Where To Start... Where To Start.... :P

[SirJoey]

Thought I was finished with all the electrical stuff, but noooooo....

Had to go back & drill holes through my cabinet to route the wire for
a power strip, for the all-important COFFEE MAKER! (and whatever else)

This night shot makes me feel like I'm camping already!







Got really lucky on this one... the tiny tool box I had alotted for camper use, with the intention
of sitting inside this crate, hangs perfectly suspended, giving me more room under it!
Like a toolbox tray, it fits like it was MADE for it! BONUS!

[SirJoey]

Put up my deer-antler hooks:







...and a mirror, so I can see my gawjus self!



It's gettin' homier all the time!

[SirJoey]

Tying up some of the loose ends on the interior, & starting to pack a few things
for my trip, even though it's still over 5 weeks away. Thank Heaven for bungees!









Next comes scrubbing the entire exterior in an attempt to remove
5 years worth of sun-baked grime, bugs, & black streaks!

[crazylarry]

SirJoey,

I know that you bought that trailer used, several years ago...One thought occurred to me as I traveled down the road the other day and noticed a similar trailer in break-down mode..Wheel bearings are the single most neglected maintainence item on any trailer! Have you inspected them, or had them "Packed" recently? No? I suggest that you MUST before you set out on your trip! Some of your friends on this board may instruct you on the procedure! I used to do it on my '53, '55, '70 Ford pickup's, but never really owned a trailer like the one you have..
Also...locate the "D.O.T." serial number on each tire...the last three digits are the date of manufacture....ie; "..234 " this would indicate that the tire was made in the 23rd week of a year ending in "4"...so..more than likely around, what?, early June 1994, or 2004. Overall condition of the exterior appearance, weather checking, cracks, indications of dry rot etc. would guide you to the appropriate date! If tires are much over six years old...replace them. Examine hitch mechanism for wear...safety chains are a Must Have!

[crazylarry]

More..I left off a crucial tip! Buy a good AIR GUAGE! Keep your tires aired up to proper pressure at all times...check daily! Keep them within 2 PSI of each other, don't neglect your spare!

I'm off the soapbox!


Loco

[SirJoey]

SirJoey, I know that you bought that trailer used, several years ago...One thought occurred to me as I traveled down the road the other day and noticed a similar trailer in break-down mode..Wheel bearings are the single most neglected maintainence item on any trailer! Have you inspected them, or had them "Packed" recently? No? I suggest that you MUST before you set out on your trip! Some of your friends on this board may instruct you on the procedure! I used to do it on my '53, '55, '70 Ford pickup's, but never really owned a trailer like the one you have..
Also...locate the "D.O.T." serial number on each tire...the last three digits are the date of manufacture....ie; "..234 " this would indicate that the tire was made in the 23rd week of a year ending in "4"...so..more than likely around, what?, early June 1994, or 2004. Overall condition of the exterior appearance, weather checking, cracks, indications of dry rot etc. would guide you to the appropriate date! If tires are much over six years old...replace them. Examine hitch mechanism for wear...safety chains are a Must Have!

Thanx for the tips, bro! Actually, I DID purchase this thing brand new, but I was just guessing on how long ago. Turns out, I was pretty darn close, cuz the date of actual manufacture is on a tag on the side, & listed as 4/4/05. This prompted me to go look for my original sales slip & title. I found it, dated 8/10/05, but I was MORTIFIED to see that I actually paid $1785 for this thing! OMG, I musta been outta my friggin' mind! For some reason, I've been thinking I only paid $1100 for it. I guess I've been havin' a senior moment for the last 3 or 4 years....

Anyway...

The coupler is fine, as are the safety chains. In fact, I just got around to shortening the chains to the proper length after nearly 5 years, LOL!

As for repacking the wheel bearings, it's already on the "to do" list. Was planning on doing that when I remove the wheels for cleanup.

Already have a good tire guage, one of the dial types. As for the tires, they're older than the trailer, cuz I swapped 'em out with my other trailer, in order to have the nice aluminum wheels on this one. Replacing them isn't an option at this point, so I guess I'll just be "shootin' the rapids", but I'll take the tire-pressure tips to heart for sure, thanx!

