Just a quick note, if you decide to go the alum-a-weld route, MAKE SURE you use a
stainless steel wire brush when you are doing the repair. (You can buy them cheap in Home Depot, Lowes, and Sears with no problems).
The aluminum surface oxidises (sp) almost instantly as it's exposed to oxygen, and the stainless brush is needed to keep the alum-a-weld from adhearing to the brush instead of the repair area. A regular steel brush will get clogged from the weld material and not be able to expose the aluminum surface for welding. V the crack on both sides with a grinder, then fill the V with the alum-a-weld. It's really not hard, and once you have the weld done you just grind/sand the welded area to look like the surrounding area, a little paint and you're as good as new and just as strong as the original.
A little hint, if you have some spare aluminum lying around, make a practice weld or two on the scrap to get your technique down before you do the actual repair.
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1987 V20 w/1987 150HP Yamaha on a Shoreland'r Trailer
1978 16.5 Airslot w/1996 120HP Force on a Four Winns trailer
1996 V21 w/1993 200HP Mercury on a Shoreline Trailer
All towed by a 5.7L Hemi Durango.
If God didn't have a purpose for us we wouldn't be here, so
Live simply, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly.
(Leave the rest to God)
Silence, in the face of evil, is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act. God will not hold us guiltless.