safety.

[Donna D.]

My experience is only with the tug. Got whacked in the rear and bent the frame a good 'un. Body guy removed the entire truck body... loosened the shackles and axles, used a come-along and lots of measuring.

I won't tell you what it cost

So, it is doable...but I'd remove the body first

[Loren G. Hedahl]

I had a Compact Jr. in the '70s that developed a severe front end sag. By the time I got to a small town in W. Texas the front of the trailer was almost dragging on the road. I found a lumber yard, bought a couple of 4x4's and some rope and a cable come-a-long. I was able to jury rig a supplemental frame good enough to get into Laredo.

In Laredo a small welding shop unbolted the body from the frame, lifted the body off with a large fork lift and proceeded to straighten and beef up the frame. During this time no verbal communication transpired because neither of us spoke the same language. However, the welder was happy with $35 and I was too. Remember, this was about 1974.

So now that I got to tell a story, if I were you I would check some local welding shops. Another possibility would be an auto frame straightener shop.

Sounds like you really need to get this straightened out. Good luck.

Loren

[AndyW]

Hmmm. I've never done any body work that involved more than a sledgehammer and a can of Bondo, but I do have a couple of come-alongs. If I had a solid anchor point, maybe I could just get into the frame-straightening business myself. Putting enough stress on a Harbor Freight comealong to straighten a frame is a pretty frightening prospect, though.

[Bob Cupp]

I reinforced the frame on my Love Bug when I repaired the cracks that I found after I bought it. I can tell you from my welding experience that you would not overly stess even a cheap come-along to bend one of these frames. They are built just strong enough to support the shell and a light load. Any competent welder should be able to straighten and reinforce or replace the frame on your trailer. Get ready for sticker shock though, the price that I am paying for steel is about 3 times what it was 4 years ago.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Hmmm. I've never done any body work that involved more than a sledgehammer and a can of Bondo, but I do have a couple of come-alongs. If I had a solid anchor point, maybe I could just get into the frame-straightening business myself. Putting enough stress on a Harbor Freight comealong to straighten a frame is a pretty frightening prospect, though.

You're not going to need to move it much, so put some pulleys in there for mechanical advantage and off-loading the comealong if you do it yourself, or some clever use of hydraulics. I would be inclined to have a frame-and-axle shop look at it because they have a lot of tools, esp portable hydraulic, and jigs for doing stuf like this, plus mucho experience on what works and what's not likely to work.

They might not even have to remove the body.

Plus, they can check out the axle and rebend if needed. It occurs to me that a bent frame might or might not result in 'scuffing' the tires, but a bent axle likely will...