I had mine LineX'd completely... Top/bottom, sides, lid...
Then I painted it with AspartX, another LineX product. I can you tell is worth the $$$. Very difficult to chip and completely encapsulates the metal, no rust!
Here's how I did mine. Granted this was from scratch. I made a 6' receiver, attached it to the frame in several places, braced it with the TC-3 braces.
Repaired the tub and added a new brace.
See my other post:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/140097-Bantam-T3C-Bent-Tub!-%28Tub-Reparied-Success%29
This is a permanent install. Or at least not easily field removed. It's bolted in 7 locations, the lower 3 are into the rear frame cross member.
I'm surprised that others building T3C's (factory tailgate) haven't posted about having this issue. I ran my trailer pretty hard through the Mojave...
Here's the final fix..
Got the cross brace Linex'd. Came out pretty good. The top lines up actually better than before. I also added support bolts to the top angle at each hinge and latch, that really stiffened up the upper frame.
The Destaco's are much better latches that what I had before.
Working on that. The plan is to build a 1x1 square tubing reinforcing brace to tie both sides of the trailer together. Will make the tail gate unusable to pass large items in, but it will still fold down.
I'll post pics as I get it built.
Repaired the bent tub (see my other thread).
Made some modification to the latches. I went with a set of Destaco that work much better. I'm also going to reinforce the tailgate section by adding bracing between the tailgate latches. I'll post some pictures when I get it done.
Here are the...
SUCCESS!!!
Well, I repaired the bent tub... A little ingenuity and some hydraulic muscle :sombrero:
Harbor Freight comes through again....
8ton extended length ram.
I pushed the corner towards the center of trailer while the lower portion of the trailer was held in place with straps. The...
I guess this is a normal issue with trailers that have a RTT atop a cover. Don't hear much about this issue. ... if I would have known I would have added the necessary reinforcement. Now I have to deal with the LineX. ...