![Image](http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d197/sass93/Trucks/42622/IMG_1035.jpg)
The brackets for which have been giving me some trouble the last couple of years... they've been there for about 15. No big surprise. So, on my way home I stopped and picked up some steel to build new ones, and planned on making them over the Christmas holidays. However, after dropping my trailer Monday at the factory where I pick up the majority of my loads, I started hearing a rattle from the back end. Yep, sure enough, the right front bracket had broken again.
![Image](http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d197/sass93/IMG_0055.jpg)
![Image](http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d197/sass93/IMG_0054.jpg)
The old brackets were made of 1-¼" square tubing with 3/16" wall. The steel I bought Monday was 2-½" x 1-½" x 3/16" wall. I wanted 1/4" wall, but no one had any in stock. I got enough to built new brackets for both sides. (I think)!
![Confused :?](./images/smilies/icon_confused.gif)
Working outside is not for me. I got up to 59ºF today. Okay temp if you're busy doin', but a little on the chilly size if you're standing around... "thinking". (Some folks know how to do this stuff... I'm just fakin' it, makin' it up as I go along. Took me about 2-½ hours to get set up to start work... then, it was, "...hey, this grinding wheel is just about ground down to a nub! So, off to ACE Hardware to get a new grinding wheel. And the special wrench to take off the lock "nut"... decided to get a couple cut-off wheels, they'll make grinding all the stub left on the frame plate a little less work... (I'd make new plates, but they're bolted thru the frame to a crossmember, grade 8 bolts and torqued to about 300 ft.lbs. My drive ain't exactly flat, being rock and gravel, and taking that crossmember out would be a bear to get lined back up, once it shifted!
The original brackets were set at a 15º angle toward the outside. The wider steel tubing I'm using dropped that to a 10º angle. Got the "vertical" piece cut with its 10º angle for attaching to the frame plate, and have the horizontal bar cut to length, but it was almost dark when I make the mating cut on the "vertical" piece, so it doesn't quite line up!
![Embarassed :oops:](./images/smilies/icon_redface.gif)
![Surprised :o](./images/smilies/icon_surprised.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)