Motorhome Modifications - TOWEL BARS, ANOTHER SOLAR PANEL AND TRACKER TOW BAR

Besides having little Jameson here for the weekend, we got a few motorhome modifications done too!  He "helped" Granfaddah get another solar panel ready for going up on the roof!   Here he is gathering tools and helping to put things together (or tear them apart?)

He just loves it when Granfaddah hauls out the tools.....

Steve is waiting for a warmer day to apply the Dicor sealant to the brackets on the roof around the screws so they cure and seal properly in medium temps.  We lost our wonderful early summer temps in the 70's and 80's and are back to normal in the 30's and 40's range.  Typical temps for Northern Wisconsin in March, so we are resigned to put up with them for a bit longer.

We currently have four 100 watt panels for the coach (house batteries) and he is adding one more panel.  For the chassis (driving) batteries he has a 15 watt solar panel to keep those up to snuff.  We have four 6v golf cart batteries in the tray now, and the two 12v driving batteries.  But soon we will move the driving batteries to the rack he made in the engine compartment, and then have room for SIX of the 6v batteries.  When we do the switchover, we will upgrade to six all new Trojan batteries.  (you should never mix new and old batteries)   Our four 6v ones are still operating good, though they were purchased in early 2009 so are still okay.  Guess we will offer them to our camping family to see if any of them can use em for a few more years, hooked up in pairs to make 12v,  on their trailers.



Jameson also helped me inside the motorhome too.  

A few years ago, we added this rack, similar to hotels for the wash cloths, hand towels and regular bath towels.  My dad sprayed it gold to match the motorhome for me when we were visiting them in Florida.  It works very well for the washcloths, hand and bath towels, but the spaces are not big enough for the biggest bath sheets.

We like the large big bath sheet type towel and double use as a beach towel, but they take up a LOT of room on the base of Steve's closet area.  We used to have only one towel bar in the bathroom that could only fit two of the big bath sheet towels.   The rest of the bath sheets were stored on the floor of the closet on Steve's side, and we wanted them up and off the floor in preparation for fulltiming.  Thinking: "Best Use Of Space!" here.

So we decided to buy two new towel bars and replace the existing one, plus add one more a bit lower.  Jameson helped with the screwdriver and the tape measure and holding the screws and wall anchors for me... counting each one as we drilled it back into the wall!   What a great helper!!!

 Now all of our towels are off the floor of the closet and on the racks!

Speaking of closets... on my side, I always stow my spinning wheel in mine.  It rides upright, protected from tipping over by my hanging clothes.  Only problem, I end up tucking all of my shoes around the base of the wheel and in between the treadle base legs.  I already have one huge gouge in the finely finished wood of the wheel from things being jammed in with it.  Steveio to the rescue!   I described what I needed and drew a quick diagram.  He made me this platform to go in my side of the closet.  My shoes and umbrella can be tucked into the cubby hole compartments, and the spinning wheel can now rest on the new *deck* of the closet!   It's not stained yet, but you can see how well it will work.   In the background you can see the folded up base to my sock machine stand too.  I think this will be a great resolution to my storage problems.  Thank you, Steveio!

Another storage problem in the motorhome has been my spices.  Someone on my RV list suggested this great pull down rack from Rubbermaid that we found at Walmart for only $12.  (some larger Walmarts have them, but not the smaller ones)   It's a great idea and heavy duty, but alas and alack, it's too WIDE for my cabinet!!!  The center post between the cabinet doors is in the way.  It has to go back to the store.  Sigh.

(pic on left is from the ad       ~~~~    pic on right is from my rig) 

I will explore some of the other pull down type units that fit up under the cabinet.

When we bought the 1997 Tracker, we had hoped to just swap over the Blue Ox baseplate from our 1995 Tracker.  Not so.... they were somewhat different.  Steve was hoping that he could adapt it, but we decided to bite the bullet and order the right one for the 1997 Tracker.

After shopping around, we charged a $370.00 baseplate for our Tracker on our American Express from US Auto Parts Warehouse.  http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/  They assured me 3 times during the phone call that it was "in stock"  and hit our credit card with the charge within 1 hour of ordering.  Five days later I found out it was NOT in stock and wasn't even MADE yet due to a backorder at Blue Ox.  We could expect it in 7-9 weeks.  I cancelled the order and the company would NOT issue a refund. After three frustrating phone calls to them, I decided to dispute the charge on my card instead.

Good ole American Express went to bat for me, removed the charge immediately from my account, and now, 4 weeks later they finally got that company to comply with the refund status.  Amazing!

Anyhooooo  Steve looked closer at the Blue Ox baseplate that we had and figured a way to adapt it to fit on our 1997 after all!   So with a bit of this and that, my fine engineering hubby now has our original baseplate mounted and in working order!  

BASEPLATE ON FRONT        HITCH ON BACK

He also installed a hitch on the back for the random times we might want to pull a small trailer or a boat (not when toading behind the motorhome)  so that is done now too.



Other projects this weekend were dipping more of my deep sea fishing weights.  Sadly, I could not let Jameson have a hand in this one.  I order 24 one pound weights at a time from a company and dip them in rubberized coating made for handles of tools.   The rubber can get EVERYWHERE ... not good for 3 year old boys to help with!

After three coats, they dry and I put them onto the flattened silver dinner forks.  Just the tips are bent over to be used when knitting socks on a sockknitting machine.  I sell these in sets of three to fellow sockcrankers on both Etsy and Ebay!



Once all of our projects were done, it was time for a Sunday birthday party!   Our youngest daughter Heather has turned 27... oh my am I that old already?  I was 24 when I had her, you do the math!

