Wow!! I’ve heard about the grease fires and runaway pits, even saw some pictures of the damage but thankfully never experienced it. I’m glad you were able to salvage the cook with what seems to be minimal damage.
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
I suspect it cracked traveling from job to job. Maybe being still warm from a cook it was weakened enough to crack the weld. The baffle plate is 1/4" and the box is 1/4". I used a stick welder and had good penatration.
Still, if you think your weld cracked during travel, I'd be thinking very seriously about adding some reinforcing underneath the cc & firebox to tie it all together a little better. Pretty obviously, something is flexing, and not in a good way.
"Measure with micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with fireaxe." Ted M., USCG (ret)
"Smoked pork. It belongs in me." Giles L
This was the last burn on this trailer. She's going under the knife in the next few weeks. Her new home sits upon a cradle that supports the belly and the firebox. All supported by a 37' trailer (separate build thread).