Decided to pull the rear frame off yesterday morning to fix the crack that re-opened. ....of course, found more problems
the driver's side corner of the frame is bent down from both directions, (cracks through the frame tube on both sides of the driver's side axle mount) fixing it across the back was pretty simple with an added piece of tubing. reinforcing the frame along it's length is a whole other can of worms .... the brake set-up is in the way of adding an additional tube below the existing one, so I'm considering drilling a run of holes along the top of the tube, inserting the piece of rod in the picture and welding it to the tube, it's a narrower diameter than the frame tube, so it would provide some additional strength, but nowhere near as much as I'd like. About the only other "method" at my disposal is to take more of the square tubing, cut out one side of it to create "c" channel and weld that over the frame tubing right in line with the axle bracket that's welded to the tube. If the brake setup wasn't in the way, i would just run tubing under both sides and connect it to the square tube that I added. suggestions welcome! Meantime, port-a-power rig is getting set up in the basement to bend the frame back into shape ...