It goes up! It goes down! A working lift system!

[ScouterMom]

Finally! We got past the rotted floor, rusty parts and misc delays and got the cable all in and WORKING!  YAY!  

We've got more work to do tomorrow, but got SO MUCH done today, we can actually see that we might really get to use the camper on our Mother's day weekend campout.

Todays' work included
*making and running the outside cables (the inside cables were done last week), hooking up the winch cable, too.
*cleaning - stripping all the covers off the pads and matresses, febreezing the foam and laying it out in the sun to air (beautiful, sunny day!) and washing all the covers (took THREE cycles thru the washer to get the water to run clear!) and various other cleaning tidbits.
*ripping out the old carpet and cleaning the floor underneath (still have to get the double sided tape off)
*scrubbing 1/2 the canvas and getting it out to dry (the half that is off the camper for wood repairs) One bed end and the two pieces on either side of the door. I think I'm gonna clean the other half ON the camper, once we get it outside the garage.

Projects on tomorrows list include:

*Taking the wheels off and re-packing the bearings
*getting the trailer down off the blocks to measure the tongue height - I need a drop hitch, and there's a sale on that ends tomorrow.
*fixing the tail lights (while we can get to them, before we put the wall back together)
*adjusting the lift system a bit - the back poles are about 1/2" high, and the front ones are about 1/4 " low - we decided to let it stand under it's own power for a night, first, and 'settle' or stretch the cables before we fine tune.
*putting back on the removed panels, seats, etc. that were removed to get to the roted floor and lift system.
*replacing the rotted roof board in back and putting the trim back on.
*sealing up the corner we replaced and putting the trim back on.
 
Other projects on the list before we leave in two weeks:

*put the covers and cushions back together
*replace one whole, badly torn window screen
*fixing the wires to the roof light
*attaching the new wheel to the jack
*have the propane tanks & furnace checked out
*more scrubbing!
*pack equipment!
*check out the awning and see what shape it's in

I tried to upload some photos to my album in Webshots - but their download thingy is not working tonite, so I couldn't.  Will post photos when I can! meanwhile - I'm tired! I'm going to BED!

Sure is satisfying to have that lift system working, though!

Laura

[Azusateach]

You and your son did all that by yourselves???  Boy, I want to be just like you when I grow up!!

(Do you do windows, too?   )

(Another) Laura

[tlhdoc]

Wow you have been busy.  Keep going and enjoy Mother's Day camping in your trailer!:)

[Kelly]

Wow!  Awesome job.  Sounds like camping on Mother's Day weekend is well within reach.

I'm with Laura ~ I wanna be like you when I grow up!

[brainpause]

Wow! I'm impressed!

Any chance you do crown moulding?

Larry, who is currently rasslin' with crown moulding

[Morin]

[I agree..  I read and said.. man..  I stink...  LOLOL!  have fun on Mothers day, looks like you've worked well hard enough to enjoy it!

[ScouterMom]

Well, it wasn't me and my son - he was out on a scout camping trip to Galena this weekend - Grant Pilgrimage - it's a big annual event for Boy Scouts.  

No, it was me and my boyfriend, Paul.  

We didn't get to everything we had planned to today - but we did get the measurements to get the right hitch while it was still on sale, got the lift system tweaked so all lifter posts are exactly 42", put back all the removed harware and trim parts, cleaned some more canvas (took down the other bunk-end) , finished the inside work on the corner we took apart, and got most of the rotted ceiling board off.  

But we discovered that it's really tought to get even rotted wood out when it's been end-stapled ( with LONG staples!) into the frame of the roof! so we will have to undo the corner trim & fold up the aluminum to get all of it out and put the new piece in.

We did also pick up a sheet of plywood to cut the new piece from - I didn't have anything in my 'wood stash' long enough to work.  While we were at Menards, we found some aluminum stuff - actually, aluminum studs, that will work to make great 'covers' for the outside of the lift poles when up.

the camper originally came with two lifter post covers that were intended to keep the camper roof from falling if the lift system failed.  Only one came with my camper.  But it occured to us that if we had FOUR of them - they would keep the water out of the telescoping poles, as well as provide support for the lifters.  Not an urgent project, but at $2.69 ea ( 2 10' 2X 4's) that's enough material to make 4 (and I really ony need three) of these poles, (by cutting around the holes in them for wiring, etc.) I felt it was a good idea to pick it up for later.

It also occurred to me that if someone were into Mods in their camper, that these aluminum studs would be a great, strong and lightweight building material for storage mods - like having a 2 X 4 frame, but much lighter!  Since we had to remove some cabinetry, I might use them for re-building something.  They could certainly never get dry rot!  :p

Well, we had our nice weekend, and it's raining buckets now - all the fresh bedding & clean, dry canvas  is safe on the pool table in the basement - out of the way until we're ready to put it back on the camper.  the one piece I washed today is spread out on the picnic table - getting a rainwater rinse tonite!  A little more water at this point can't hurt it!

BAck to the paying job tomorrow - So I've got to hit the pillow!

Laura

[dirtracin]

Congrats, it makes you feel good that you have accomplished everything yourself, I should finish mine off tomorrow night and than get ready for a overnight in the next couple of weeks