Thank you for helping me jack up my house to take the tires off! The wheel wells are finished!

A friend helped me jack up one side of my house so I could take the tires off. While I was at it to gave a look @ the shackle mounts, which were thread tapped and bolted to the frame, per the instructions on the mounts and best thinking @ the time. I even welded an extra plate to make more steel for the threads to be tapping in though. Over time I see that this was not the best installation because there is some corrosion between the frame and the mounts, and also there is play in joints! It looks as if there is enough wobble to pitch one axle higher than the other. So, This will be just another project for another day: taking the tires off and tack welding the shackle mounts in place.

The trim along the bottom edge of the wheel well, and some extra screws to hold the interior wall metal in place was the whole point of the operation.

I will also probably invest in a smaller set of tires. These were bought almost in a hurry, and was all that was available @ the time in the town i was in. They have done alright for these short moves from place to place, but I think for longer trips i will need a lower profile tire, and also to have the axles welded instead of bolted. I have a tendency to go off road!

 Front facing trim, and finally the diamond plate!

$ide Money $trikes Again!

 When I built the plumbing system in my house I had to bite the bullet and buy a very expensive tool, because RV plumbing is a special breed of cat. I also learned how to do it RIGHT! Well, my friend recommended me (THANK YOU!!) to his friend who has been building a food truck. I very much admire and appreciate the courage and fortitude they have been Rocking & Shining as they progressed along with their venture and I wish them all the best success in the future. I am grateful for the opportunity to have just finishing helping do a beautiful and legit job for them! Tool$ & $kill$! Thanks also to our county commissioners for sticking up for food trucks in our local gov't! Our town is ringing business and opportunity to local proffessionals, and it's also great for our local supplies who, (thank goodness), have a reason to carry all the special supplies!

Solar panel racking system installation

I finally mounted the solar panel racks, and I have a pile of $$ saved up...so I guess this is really happening! I built the travel trailer part, now it is time to really make is a solar powered travel trailer! The installation was quite a step by step process. The brackets that the rails mount to are anchored to the trusses with the same 1/4" steel L brackets that the trusses are mounted to the top of the walls with. First I marked the pre-drilled the position of each L bracket, and then cut away the foam roofing board. I put a piece of pressure treated 2x4" in the roof so that I could tighten the bracket to the roof and make it water proof.

The I put the L bracket back in place, making sure that the holes in the truss still lined up, and pre-drilling through the roof, which was nerve wracking! 22 holes through my water tight roof!

This is what the assembly for each bracket looks like: stainless steel rack mounting bracket with a 3.5" stainless steel bolt passing through the roof, into the chunk of wood, which was tightened with a fender washer and a nut to make it water tight. Then the bolt passes through the iron L bracket and is fastened with a lock washer and a nut.  The assembly is held perpendicular and rigid to the roof by the two nuts on either side of the iron. Then the iron is through bolted to the truss.  

I used butol on the backs of the washers on top of the stainless steel brackets and on the under side of the bracket in contact with the roof to seal the hole.

I had extra brackets and scraps of rail, so I mounted two short 2' sections on the south side of the trailer right beside the bathroom. I would like to build a solar water heater unit to mount here, so I can have an out door shower, and also plumb it through the wall to send solar heated hot water into the bathroom.



There are 26 feet of rail on the south side (port side) of the roof, and 7 feet on the north side (star-board) side, and the roof is 54 inches wide. This gives me approx. 150 square feet of roof space for solar panels. I will have to buy some high wattage panels to compensate for my limited real-estate.

Thank you to my friends for helping me out with the parts that I couldn't do by myself!