Front lift cable attaching point damage repairs?

[oldcarguy]

Has anyone had to make repairs to the front lift cable attaching points on the lower rail of the upper section on a late Classic?

Our 2307C has distortion in the forward sections of the lower rails on both sides that's causing the following issues:
- street side has a significant bulge upward that's caused the inner trim board to distort upward almost an inch
- curb side has a similar upward bulge in the inner trim board, there's a noticeable deformity in the underside of the lower rail at the front corner where the side meets the front lower rail, & the lower section of the outer wall is bulged outward to the point where the lower rear corner of the upper half of the door doesn't fit it tightly against the frame.

The damage is the most noticeable on the curb side, where the inner edge of the bottom rail is bent upward at the point where the lifting cable is attached, & the inner edge of the bottom of the lower rail is visibly bent upward.

We have an extensive trip coming up in June (Northern CA > CO > Glacier Nat'l Park > OR > home) , & I want to get this repaired before we go.

Here’s the best solution I’ve come up with so far:
• raise the upper section
• support the upper section with 2x4s cut to fit between the upper section & the ground
• back off the front lifting cables & disconnect them
• remove the inner trim boards
• using a block of hardwood & a mallet from the inside, try to gently bend the lower rails back relatively straight
• once the lower rails are as straight as I can get them, on the curb side, cut a section of ¼” thick aluminum angle the length of the lower rail overlapping the front corner & bolt it in place on the outer underside of the lower rail. Do the same on the street side, but with a shorter piece of the same ¼” thick aluminum angle
• radius the corner of the aluminum angle in the areas where the lifting cable will pass over it, adjust the lifting cable lengths & bolt the lifting cables back in place.

If anyone has had to do a similar repair, I’d really like to hear how the repair was effected & what issues were found with the process. At this point I'm trying to avoid removing the window & inner &/or outer sheathing, tearing into the wall & adding internal reinforcements.

 

[JackandJanet]

oldcar, I think you are talking about damage like you see in post #1 of this thread: https://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f25/front-cable-damage-to-top-4133/ I had similar damage on the front curbside of my trailer and show the repair to it in a link that you find in post #2 of that thread. Follow that link and my repair is shown in post #5 there. In that thread link I also talk about what I believe caused the "dent".

My repair has held up perfectly and if I had to fix any other attachment points, I'd do it the same way.

 

[oldcarguy]

Thanks, Jack

The insight into how this occurred is greatly appreciated - I haven't altered the adjustments on the lifting cables since buying the trailer 4+ years ago, so this issue has probably resulted from excess tension on the front lifting cables over an extended period. The damage on the street side matches your write-up exactly, so hopefully the repair on that side will be straightforward.

Unfortunately, on the curb side the entire lower section of the wall is impacted from the door opening forward to the corner where the lower side rail and front rail meet, so I'm afraid the repair there is going to be more extensive.

 

[JackandJanet]

Your thought about "bending" the lower rails may not work. In my trailer, the lower edge of the top is wood, so it won't "bend". However, the cables will certainly "bite" into it and I'm guessing if the little plate that's there is distorted enough, it will deform the side of the top.

If your cables are attached like mine, with lag screws, then you know the bottom rail is wood. I suppose yours may have "broken"? It could possibly be salvaged with a longer angle, and possibly one made of steel rather than the aluminum one I used.

I seem to recall someone actually replacing that lower rail during a rebuild, but I don't know where to find the writeup.

- Jack

 

[RICHARD1943]

There is an entire article in this forum about replacing cables. I only replaced one but the article I printed from this forum was helpful.

 

[oldcarguy]

Unless unexpected cable damage surfaces when I get started on this repair next week, cable replacement shouldn't be needed - in this case, the problem is damage at the point where the lifting cables attach to the lower rail of the trailer's upper section