Rust, the silent plague

 Whilst inflating the spare, I noticed the rust spots looked a bit worse. A couple of taps from a hammer and most of the bottom of the draw bar fell off!!!
Although better, the other side was also becoming a bit dodgy. This job was gonna be HUGE. I cant imagine how many cutting wheels I would have to use to take the old bar off and my Arc welding is nowhere near good enough to attach the new bar. And how the hell am I gonna get under it?  I put the water proof coating on the bottom without too many problems but using a brush is 100 times easier than weilding an angle grinder in a confined space! Acomec machinery to the rescue.

     

 The  van was too wide to fit on the vehicle hoist, it was occupied with  another project anyway. So blocks of wood went under the back frame and she was hoisted up and sat on a couple of 44 gallon drums. I had already taken off the gas tank, spare tyre and pole holding tube.

 This shot gives an idea about the angle we put the van on. I just hope there is nothing inside that will let gravity take over.
The old draw bar came off, with a little help from the oxy acet.  We decided to reuse the jockey wheel clamp and other fittings needed. It took me an hour to cut it off with the grinder.  It was at that point that I was glad I wasn't trying to do the job at home with the angle grinder!

Draw bar is in position ready for welding. This is a two man job, as the measurements from the front of the draw bar to the van have to be constantly checked to make sure it's in the middle.
As it was beer o clock and the Mig had run out of Argon, we decided to give it away for day one.







 Day 2 saw the bits come off the old draw bar cleaned up and ready for re use .
I had cleaned up all the bits of metal left from the removal and removed any rust, paint or galvanisation for any part that was to be welded. As this was underneath the van I had to sit on the floor and reach up. I got covered in filings and dirt...now I know why I got the job!







  I enjoy doing work on anything myself. Most of the time, if I need any special tool, I will make do or adapt what I already have. This is a piece of 16mm mild steel that the hitch will sit on. Once again I was glad I wasn't at home because it would have taken me forever and an unknown number of hack saw blades. This machine - You turn it on an it lowers itself at a set rate, then turns itself off when it's finished

 Here is the engineer at work.  After I'd drilled holes in the plate, once again using the right tool, a drill press, the holes went in easily. If I'd've done it at home probably would have taken me all day to drill the holes and wrecked my drill bits
Draw bar all done, I'll take the van home to re do gas lines, wiring and repaint. I have an idea to put a tool box on the bar. I've looked around and the one we need is too heavy and nearly $400. So I have an ingenious plan...