new modifications underway, post-trip, as usual

[working on it]

• Following-up on the previous post....I changed my mind about where I was going to mount the scissor jack, after measuring the ground clearance just under the front wall. It appeared to me that it might catch the ground, under some circumstances (dips int the road?, or such, so I opted to place it in front of the detachable jack (that has the new jockey wheel, which created the need for an "auxiliary" scissor jack in the first place). There was just enough room to U-bolt it under the 3" square-tube tongue (I really don't want to drill any holes in it), after re-arranging my extra-strong, redundantly-secured safety chains. Using the last of my spare 3/8" nuts & bolt supply, I have it in a perfect position to raise the tongue enough to connect/disconnect the jockey-wheeled jack, except for 1/2" of interference-fit between the two.
• So, after a lot of work last evening, installing the scissor jack, I was reluctant to remove it. My solution: angle-grinder with a cut-off wheel! I used it to buzz off about two inches from the sand-foot of the main jack (to which the wheel is attached), and about a half-inch off of the scissor jack's base. Works great, and this fix of a fix only took about 30 minutes (my back makes each job take twice as long as it should).
• After that was done, I started on my conduit carrier/rod & reel tube project, by first cutting the 10 ft long, 6" diameter, PVC tube down to 8 ft. I thought about painting it then, but it is still really humid outside after a few days of spotty rain, so I'll wait 'til tomorrow. I'll be using Krylon Fusion paint for plastic (PVC included); I had good luck using it when I painted my HHR's wheel covers a few years ago, so I expect no problems. So, painting delayed, I used a piece of 3/4" EMT conduit, and a 6' length of slotted angle to start forming two rooftop crossbars to mount the rack to. I would've preferred to buy factory-made rack pieces, but since my forte in fabrication (or the opposite) lies in using leftover materials, I am going this route. If it works, great, fine...if it looks like crap but still works, meh!

• POSTSCRIPTnext day:
  1) Scissor jack mod was finished-off, by adding a rubber bungee wrapped around it, to keep it from deploying on the road, Doesn't happen often, but I've seen one vibrate down while in transit. Just being safe.
  2) Some more work was done on the conduit carrier/rod & reel tube project. The eight-foot tube was painted, and the support racks I'm making from metal scrap are nearing completion. I needed spacers on one, so I used up all my remaining 3/8" & 1/2" flat washers, just for spacing one U-bolt 1" from the crosspiece. It's probably time to buy more hardware, instead of dipping into my junk parts jars/bins.I test fitted the U-bolts to the scrap supports, using the leftover 2' of conduit, so I could measure clearances, to confirm that everything will line-up correctly, and clear the roof (after assembly, I'll have to cut-off some of the extra length of the 6' diameter U-bolts' legs, with my angle grinder). I'm debating with myself if I want to paint the supports, or leave them as-is. Long-term, I'm looking for a cheap but premade rack for the roof, so these scrap parts will go away, eventually.
  3) I used some Gorilla Clear Grip contact adhesive to apply two stickers I made for the re-naming (or re-defining via a mission statement) the HHRv. Here's what I posted on another thread about why I'm adding a little humor to my trailer.

from the thread (but shortened, photos omitted):
A Practical TTT http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=70659&p=1235258#p1235225

Practical is subjective … I always liked your trailer for its “military readiness “ 'ish look …

