Day 1 of Rubicon 2010, I hear and feel an occasional clanking sound coming from up front. Now the first thing that comes to mind is a broken birf, and that would not be the first for me. As I press on to catch up to our trail leader, Don, I get out to asses the situation. What I see definitely stands out, my driver front spring hangar is about 6-10 inches below the frame rail. It was a clean break, right at the weld, or lack of weld I will say. These spring hangars are not welded on how I would have thought. Only a few short spots around the edge and thats it. Not even a center rivet helps attach it to the frame.
Now I am relieved. Not only do I not have to tear apart a front axle, but I brought along my Ready Welder for such an occasion. As the rest of the group called camp for the night, I was able to back off the trail, with the trailer, and situate myself into a spot where the sparks can fly.
As I said, the break was pretty clean. Not a lot of grinding and filing was needed, just enough to prep the area and have it seat right. I think the most time consuming part of the entire process was getting the spring eye bushing out of the hangar so I would not melt it welding. I carried both .030 and .035 wire with me, using .035 for this job. After about an hour and a half total, Lilly was ready for more action.
Since then I have not figured out under what circumstance it did break. From the time I noticed the sound there was nothing that I remember that would have put that much strain on it. My conclusion, as well as others, is that it was just fatigue from the years of stress while wheeling. Also I have not needed to make any further repair. It sits in my driveway with the same repair done that night on the trail. The Ready Welder did a fantastic job the first time, and my “cheap” insurance paid off.
One thing I recommend for those with “trail” welders of any kind is use it at home first, get used to it and how it performs. That way when it comes to using it on the trail, you’re as relieved as I was when I found out what needed to be fixed.
