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Beware of Kendon trailers

well, I finally got an admission that it shouldn't have made it through QC. that's something at least.

W2yj45v.png


of course, the horrible welds are horrible whether or not the tube breaks.
 
you should send them a pic of your "custom" overflow tank, and tell them that you know how proper fabrication should look. :x
 
:rolleyes I can weld way the hell better than whoever built that trailer, but ok

here's a bend test on 1/2" plate, .035 wire, CO2, 3G

tEKqr3G.png


and here's 4G - not perfect, but passes AWS testing

qEhxNS3.png
 
After seeing this thread I took a look at my old kendon... Yeah some of the welds look worse than Harbor freight gear, way worse. Some worse than my own welds. Fascinating because it is kind of a premium product.
 
What are we looking at here anyway?

Junkie said:
:rolleyes I can weld way the hell better than whoever built that trailer, but ok

here's a bend test on 1/2" plate, .035 wire, CO2, 3G

tEKqr3G.png


and here's 4G - not perfect, but passes AWS testing

qEhxNS3.png
Click to expand...
 
Gets rear ended hard enough to bend the hitch coupler.
Complains to company about broken shitty welds on an ancient motorcycle carrier after an accident.


BARF frak'n delivers once again!!
 
Wrycque said:
What are we looking at here anyway?
Click to expand...
I took 2 pieces of 1/2" thick plate, welded them together, cut out sections, and then bent them to determine how good the welds were.

The first pair, well they're pretty much perfect. 3G means they were vertical.
The second pair, not perfect but well within allowable limits. 4G means they were overhead.

Bend tests are the normal way to certify welders.
FreeRyde said:
Gets rear ended hard enough to bend the hitch coupler.
Complains to company about broken shitty welds on an ancient motorcycle carrier after an accident.


BARF frak'n delivers once again!!
Click to expand...
If you're blowing holes in tubing when welding, and then powdercoating over them and shipping them out, you have serious problems in your fabrication department and I doubt you even have QC.

This was a 1 1/4" coupler, it doesn't take much to bend those. The point of failure isn't on the load path from the back of the trailer to the front of the trailer.
 
Edit - Oh, looks like your inquiry got to the right person eventually.

Who did you email, a specific person, or just general customer service? If it was a general email address you could have gotten a response from someone that doesn't know much about motorcycles or trailers and is just an experienced customer support person. That may explain the sort of chatbot/AI type response.
 
This is a little off subject but I thought that maybe you--or someone--could give me some advice.
I also own a 1998 Kendon trailer and was planning to replace the wheel bearings and seals.
After removing the outer rubber plug, I expected to see a nut to remove so that the bearings could be removed. I see the zerk fitting only. Are these early Kendon bearings replaceable and if so, could you offer advice on how to remove them? I can't imagine that you have to replace the entire hub but I just don't see how it's done. Once they are removed, is there a part number or do I take them to Napa and match them? Thanks so much.
 
@ junkie (or others), Late to the party here but......should you have a question regarding weld quality and you are fairly close to me, I have non destructive testing equipment that would test some items for you....if steel magnetic particle, if not ferromagnetic (aluminum etc.) liquid penetrant (must be open to surface) and if you have thicker stuff I can do ultrasonic testing, I do not have access to radiography at the moment. I have certifications in all and welding inspector certificate (CWI)......will work for beer :rofl


Junkie said:
:rolleyes I can weld way the hell better than whoever built that trailer, but ok

here's a bend test on 1/2" plate, .035 wire, CO2, 3G

tEKqr3G.png


and here's 4G - not perfect, but passes AWS testing

qEhxNS3.png
Click to expand...
 
I eventually got another email from someone including this:
Thanks for the additional pictures. Definitely see the holes in the welds and I’m really sorry about that, it’s not the type of quality we like to represent. The powder coat looks to be original, so I would presume that it was not caught before it went to powder coating. To me it looks like one of the welders was trying to fill a larger than usual gap and did not fully fill the gap. Unfortunately, this indeed was 20 years ago and under different ownership. As much as I wish that at times we could hang on to some welders for 20+, we’re not that fortunate. One comes somewhat close but whomever welded this trailer I personally would not want around for long. We’re still not 100% perfect these days, but I can assure you our quality control process is much more rigorous now.
Click to expand...
which is pretty much exactly the reply I was looking for

Michael, thanks for the offer of help with NDT. In this case all I would've needed is eyes, but I'll keep that in mind for future projects.



This should also be a lesson in general: take a few more minutes to inspect things that could be safety critical, or if you don't know enough to do it yourself, pay someone who knows what they're doing.
 
:laughing

Trailer does its Jay Oh Bee perfectly for twenty years, even with a bad weld.
Let's call out the company anyway.
 
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