What lies below......

This post will be quick and dirty, the way I like my women.
I had to force myself to get the bottom skin on.  It sucked big time.  for this I give you a 2 Mr Hanky weekend. It's only the first time in the history of this blog has Mr. Hanky been thrown out twice on the same project.  You know it must be bad.

I had a hard time finding material in .025" around here locally.  No one wants to stock it, because it is so thin, it gets damaged easily in storage.  I finally ended up buying from a place in Kansas City, MO.  

http://www.airpartsinc.com/

I was surprised at how fast it showed up on my doorstep.  The people there are great.  They did everything they could to ensure that my aluminum would be to me before the weekend.  It was actually just one day freight on the ground.

2 sheets 4'x12' came in this box.

The original belly pan was so hacked up, I couldn't bring myself to use it.

I'm thinking that the famous rap star "Hackmaster J" must have been at work here.

It was 5 pieces total.  I am reducing that to 2. 

I think this is a challenge.  I couldn't just follow the instructions.

My Doctor says I am doing well and should be out in no time.

I laid out all the pieces, like a giant puzzle and started a rough template.

When I got it close I used cargo ratchet straps to hold it up in place, while I started drilling it up and clecoing everything together.  I started in the center and worked my way out.  I didn't take any pics underneath, well because I was tired and it would have been crappy pics anyway.

Once, I got the rear piece all shot up, I started laying out the front one.  I have to make notes to remind myself what and where to cut.

 I assembled the pieces one last time to pick up and curves around the wheel well areas.  Glad I did, I would have miscalculated.

 Fast forward about 2 days and this is the final product.  Just a few minor finishing touches left to be totally done with the belly pan.

Step up to the plate.....

I was happy to see my new step on the front porch, from Vintage Trailer.  I bought the smallest, most compact step I could find.

If you remember, mine had been smacked with a curb or something.
Let's go in the way back machine.....to last Memorial Day.

This is the remains of the step in my junk bin.  It was welded to the frame.
There is a piece of plate under the belly pan that is welded to the frame , that I can use as an attach point.  The problem is, that if I mount it where I can hit the plate, then it is too far up under the trailer to be useful.  So, I will have to put some thought into engineering something to extend the step out, that is sturdy enough to hold up my big old self. 


 I started scrounging in my metal bin and found a good heavy stick of 2" angle.  I will have to pick up a few spots along the frame to make this sturdy enough not to flex under load.  I want it to be removable in case I run over a drunk armadillo.

I cut 3 angles about 20 inches long and started rounding off the corners.  I always round off the corners , because inevitably I will be the guy that hits his head on it, when I am crawling around underneath it.  Then I clamped it to the step to make sure it stays square.  Then I clamped it to the table and started to weld it all up.

After welding it all and mocking it up in place, I marked all the holes and started pre-drilling so I wouldn't have to do it all overhead.
Also, I made sure that I put a 45 degree angle on the support bracket, because I know that someday I will be tromping around in bare feet or flip flops and kick the end of the bracket.  So I cut it off.
Not my foot, the angle.

Then I de-burred everything and then spray bombed it with satin black.

Step right up and see the show..........

Retracts back out of the way

One more thing to remove from the list O'Crap to do.....

AXLE-RIFFIC Part Deux

So where did I leave off? Oh yeah, tired and dirty.

So, I ordered the brake backing plate assemblies and they came in. They look good for the money.

 I also hafta eat a little crow. 

 I called  down and ordered the bearings, seals etc. for the axle.  Thinking it would run about $40.  Obviously, I haven't bought bearings in a while. How does $108 grab you? I just cleaned the other ones and regreased them.  I still had $35 in 2 seals, since mine were destroyed coming out.  
I used a battery charger to test out the brakes.  I just hooked a lead up to each wire on the magnet and bypassed the brake controller.  It worked good, so I am ready to reinstall the wheels and tires.

I spent the rest of the day unwiring my lights.  I am so glad I had a junction box in between the tail lights and the front trailer plug.  This made it easy.
I had the tail lights wired up to the "brake control" post, which was not right.  It took a few hours, but I got it back where it needs to be.


Next project on the list, is to finish the underside of the trailer, so I can put the belly pan back on.