What would cause this (picture of the damage)

I have the same exact type of trailer, however I have never seen anything like that. I would not buy that trailer unless it properly repaired and the axles aligned

 

Should be part of any decent inspection to make sure there are no broken welds on the rails or cracked frames on the box. Ignore a broken weld and eventually it will act just like a zipper on the rails.

Some don't understand that the only purpose of those clamps are to keep the box in the rails when the pins are pulled. They have nothing to do with alignment or the structural integrity of the trailer/box/rails.

 

The rails won't bend/spread apart unless the welds break. If there is just re-weld and it's fine. Tracking alignment can be good in one position and off in another due to worn rail holes.

 

I see this all the time with rail continers, works fine and pulls fine but I just never liked the looks of it when I hook up to one, the majority of what I think happened to this trailer was they repaired it and never put it back on track.

how much did they want for it.

 

My friend have same problem he replace a clamp and he still driving .

 

Good to hear. So many threads like this don't get finished.

 

Glad to hear all went well!!