• Thanks, GPW. I made it as strong as I could (therefore foregoing a foam exterior...sorry, GPW), and first modeled it on a military trailer I liked from WWII (in my avatar), and wanted to name it the Panzeranhänger (armored trailer). Then, when I thought about it, and who I was building it for = my wife, I named it the HHRv- "Hairy Hominid Research vehicle", since it was built to go on her Bigfoot organization's expeditions.
• Excuse me while I expound upon my little "militaristic"-appearing trailer, its' inception & purpose, and future plans for re-naming it to suit my fancy, at long last. I have two threads going now, concerning "modifications" http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=70367&hilit=+modifications, and the other on "stickers & decals" http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=70553&hilit=+decals, that I might copy this post onto, but your thread gets it first! Sorry about that, Chief!
• Previously, every time she went tent-camping using a Coleman 6-person tent, she would return sick, all her belongings and the inside of the tent wet & muddy. And, she said that sometimes she had heard /felt the presence of "something" pushing on the walls of the tent, and didn't sleep (as did the group's female leader, one of her best friends). So the trailer has solid 3/4" plywood walls, and small windows (placed relatively high up on the walls), multiple, strong hinges and a uniquely strong locking system on the mainly used door, and double-latches w/ padlocks on the other door...all for temporary security, until personal defense could be retrieved, just in case. Plus, in a raised sleeping platform, there would be no more water flowing into the tent (happened on one of her trips). And, it was air conditioned and heated, because they "hunted" everywhere from South Texas to Mid-Ohio, usually in early fall, so a wide range of temperatures were to be expected. AS you know, an enclosed trailer is a much better place to be than in a leaky tent, under most inclement weather conditions.
• Later into the build, when I had already named the trailer, I had her try it out for the first time, in the garage. After probably 1/2 hour in there, she emerged, proclaiming it to be too confining, and "a coffin". I hadn't known that she was claustrophobic! So, the trailer, built for her, became mine (I always had intended to use it when she wasn't...we always have vacationed separately, due to having way too many pets to care for). But, I had already named it for her hobby, so the name stuck.
• I had more alternate militaristic/German names in mind, back in 2011-2013, i.e. 1)Geschleppte Sicherheitsanlage (towed security emplacement), 2)Sperrholzzelt/alle Bedingungen Anhanger (plywood tent/all-conditions trailer), and 3)Umherziehender Lageranhanger (roving encampment trailer), before it was actually camp-able, but didn't follow thru with the name change. One of my "hobbies", or long-term study of, involves WWII, the weaponry and tactics, and minutiae (odd facts), especially German (I actually helped with, and edited a friend's doctoral dissertation on the German Wehrmacht from 1933-1945, back in my college days). But, now, since the HHRv logo has been on the trailer so long, I feel it would be unlucky to strip the name off at this late date, so I'm giving it an additional logo/sticker/mission statement, in conjunction with a new rooftop addition (a fishing pole carrier tube) that reminded me of another "military" form, a Stug III.
• I'm in the midst of a frenzy of mods before my next trip, the rod & reel carrier being one of them; and I started adding more usually whimsical, but always reflecting in my sort of whimsy, stickers and decals that I've made for the trailer, since I've always liked that sort of thing. I was spurred-on to add some after viewing Jose Martinez's great little trailer, while camping at Beaver's Bend...he had added unique personalizing touches everywhere, that also reminded me of the drag racing stickers I have on my race car. I already have several on my TTT, but Jose has at least two dozen, making it quite unique....I'm going to add this (Stug III graphic & a mission statement in German & English) on the tongue box, on the front next to the "HHRv" logo, defining the new look and mission statement. I'm old and retired, and do basically what I please...a little personal "madness" shouldn't offend anybody, so why not?

[Jonnyadv]

very cool trailer like what you have done with it do you have an email would like to ask you some questions about you AC set up if you don't mind me calling you and picking you brain. thanks for any info

[working on it]

very cool trailer like what you have done with it do you have an email would like to ask you some questions about you AC set up if you don't mind me calling you and picking you brain. thanks for any info

• Thanks! What's your e-mail? The last time I gave out my e-mail on another public forum, many years ago, I had bad things happen; it was an automotive forum, where I was pretty vocal concerning some BS that others were trying to foist on people that were looking for real facts about their car problems...I spoke out and some turned on me, though I never derided anyone, and just stated real info, sometimes contradictory to "facts" posted by some forum know-it-alls.
• My e-mail account was deluged by some haters with lots of negative crap, so much so that I dropped out of that forum and changed my e-mail, and afterwards was very hesitant to give it out in public again. I probably don't have any (many??) haters on this forum, though there are some that try to contradict my theories and practices, immediately following my posts.
• The worst ones no longer chime in, after some years, but I just keep on saying what I have done, or would do, in building/using a TTT, and no longer care what the "experts" say. If they post something useful, as an alternative method, then I'll give them their due. I'm not an "expert", but just a lifelong tinkerer, and I usually say "don't try this at home" in regards to my posted fringe engineering methodology stories (how and why I tried something different, whether the results were good or bad).
• In fact, this thread we're on now shows that I state my ideas for mods, what I did to make them, and what the results were. I tell it all, and readers can see for themselves what works and what doesn't; maybe it will encourage others to try something "different" in their own builds?
• In lieu of using a PM (I sure miss that feature on TnTTT) to chat, why don't you look over my thread on my A/C system (or on anything I've done to my trailer), and post your questions there? I'll be glad to answer anything you might ask about my weird little squareback TTT ! The thread is WindowshakerA/C: drainpipe /pan/problem solved! http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=54945&hilit=+axial#p999038

[working on it]

