July 14,  2003
Nosara, Costa Rica
~5500 miles

yesterday on a day trip back to samara, the frame gave way where the rear leaf spring attaches in back. the factory weld job sufficiently weakened the metal around the side mounted bracket to the point where it gave way.  i am beginning to realize that either, now, later or on the next scout
i need to completely eliminate all single-sided structural members--anything where a moment arm exerts sufficient torque to fatigue the metal over time, or where a sudden sharp blow can use leverage to multiply its force.

all the leaf sping plates where the shocks attach need re-engineering.  the front springs need gussetting at the rear attachment point.  the rear springs need reengineering at the rear attachment point.  the rear shock upper attachment point needs reengineering.  the front shock upper attachment brackets need to be redone, and the frame needs to be strengthened there.

as far as fixing the current problem goes, i obviously need to do both sides at once. better to catch the other one before it fails as well. it will probably require dropping the fuel tank in order to really wrap the frame with a new piece of steel.

there is a local guy named diego here that apparently is pretty handy with a torch. i talked to him this morning and he seems willing to tackle it this afternoon.