Broken trailer tongue

[flyfisherman]

That's not normal either unless you live up here in the snow/rust belt.

Or live right near the coast where there's a lot of salt air.

[wavery]

Or live right near the coast where there's a lot of salt air.

What bothers me about the rust is that it is so vastly different from the rest of the frame. That metal seems to have either, never painted from the factory (possible but doubtful) or the paint was ground off, at some point. That is about the amount of surface rust that I would expect from totally unprotected metal.

OK, I just went down to my trailer with flashlight and mechanics mirror in hand. I can tell you for certain that my 2002 Coleman trailer frame was pre-painted, all the way to the end of the frame before the tongue was welded on.

Also, my trailer has an additional brace the seems to be missing on yours. If you are interested, I will go down later today and take pictures for you. I have painting contractors that are due here at any moment so I can't do it right now.