• More on my rod & reel carrier tube (Buyer's conduit carrier kit + 6" diameter PVC pipe)....The Krylon Fusion (for plastic) was supposed to work, but didn't. It is easily scratched by the slightest contact, even after baking in the sun all day yesterday, and half of today. The Krylon worked for me previously, I don't know why it failed me today; even though the ABS plastic I used it on a few years ago is different than PVC, Krylon says it'll work on both. I prepped the tube, and roughed it up a bit, gave it three coats over 2 hours, and still it failed. I'll resort to my old faithful stand-by, "bedliner" spray (like I've used on my fenders (they need a touch-up anyway, so I'll buy several cans (and maybe some 180 grit sandpaper).
• I decided not to paint the tube support racks, because they'll fit in perfectly with my "use whatever you have handy" approach to finely crafting a work of art TTT. By my standards, if they work, then they're "good enough". I'll never sell it either, so that's not a factor.
• I did have to lower the front tube support by 5 inches to clear the low garage door. It seems that when I hammered-flat the 3/4" EMT conduit in the middle, to place the cast aluminum tube holder, (about 10" of it), the whole support bowed-up about 5"'; perhaps I measured wrong in the first place, but by that much? Well, anyway, manhandling my trailer to just under the door (love that jockey wheel), I was able to level the trailer, then angle it to the closest interference point, and measured again. 5" had to be cut off the legs. That done, I used the same #14 Tek screws that hold my front rack in place, to mount the support. Should work fine now. ??
• The rear tube support was much easier to mount, being already slotted. The holes matched up with some 1/4"-20 studs I had set into my rear walls to hang lanterns from (with re-purposed shelf-brackets). On top, the height was right already, but I did have to cut-off about 3/8" of thread off of the U-bolt legs to make it fit. Now to re-coat the tube, and install the rear (hinged) door-cap.
• I used PL Premium adhesive to glue on the end cap, after I put a 1/2" thick circle of closed-cell foam inside (secured with Gorilla Clear Grip contact adhesive). I may use some small Tek screws to mechanically fasten the cast aluminum end-pieces to the PVC, as the instructions say should be done, but surely PL will never let go? OK. Screws it is.

• 

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• 

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• 

  end cap PL'd on tube.jpg (249.86 KiB) Viewed 862 times

[working on it]

AGAIN, More on my rod & reel carrier tube (Buyer's conduit carrier kit + 6" diameter PVC pipe)
*I wasted much of yesterday trying to start our push-mower for the wife. I put it away last fall, during our frantic "new home project", and forgot to put Sta-Bil in the gas tank, to keep the gas from fouling the carburetor. I went to Lowe's and bought a chemical that was supposed to dissolve the problem, but it didn't work, even after using 1/2 a can of starting fluid (always works on my generators, though). So I'll take it to the lawnmower repair shop tomorrow (if it isn't a Quadrajet, AFB, or Holley 4150 or Dominator carburetor, I don't fool with 'em).
*However, while at Lowe's I bought two cans of Krylon Truck Bed Coating, and a 120 grit sanding pad, so I could coat over the failed coating of the Fusion paint. After sanding and degreasing the tube, I started to coat it with the bedliner; over an hour's time, I put on three coats, and let it dry in a shady spot for 4 hours, when I carefully stood it on end, and installed the hinged cap, using PL Premium. I hammered it on, wiped off excess PL, and used Tek screws to mechanically bond it. Wasn't easy, standing the tube on the already-capped end, balancing it in place (careful about scratching the new coating), while I stood on the tailgate of the old '98 GMC I was using as my workbench. But, I did it without mishap (it was too hot for the old lady-54- to help the -68- old man).
*The, it started to sprinkle, so I grabbed a moving blanket and threw it on the bed in our 20-ft trailer, to store the tube overnight.When I retrieved the tube this afternoon, after getting our local handyman cut our grass (I did half of it), I had to re-touch two spots I scratched manhandling the heavy, 8'2" tube, in and out of the travel trailer. Before the handyman left, he helped me lift it into place on top of my TTT. Then, I spent two hours having to re-thread the U-bolts (cheap steel) that got damaged when fitting/re-fitting then thru the cast aluminum saddles, and a couple of cock-eyed holes I had drilled in both supports. My fault, though, for not installing the saddle & U-bolts prior to lifting the tube into place.
*It's now in place, with all fittings secured, and re-touched again, for more scratches I made wrestling with it. I'm glad the Krylon bedliner says you can re-coat at anytime. I'll carry a can in the TTT , just for minor fixes (I'm going to re-coat my fenders tomorrow, with the 3/4 can I have left). As is my latest custom, I'll apply some of my weird decals tomorrow (unless my wife will let me use her stencils), to give the bland "Rod & Reel & Misc, Carrier Tube" some fake WWII nomenclature as flavor. But, until then, it looks OK as is.

