As luck would have it, I picked up an AD-code 26er today. If it weren't for the fact that it has the modern gray handles and full-cover wheels I wouldn't have expected it to be only 7 years old. Has rust at the taco handle and the front handle is held on by new bolts.
And it leans back just like that, exacerbated by the owner's cousin who managed to bend the back legs.
A quick inspection, as it sat upside down in my truck bed, seems to indicate all 3 leg sockets weren't attached perpendicular to the intended plane of the kettle. I can see a run of them being done this way if the jig holding the kettle against the welder was angled, but a whole year or so?
Already got new legs (shower curtain rods) today and will make it better than new, with longer legs and probably a fourth that locates the front leg to the axle, so that the tripod remains solid and doesn't depend on the triangle for that.