Fresh Meat....16x7x7

[bc toys]

Glad your trip went well and that you and your wife had a great time. Good to hear that there is another CT lover out there. the Joe Pool trip was fun and wet it rained the hole day Sat. but we got threw it and enjoyed ourselves. Are you going to get to La. for LCGVII Oct. 25th-28th. Hope to see you on the camping trails sometime.

[revorunner]

Thanks Earnest for the update and the pics. Sounds like you all had fun.

[roadinspector]

Glad your trip went well and that you and your wife had a great time. Good to hear that there is another CT lover out there. the Joe Pool trip was fun and wet it rained the hole day Sat. but we got threw it and enjoyed ourselves. Are you going to get to La. for LCGVII Oct. 25th-28th. Hope to see you on the camping trails sometime.

Thanks we did enjoy it. We won't be making it to La. Too soon of a trip after vacation. Luckily all we got out of the rain was a small shower that Saturday when my wife's family invaded. The main portion went south of us.

Thanks Earnest for the update and the pics. Sounds like you all had fun.

Your welcome. We were so enthralled with the enjoyment of doing nothing that I almost didn't take any. My lightbulb came on about the need for an update which required a few pics.

Forgot to mention that I discovered that when I installed the RV door latch it appears to have weakened my door or the plywood in my door has a small arc to it. It seals well when using the standard CT lever lock but when only using the RV latch, there is a 1/4"-3/8" gap at the top & bottom. The RV latch required a setback to catch. I had to cut out a portion of aluminum door frame for this. By doing this it allowed for more flex in the door frame. I can apply pressure to it before I shut it and the door is straight. I am going to order in a 6" wide piece of .125 aluminum diamond plated and reinforce the door from top to bottom on the inside. Hopefully this will fix it. It will also give me a thicker spacer on the inside for my latch. The spacer I used is too thin and the handle drags on the working mechanism of the latch. If anyone has a better idea I'd love to hear it. Thanks.

Earnest

[David_L6]

Please take pictures and keep us updated about the door latch and associated problems. I'm getting ready to install an RV latch in the door of my smaller trailer that came without an RV latch. Already have a latch that looks like yours.

[roadinspector]

Please take pictures and keep us updated about the door latch and associated problems. I'm getting ready to install an RV latch in the door of my smaller trailer that came without an RV latch. Already have a latch that looks like yours.

No prob, will do. Option 1: I will check with a local supplier for diamond plate tomorrow. If they don't have any, option 2: I will dig thru my pile of shtuff and see if I have anything that I can live with. If not, option 3: I will order in a piece of it.

Earnest

[roadinspector]

Please take pictures and keep us updated about the door latch and associated problems. I'm getting ready to install an RV latch in the door of my smaller trailer that came without an RV latch. Already have a latch that looks like yours.

Sorry this took so long to get done. I haven't had much free time lately and when I did I was just to tired to do anything. The problem has been that my door is 1" thick and the latch is made for 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" thick. I think I got the door latch/frame fixed. The frame also appeared to have weakened when I cut it. A gap appeared at the top. I don't know if it was there before or not before I started this install. Either way it needed to be fixed. I could apply pressure on the door and the gap would go away. I used a 6" wide 1/8" thick diamond plate. I installed it the full length of the door from top to bottom to stiffen the light aluminum door frame and it also gave me the extra thickness I needed for the interior of the latch.

I did not change anything on the outside of the door. I did not cut the frame here. I removed the piece of frame, then cut the skin and plywood to match the size of the latch and slid it in place.

I then had to cut the frame on the inside to give it enough setback for it to fit. I originally did a pretty good butcher job as you can tell because I had my head up my ars. Originally I was thinking that the latch would sit closer to the exterior than it really does. I just drilled out the frame for the latch to come out of. So when I did this I cut out too much of the frame face. I then discovered I had to cut the interior portion of the frame to allow for setback.

I cut the diamond plate to fit around the latch making sure it was off of the threshold so as not to drag. I used the existing screws that attached the frame to the plywood to attach the diamond plate to the door frame. I tend to overbuild so of course I added a couple of screws just to make me feel better.

I cut a small piece of thin diamond plate to cover the portion of the latch that was exposed.

