An Eventful Road Trip
My water heater arrived, and apparently new water heaters aren't as big as the dinosaurs they replaced. I could have spent $100 on a black painted steel adapter kit, or fab up a patch panel out of spare sheet I had laying around. I'm contemplating having the water heater door powder coated silver.
Time to finish up the rear frame rails and get the split unit installed now that the powder coater is done with it. After mocking everything up, I'm going to wind up using every inch of the 1' longer frame rails to mount the condenser. Here's the cut profile. I left the bottom of the rail uncut and bent that up and welded the seams to enclose the back of the "ramp". I welded in a tab at the "notch" about a third of the way up, and welded in nuts in the frame for all four bolt holes.
This is what the result looks like. I already tested the dropped frame rail, as when I hauled it out of my neighborhood the rails dragged on the intersection going up a steep hill.
The mounted split unit. It was supposed to look chrome, but they clear coated it and it removed the shine and yellowed it. Oh well. at least it isnt beige!
It was time to load this gal up and haul her to Pensacola. I wired up the brakes at the hubs, installed a breakaway switch, and double checked everything I thought to double check. Notice I said "thought to double check".
Keep in mind I haven't even done so much as give this thing a shake down run around town. It's a two mile run through city streets to the interstate where I head north for about an hour and then turn left and go for several more.
Trailer pulled smoothly at 5 under the limit. The steering felt a smidge light. I stopped at the first rest stop, re-torqued the wheels, checked the hub temps, and cranked down to the next mark on the Hensley hitch to put a few more pounds out front. Back on the road I noticed that the trailer liked to wiggle going down the road. Not really a sway or anything dramatic. Just looking through the empty trailer from my center rear view I could see the trailer wandering around back there. The Hensley hitch isn't supposed to allow that.
I stopped at the next rest stop to inspect things. First thing to check was the torsion bars. They were loose. Uh oh. Do you know what I forgot to do or double check? I forgot to weld the Hensley brackets in place! I don't care how hard you crank down on those U bolts, they are going to slide around with that hitch unless they are bolted through the frame or welded. I headed for the nearest Tractor Supply and grabbed some appropriately sized bolts, corresponding tap, and drill bit. I drilled and tapped one bolt for each frame rail in the parking lot and I was ready to hit the road.
It was then that I saw an omen of a bad time coming. When I ran the new 7 way harness, I had to open up the front of the belly pan to get access to the wiring. I hadn't buttoned up the leading edge yet and the belly pan at the very front edge was parting from the trailer with a slim smile. Never fear, with as much aluminum tape as I used inside with the insulation, I had plenty with me in the parts bin. I grabbed a roll and taped up that seam to keep the wind out.
It was a little bit prior to reaching Tallahassee when the storm hit. Ihad been getting storm warnings on my phone the past couple of days. Figured I'd just drive carefully through it. No big deal. I was following a car hauler semi when I noticed the trailer was now bobbing up and down. What the heck is it now? It was pouring so I waited until I found an overpass to park under and do a quick innspection.
I was HORRIFIED! My belly pan had ripped loose at the front and peeled back a good six feet or so and the pavement was mangling it. I'm on the side of the interstate. It's pouring. I don't have anything to reattach it with. I don't even have anything to keep me dry while I try and repair it! I grabbed a ratchet strap and secured it the best I could until I could get somewhere to fix it.
A few more minutes down the road and I could hear scraping. Now, the front edges of the belly pan were dog earing down and scraping against the pavement! I wound up on a long stretch between exits and came across another rest stop first, so I pulled in to see what I could do. I added another ratchet strap and bashed the remains of the belly pan up closer to frame to be out of the air flow. At least it's stopped raining at this point. I definitely lost some 2" sheets of insulation from under the floor when the belly pan came loose. I don't know how many yet.
I finally made it to Pensacola in one piece. Time to get back to work on this thing!
First up was the 48V Renogy Solar Charger/inverter and 4x 100Ah Lifepo4 batteries. I chose to go 48V, as it doesnt require heavy gauge wiring and (apparently) it's less lossy to invert from 48Vdc to 120Vac. I also bought a Victron DC-DC converter to run the 12V loads in the camper. This is a temporary install. Once I get to the dinette building phase, these will be rearranged.
While I was doing electrical work, I went ahead and installed a new plastic breaker box and outlets.
To wrap up the electrical side of things, I bought a Smart Plug power cable, power inlet and TV/Internet inlet and got them installed today.
The split unit was actually installed before I headed to Pensacola, but the lower interior panel wasn't installed yet, so here we are all wrapepd up. Also, if you decide to mount a split unit - go above and beyond and overkill the interior unit mounting. I used the bracket that came with it, snapped it in nice and tight, but a harsh bump sent it crashing into the floor. Fixing that problem is on my to-do list. It didn't harm the unit and there was plenty of flex in the lines. It heats and cools just fine. Don't fret about the lines. They will be covered and look nice.
The next task is the holding tanks. I got the black and grey out yesterday and found the outlet neck on the grey tank has two cracks running in line with the outlet. I bought a plastic welding kit to see if I can repair it. Inca doesn't make these tanks anymore. I had considered trying to find similar tanks to drop in, but the cut out area for the drains is pretty unique for this size tank. They are either the correct size, but pure rectangles, or they have a notch, but won't fit in the openings I have available. I had even considered making my own tanks out of fiberglass with a plywood or foam core. I'm going to try the welding repair first.
I'm going to head back "home" this weekend to load up some belongings to move with me to Pensacola.
My to-do list is getting shorter:
Repair and reinstall tanks
Run PEX plumbing and install water pump
Install plumbing drains and vents
Install shower pan
Build walls (bedroom/bathroom, bedroom/closet, bathroom/kitchen, bathroom/hall, closet/kitchen, refrigerator to dinette)
Build bed platform
Build cabinets for bath and kitchen
Build dinette
New axles, wheels, tires
Of course, there are hundreds of steps for each of those steps, but with HVAC now functioning and power outlets that work inside, it's going to be a breeze.
Also, I now have a flat - and I mean zero PSI - tire from the trip. Like everything else... if I'm gonna replace a tire, I might as well replace all four. If I'm replacing all four tires, I might as well replace the wheels too. If I'm replacing the wheels and tires, I might as well replace the axles, right? Lol, it never ends...