8 feet, 2 inches long "assault gun" on a 8' trailer; it's a tribute to the Sturmgeschütz

15.4 cm StuK 39 L14 ready for emblems.jpg (137.73 KiB) Viewed 822 times

Update 8/21:

• I added some decals/stickers to the tube last evening after dark (but didn't stick around long enough to take pictures, due to there being a 3-4 foot copperhead lurking somewhere in the badly-lit garage...lots of junk to hide in...), and later realized I had used the wrong nomenclature on the descriptory side-sticker. I had made those stickers prior to actually building the tube, when I was planning for it to be 7' long, not the 8'2" it became. Therefore the "15.4 cm StuK 39 L/14" sticker I used is incorrect; it should've been "15.4 cm StuK 39 L/16.16". If that assault gun had ever existed, that is. Translated to American English: 6" bore (15.4 cm), assault cannon (Sturm Kanone = StuK), year adopted =1939 (39), barrel length = 98" (L/16.16 = bore size x "L" factor, or 15.4 x 16.16 = 248.864 cm, or as close to 98" as feasible). Ridiculous, yes, but combining my yen for WWII studies, whimsical off-beat stickers, trailer mods, etc. altogether, is an irresistible urge that I must comply with.
• The other tube decor is this sticker design I borrowed from the web, "ACME INDUSTRIES - It Might Just Work" (picture of a falling anvil, a typical scene from the RoadRunner vs Wiley Coyote, Warner Bros. cartoons, that I love to this day)). Acme Industries was a fictional (of course) company that made all sorts of devices that the Coyote would use to try to capture the RoadRunner, but always backfired on him. My whole trailer looks like it is an Acme-built TTT !
• True backstory:
  ***** Back in the seventies, while I was working at the newspaper as a troubleshooter, our Maintenance Dept (separate from our departmental light-maintenance guys) built a "squeeze-roller" device for one of our conveyors, in order to compress the papers prior to the "stacker" that counted & stacked them, for easier operation. Other pressline conveyors used expensive compressing devices built elsewhere, so someone decided to save money and build one in-house.
  ***** It ended up being oversized, crude in appearance, and incredibly noisy. In operation when the press was outputting 50000 copes an hour, or more, the squeeze-roller would vibrate so hard (the roller moving slightly up and down over each over-lapped paper), that it rang like a combination gong/machine gun, and shook the building so much that it could be felt in the executive offices 3 stories above it.
  ***** Inspired by the Acme devices in the cartoons, I made a large stencil "ACME", and painted it on both sides. That made my boss angry, the Maintenance Dept. was inflamed, but the company president (who came down to see it, and what ever it was that was making all the ruckus) found it hilarious, so I wasn't punished for my humor/insult applique. Eventually the device was made much quieter, and the ACME label was covered over (after 3 months, when I was away on vacation). I love ACME.

  

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  acme print grey - Copy.jpg (75.69 KiB) Viewed 758 times

[featherliteCT1]

Nice work!

[working on it]

first set of tube labels.jpg (247.64 KiB) Viewed 756 times

Application of tube labels is fully described in the update post above; new side stickers will be applied when I get more clear, UV-resistant Acrylic spray to cover the sticker before gluing it onto the tube.
Update 8/24/18, 11pm cst The experimental tube stickers won't behave...the material I'm printing on is too thin to resist curling, and the textured truck bed coating isn't a favorable surface for the contact cement to adhere to. Experiment called off, after 3 attempts, zero successes. Wasted too much time on a quirky touch for the trailer. I'll re-coat the surface for the last time, this weekend, and move on to the next thing, with three weeks remaining 'til my next trip.
Update 8/28/18, 4pm cst Never one to leave well enough alone, I tried making a thicker sticker than previously, and it still curled-up (I glued it onto the <2' long "test" remnant tube, overnite). Previously, anticipating the sticker failures, I looked into alternatives, since I couldn't get it outta my head. I thought of a decal maker that I used on Amazon, but the cost for my new sticker(s) would've been more than I wished, and would've arrived after my next trip. So, I looked at a "nameplate" maker (like on office doors or on a desk), and found one on Amazon Prime (my favorite way to buy stuff now), that would get me two plates here before the trip (it took them 4.5 days from order to receipt, to get them here), and for only $7 each. My old go-to was Seton, which does great work, but is more expensive and takes longer (I ordered fake "dataplates" for my trailer back in '13, back when I was using them for safety signage,while I was still working).I ordered them plain, with no adhesive or Velcro backing, and attached them today with short screws, washers, & contact cement (I'll add more glue around the curve of the tube after the initial application dries). This case is now closed!

the office-door nameplate-maker must wonder about this tag

new conduit tube tag.jpg (134.98 KiB) Viewed 705 times

I'm sure that the "safety-sign-maker" wondered about this one. too

fake data plate.jpg (49.17 KiB) Viewed 705 times

[Sparksalot]

you sir, are a master. I hope you're planning to be a Dinosaur Valley this coming weekend.

[working on it]

:thumbsup:

you sir, are a master. I hope you're planning to be a Dinosaur Valley this coming weekend.

Thank you, for your support! Speaking of "master", one of my more whimsical stickers has a similar reference, that you might remember from 50's-60's cartoons. You'll see what I mean this weekend (I plan on arriving around 2 pm Thursday).
NOT THURSDAY, BUT FRIDAY !!!! see http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=70422&p=1237026#p1237026 concerning my mix-up on the campout dates!