In a previous picture here you can see that the latch plate is too wide and sticks out waiting to cut my wife. I trimmed it to size with a pair of tin snips.

I did not have to change anything on the main door frame. I had drilled it out and used a file to clean it up. The plywood that did not drill out I used a wood chisel to remove it.

I had to cut off the curved piece on the striker plate that helps the latch bar slide back in so the door will close easier. That piece stuck out too far and would not let the door close. Cutting this off has not cause any problems with the door closing.

I filed all edges to remove any burrs and sharp edges.

Now to start building my fold up dinette/bed.

Earnest

[revorunner]

Very nice job. Thanks for the update and pics.

[roadinspector]

Very nice job. Thanks for the update and pics.

Thank you!

I pulled my water tank from my donor trailer a week ago and found it too big for my CT. I have researched and hunted for other options from replacement tanks , 15 gallon drums, including building one out of PVC pipe. While doing this I have also been checking ebay every couple of days. I just found a new 16 gal replacement for $28.50 and $16.95 shipping. $65.00 cheaper than I have found any where else. I can live with this!! Here is the link if your interested.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200589836744?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Earnest

[revorunner]

Sometimes things do not go as planned. Thanks for the link.

[roadinspector]

Sometimes things do not go as planned. Thanks for the link.

Very rarely do they ever. Adapt & overcome. I'm used to it. I deal with road construction for a living. The plans I deal with are built by a bunch of folks that rarely have gotten dirty building what they design. My boss trust me so I have lots of latiltude to make field changes as needed.

[roadinspector]

Its been a while since any update. I've been concentrating on getting the donor trailer stripped. That has been accomplished and it got hauled to the scrap yard last friday to the tune of $288 in my pocket. They had a piece of 1/4" 4'x4' aluminum diamond plate I picked up for $20. I'm sure I'll find a use for it somewhere.

I picked up my materials from Lowes to build my dinette 4 weeks ago and ordered in my legs & bases it from V Sales. IMHO if I had to do it again I will not order from them again. After waiting 2 weeks and not hearing anything, I called them to find out they were on backorder. I've call once a week since then & they finally got them in and were supposedly shipped yesterday. Customer service/communication sucks. They admitted they were a small company and very busy. I suggested improving customer service but.... So hopefully they will be here soon so I can get that done.

Earnest

[ironman]

I've been reading your posts and ran across the trip to Lake Ouachita...I practically grew up on that lake.
Makes me home sick...I'm originally from Little Rock but am well travelled now.

Dan

[roadinspector]

I've been reading your posts and ran across the trip to Lake Ouachita...I practically grew up on that lake.
Makes me home sick...I'm originally from Little Rock but am well travelled now.

Dan

Dan,
My Dad found that lake in the back of an Outdoor Life magazine in 59. We made that run for the first time summer of 60 and fell in love with it. It became our annual vacation spot. It feels like I grew up on it too. It has been passed on to me and I proudly carry it on.

Earnest

[roadinspector]

It has been a while since I gave an update. Due to winter and life's challenges, work on my CT has been slow. I finally came up with a design that I like for my dinette/bed. I had an old bed frame that made the perfect material to use for this & I had some 1" square tubing I used for the legs. I am about 1 hour away from installing them. The folding part was not the issue. It was the folding structural support. Hopefully I can post some installed pics soon.

table design

bed design

folded up out of the way for hauling bike.


Folding leg locked in place design

Folding leg brace folded out of the way


Building them. If your scratching your head trying to compare design to build, the build is upside down. They won't be when installed. Pins will hold the legs in place in both positions. A piano hinge will be used for against the wall.








Thanks everybody for the ideas!
Earnest

[roadinspector]

I got the braces and legs painted and installed.




Up for hauling. They will be attached to the wall while up. The cushions will be stored between the bench and the wall.




After getting them installed I measured between the benches to just see if the world (CT) is square. (I just ASSUMED that it was before I built this.) It is out of square by 3/4" from one end to the other of the benches. No big deal, nobody will know just by looking at it unless I tell them. It just bothers my OCD a little. My table just won't be square. This will be easier to do than have built the wall portion to correct for it.

Now to change up and add to my wiring.

Earnest