CNC Build: The Bed and Breakfast at 4 years and 40,000 miles

[Kharn]

On arriving home in the dark, I discovered that it's real hard to see the end of my driveway for backing the trailer in. Fortunately, my neighbors saw my plight and helped me get the trailer up the drive and into the garage.

Reverse lights and battery charging were two of the big reasons I chose a 7-pin trailer harness instead of 4-pin.

[capnTelescope]

One of these days I'll get mine weighed and registered (instead of doing the ole trailer license plate switcheroo.)

I gotta git 'er done. I don't have another trailer to "borrow" a plate from.

Good luck at the DMV. (Is it still called that?)

Thanks for the good wishes. I'll pay attention when I'm there and report back on what they call themselves. I think the main event takes place at the county tax assessor's office.

Take care and hopefully I'll see you at LCG,

I'm looking forward to it!

mine came in at 1380 with the battery

Mine came in at 1320 with the battery. Where'd all your extra weight come from?

I see a pattern here.

It's uncanny, Twin Brother From Another Mother.

Have a look at this you may get a laugh.

I looked, I -ed.

Reverse lights and battery charging were two of the big reasons I chose a 7-pin trailer harness instead of 4-pin.

Me, too. I just haven't gotten there yet. I'm going to put some night-baseball backup lights on this puppy.

The TV was already wired for a 4-pin, so I went with that for the time being. The Tear already has the necessary wiring in place. I just have to hook it up, which can't happen until I get the tongue box installed, which won't happen until I get the A/C installed, which won't happen until ... . You get the idea.

Thanks to all for your comments. Stay tuned.

[capnTelescope]

According to this thread,I'm supposed to present myself, the Tear and supporting documents to a Vehicle Theft Officer, so they can prove to their own satisfaction that I haven't stolen the trailer or any of its parts. They are then supposed to issue me a form VTR-68A, so I can apply for a VIN number. That's a Vehicle Identification Number, for the uninitiated. Actually, a "VIN number" would be a Vehicle Identification Number number. (This extra "number" should be reported to the Department of Redundancy Department. )

The Texas Department of Public Safety used to do this, but they don't do that any more. If you Google "Vehicle Theft Officer", you get tons of irrelevant. I searched through the front of the phone book for a possible provider without any luck. After giving great thought as to who would know the answer, I called the county tax assessor's office, and the nice lady directed me to a detective in the county sheriff's office, who is, indeed, a Vehicle Theft Officer who does this sort of thing. I called the number, and got voice mail. It informed me that Inspection Day is usually Wednesday from 9-11 am. That was yesterday. Great timing. Furthermore, the voice mail goes on to tell me that Inspection Day for the 22nd is cancelled, and the next available date is the 29th. I want to leave on the 23rd.

I called the sheriff's office in the county just south of here (I don't want to mention names and get someone PO'ed at me), and the operator sent me to a nice lady in the wrong department who listened to my explanation, took my phone number, and promised to call me back. Ooooookay. What are the chances of that?

By now I've realized that county sheriffs are issuing VTR-68A's like the DPS used to do. I called a neighboring county's sheriff, explained myself again, and the operator said "Oh! You need to talk to Investigator X, but he's not in. Investigator Y should be able to help you." I explained what I needed to Y. He said he was leaving for Wisconsin tomorrow, but X would be back Monday. I explained my deadline and about the local Inspection Day being cancelled. "Oh, yeah!," he said. "They all go off to a conference this time of year."

Great timing.

Registration Day (two) begins Monday morning.

Now that the day is shot,

[KCStudly]

Red tape was invented by the DMV. Honest. You can look that up (snicker, snicker).

Don't worry, when it comes time for them to take your money, they won't have any problem making that happen for you!

I'd say don't let it stop you. If you can't navigate thru the morass of bureaucracy, just take the trip and attend to the details when you get back. (p.s. It would be less of a fine to have no plate or reg than it would be to put a bogus plate on; one violation vs. two.)

[capnTelescope]

Red tape was invented by the DMV. Honest. You can look thatt up (snicker, snicker).

You snicker, but I looked it up and there it was. I haven't even gotten to the DMV yet.

There's hope. Inspector Y said Inspector X was much more accommodating than our local guy and will try to fit my sched. I'm retired, so my sched can accommodate his, too. At least he's not all "Wednesday Morn, 9-11 am, line up outside the fence, first come first served, do NOT go inside the building, etc."

one violation vs. two

If I couldn't laugh, I'd just go insane.

[capnTelescope]

just take the trip and attend to the details when you get back.

Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed

It's more scenic that way.

[warnmar10]

According to this thread,I'm supposed to present myself, ...

You might find this form helpful: http://txdmv.gov/reports-and-data/doc_d ... el-trailer

You should be able to complete the form, attach the weight certificate and leave with a tag in one trip. That's how it worked for me in Denton County.

[capnTelescope]

You should be able to complete the form, attach the weight certificate and leave with a tag in one trip. That's how it worked for me in Denton County.

Hi, Warnmar. Thanks for speaking up. Interesting. I have a few questions for you.

Are you registered as a Travel Trailer or as a Utility Trailer?

Did you need anything else, like a picture?

