Auto Safety Cover Roll Box Warped/Caving In

[kjkurtz]

I have an old auto cover that the box where the cover rolls up into has started to cave in. If you take a look at the photos, you can see that the box was built out of treated 2x12's but the only thing holding it in place in the middle was the L bracket that the aluminum lid sat on. Over time, the lid screw anchors pulled out of the concrete and then slowly twisted the top of the board towards the cover roll. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out a way to get it back and straight again since it's crowding the roll at this point. Any ideas on how to best do that?

A buddy of mine made the metal plates you can see in one of the photos. My plan is to use Tapcon screws to hold the board into place with those once I get it back in the correct spot, but the trick is getting it back into place since now dirt has settled behind it making it hard to untwist.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

 

[ajw22]

I don't think you'll be able to repair the box without removing the cover and spool.

Can you suck the dirt out from behind the wood with a shop vac?

I think the wood needs to be removed, the area behind it cleaned out, and new wood fastened.

 

[kjkurtz]

That's what I'm afraid of. I assume the box was built before the cement was poured (26 years ago). I only have about a 3/4" gap to work with in the very center where it is warped the worst. I used a chunk of metal and was able to loosen up the dirt a bit, but that is about the best I was able to do.