To everyone else out there, just FYI, CrazyLarry is a personal friend of mine, & a professional OTR trucker, so he knows a thing or 3 about being on the road!

[SirJoey]

BTW Larry, thanx for the info about the numbers on the tires, too. Didn't know that.
Checked mine, but couldn't find any such numbers, though. Possibly cuz they're specifically trailer tires? IDK....

Although they may not get the official "LocoLarry Stamp Of Approval",
FWIW, they passed the VISUAL inspection with flying colors.

[crazylarry]

Thanks, Joey,
Unless the tires came by spaceship they have a DOT number on there..
like any serial number such as a "VIN" there are many numbers, each one signifies something..guessing "DOT1234567" for a sample! Seven or so numbers...just the last three deal with date. Keep looking!
L

[kstephenson]

Great work on your trailer Sir Joey

I m in the process of my first conversion and having a good time. My wife calls " Lowes" my new best friend. Haha

[SirJoey]

Unless the tires came by spaceship they have a DOT number on there..

Well, I guess these tires are a gift from one of my "visitations" then, cuz I went
out there & looked 'em over again, just to be certain. There R no such numbers on them.

Remember though, I'm usually proof of the exception, rather than the rule.

Great work on your trailer Sir Joey
My wife calls " Lowes" my new best friend. Haha

Hey, thanx KS! I appreciate that, even though by most standards on this site, I'm just a neanderthal!
As for Lowes..... don't even get me started...

[SirJoey]

Finally comin' down to cleanin' up the exterior. Nearly 5 years worth of baked-on black streaks were
a MAJOR pain! Tried several things before hitting on the right one.

First, I tried PURPLE POWER... it worked somewhat, but not NEARLY well enough.

Then I read on some website where they suggested WD-40, of all things. WD-40?!!! WHAT?!! I was pretty
sure that this would be a total waste of time, & I was right. It did NOTHING WHATSOEVER.

Then I tried Billy Mays' KABOOM... another TOTAL failure which did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

For my 4th attempt, I pulled out the CLOROX CLEANUP... pretty powerful stuff with bleach, which usually does
the trick when others fail, but surprisingly, even THAT was a failure, making very little difference at all!

The 5th & final solution was a $1.00 bottle of AWESOME from Dollar General, applied full strength. Even though
I still had to scrub a good bit, & go over the whole thing twice, it took off all of the black streaks & everything
else, along with all of the shine of course, but I already expected that. At least the darn thing is finally white
again! Now, all I have to do is go back & wax the whole trailer, & she should be lookin' pretty good once again!

More pics coming after the wax job....

[pete42]

When building my first airplane the saying was "it's 99% done with 99% to go"
I would thing the same applies when doing a conversion.
I hope to find out one of these days.
nice job on your build......

[greenevegiebeast]

Nice one Joey, if you ever make it to Texas. You need to come by say hi and listen to us play TUBA

[SirJoey]

When building my first airplane the saying was "it's 99% done with 99% to go"
nice job on your build......

Thanx, Pete! Yeah, it's that last 1% that I'm having trouble with, LOL!

Nice one Joey, if you ever make it to Texas. You need to come by say hi and listen to us play TUBA

Thanx, Jay! Actually, I hope (emphasis on "HOPE") to make a trip to TX in the late Fall when the weather is
cooler, cuz I have a brother in Dallas. If ur not too terribly far from there, maybe I can make a little detour.
You better have ur HPV ready to roll though, cuz I'll have the "Deltoyd" with me!
Besides, I'd LOVE to stop by the store & ask U for a left-hand driveshaft wrench.

[SirJoey]

Finally got 'er waxed! There was actually a white trailer lurking beneath all that
baked-on grime! DANG, she ain't looked THIS good since she was NEW! Whooda thunkit?







The final step will be to remove the wheels, repack the wheel bearings, polish
the chrome lugnuts & centercaps, scrub the tires, & apply tire black. Then at
long last, I can stick a fork in it, cuz I think it'll actually be DONE!