Did you also get a title to the trailer? I think that wanting a title is causing me extra grief here. If it gets down to the wire, I'll go the registration-only route and title it later. Thinking about it a little more, it IS down to the wire. I'm off to the assessor's office.

Once again, thanks for joining in. I owe you a

[warnmar10]

Hi, Warnmar. Thanks for speaking up. Interesting. I have a few questions for you.

Are you registered as a Travel Trailer or as a Utility Trailer?

Did you need anything else, like a picture?

Did you also get a title to the trailer? I think that wanting a title is causing me extra grief here. If it gets down to the wire, I'll go the registration-only route and title it later. Thinking about it a little more, it IS down to the wire. I'm off to the assessor's office.

Once again, thanks for joining in. I owe you a

I've registered a couple of utility trailers and one travel trailer this way. Except for the wait on line it is a painless process. My rules when dealing with any bureaucrat; be polite, speak only when spoken to, offer no information that wasn't requested.

[aggie79]

Here's another not so legal way.

Check to see what the cheapest local Harbor Freight or Northern Tool trailer costs. Right now, my local HF has a small 870# utility trailer on sale for $189. It comes with all you need for registration. Often times the VIN is a sticker.

Spend the $189, take the HF papers to get the license plate, and use it on your teardrop. You can than later give/throw away the HF trailer and write off the 189 cashola as saved frustration and aggravation, or take your time getting trailer registered and then sell the HF trailer on Craigslist.

[KCStudly]

Tom, you rebel, you.

[mach4]

When the system is stacked against you, sometimes you need to be creative in using the system against the system.

Often comes down to simple cost-benefit analysis.

Good luck.

[tony.latham]

Brad:

I just sent you a PM on this issue. I know the Texas Rangers are watching this thread....

Tony

[capnTelescope]

I've registered a couple of utility trailers and one travel trailer this way.

Figuring all I had to lose was an hour or two, I ran up to the tax assessor's office to see if Warnmar's method would work.

(John Wayne impression) Well, it doesn't work that way around here, Pilgrim. (/John Wayne)



Actually, it does with Utility Trailers, but not Travel Trailers.

Williamson County seems to have a bit of a reputation for redneck-edness. I don't mean "red nekkidness," I mean "redneck-edness." Anyway, Wilco wants you to do it by the book. Nobody knows what book, or who wrote it.

I didn't really expect success, but I got a couple questions answered and picked up some valuable info that will save me a trip later, so it was a break-even on time and effort.

One important newly learned fact is that besides a picture of the whole trailer, Wilco also wants a picture of the VIN sticker after it's affixed to the trailer. Your county may vary.

The next step is to give Investigator X enough time to get his Monday morning coffee and call to make an appointment.

Will capnTelescope get his trailer registered in time for LCG IX? LCG X? LCG XI? Stay tuned! We're getting to the exciting climax.

[capnTelescope]

Since public servants don't serve the public on weekends, I took care of some of the more important odd jobs that need to get done for campability.

First up is the galley. I've been telling people on tours that they have to imagine a countertop across the galley that will hide the stuff underneath. They'd all nod politely. I'm pretty sure I was having difficulties envisioning that, too. That became the first job.

In a failure to plan ahead, I didn't include the countertop in the basic assembly because I couldn't decide what I want for a countertop. I still haven't decided, but just happened to have an ugly piece of HD plywood lying around that's only a little bit undersize. It's better than nothing, so that's what i have now. Here's how it turned out:


Because there wasn't a plan, I can't use a full width piece. It won't go in because it's too long. i had to make a shelf to put the shelf on. Here's a closeup of the right end of the countertop:

There's a piece of ply glued & screwed to the original ledger piece, with another piece G&S to the bottom of the first piece. End view looks like a Tetris piece. I'll have to make a filler piece by the wall when I get to the real c'top. Good enough for now. It turns out to be a comfortable working height.

Here's a shot from a different angle. i also CNCed holes in the c'top for the Dog Dish Kitchen Sink (RandyG gets credit for the idea) and the faucet:


I also started putting some tools away, which is why things are so tidy above. Drilled a drain hole in the bottom of the cooler tray (no pic, use your imagination) so I can drain the cooler without lifting it out. Put the vacuum cleaner to good use (sorry, no video). I also installed a license plate bracket and light. Probably jinxed myself for registration.

Hatch weatherstripping was up next. The first step was to finish up the top gutter. Two pieces of angle alum, some sealant goo and some clamps:

I need to make some support brackets for this before it breaks. It's pretty solid now, but for how long?

The Weatherstrip Seal Carriers on both sides were cut short, because I didn't know what the top end was going to look like. The WSCs are the long curved alu parts the weatherstrip clamps onto. Now that the top end is decided, I needed to fill in the gap. CNCed two filler pieces and mounted them up:

In yet another minor fail, I put the back mounting hole where I can't get to it. I'm just going to drill a hole where it's accessable and add the second screw there. Not as strong as originally planned, but OK.

Now it looks like this:

Notice the tool clutter returned. At least there aren't as many tools in the cabin now.

Tomorrow is Registration Day (three). I get to make an appointment with Inspector X. I'll check in with that tale.

The clock keeps ticking.