Steve put a pot of 6 pounds of Alaskan Snow Crab legs in the big kettle to steam (this is a base from a turkey deep fryer)  and some tenderloin steaks on the grill for those who don't like the crab legs.   Yummmmmmm  

While Granfaddah and Granmuddah cooked the meal, the kids took the grandkids out to the yard to play a bit.  This may very well be the LAST family party we have at this home, as it will be going on the market soon.  

After singing the Happy Birthday Song... 

the little ones helped blow out the candles! 

We were missing little Allegra, because our daughterinlaw "Mommy Heather" is due very soon and didn't wish to travel so far from her doctor.  Also our daughter "Mommy Erin" is due within the next few weeks.... so the next news should be NEW GRANDBABY NEWS!!!

We TOAD! We TOAD! We TOAD! For the first time....

Well, if you have been reading my past few blogs, you know we are getting ready to TOAD!

For all my non-RVing readers---  a "TOAD" is an RV term for towing a vehicle behind your motorhome with a towbar setup.   Our Geo Tracker is a nice little toad, lightweight and has a stick shift with manual dial out hubs to loosen up for towing (automatic hubs don't work)

Soooooo all the prep work has been done---

The tow base plate inspected, repainted, new bolts and put back on.  

We lined up the motorhome and the Tracker out on the road in front of our house

Steve hooked up the tow bars, safety cables and wiring to the lights

I was in the inside of the toad, doing the parking break, key position, shifter and transfer case.

He tested the lights from inside the motorhome while I watched from outside behind the toad.

I had tied a white rag to the top center of the steering wheel, (tell you why in a little bit)

Then we double checked each other's tasks....  good habit to start! 

He pulled ahead slowly while I watched for the two little levers to *pop* up --- 

meaning the tow arms are engaged and working properly.

We are nice and level with the tow bar and do not need a drop down receiver.

We were ready to roll!   

Our big TV inside over the driver's seat also is the monitor screen for our back-up camera.  We can see the toad out back through the tv!   (Our motorhome does not have a rear window)   By tying the white rag on the steering wheel, the co-pilot can see the wheel turn as you go around corners and return back to the upright position again.  If it does not return to the upright position, you know something is wrong and you should stop immediately to check it out. With the dark black interior of the Tracker, a white rag works well.

Here is my Steveio, piloting our rig and our toad down the country roads...  the evening sun is coming in strong on his side, so that new window shade we installed on the side window sure came in handy!   The camera only catches bars on the tv screen, but for sure it was a full clear picture as we were driving along.

We went around our big country block, which is a couple miles around.  All went just fine! 

We came home, reversed our procedure to unhook the toad.
And we made sure that we used the parking brake before unhooking.
Then once was all unhooked, we released the parking brake as I drove the toad back into our garage.

The tow bar can stay locked on the back of the motorhome and swivel up and out of the way to one side. 

And I had sewn a nice little vinyl cover for it when parked.  Blue Ox wanted $48 plus shipping for one!  

So there you have it---

We TOAD! 

.

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS - new outlets and tow plate repaint and dog stuff

.

Steve's mom is now doing better and resting comfortably at home, 

our daughter Heather's bridal shower is done, 

and we got a toad to pull behind the motorhome----   

Now that the big powered windshield shade installation is done, 

we did a few more little things to prepare for our upcoming vacation.  

We can finally sneak away for a few weeks vacation before all the wedding hoopla starts up. Heather and Jesse tie the knot on October 8, 2010.  So we better get while the getting is good~!

The first modification is that we wanted another outlet near the table that will run off the inverter.  There is an outlet up over the table underside of the overhead cabinets, but that one only works when there is plugged in shore power available.  Then we also wished to put in a 12 volt outlet too, so we can plug in our tire pressure monitor system base there to receive signals from both the front and the back portion of the rig, without needing to buy a signal repeater.  We are also going to be monitoring the four new sensors we are adding to the toad.

So Steveio measured up the distance, tapping into the power sources in the lower basement compartment, and ran both new wires up through the floor into the cabinet under our table.  From there he drilled out portions of the side of the cabinet, installed power boxes behind and hooked up the two new outlets.  They work great!  I tested it out with our new digital picture frame, filled with photos of past camping trips.

(we stole this idea from Mel and Paula --- thanks!)

Next project on the docket was changing the single 12 volt outlet to a dual 12 volt outlet up by my passenger side dash.   Now that we have a 12 volt Cradlepoint router, having 2 outlets will work better up there....  my laptop already has a 12 volt adapter, so that is also plugged in up there too.   We don't like having to run the inverter for 120vAC power when they run just as well off 12volt.

Next project on the list was that Steveio noticed the base plate that came on our Tracker was a little rusty looking.... so he took it off, inspected it (good thing, one of the mounting bolts was broken!)    and he coated it with a rust-neutralizer coating, then a new coat of rustoleum paint.  He can bolt it back on tonight after work with all new bolts.   Then we will line it up and see if we need a drop receiver adapter to keep the tow bar level.

I am making a vinyl cover for the towbar, which we can use when the toad is unhooked... we are told it is best to cover it up if not removing it.  There are keyed locks to hold it in the hitch receiver so it don't *walk away* at some campground.


Okay, the next one isn't really a motorhome modification, but it is something for camping.  You all know we take along our two fur ball doggies camping and everywhere we go.  We are very careful about picking up our doggie messes----   and always carry along doggie bags --  by reusing plastic store bags.  Since we have gone to fabric shopping bags for groceries, we don't have many plastic store bags any more.    Last week we were shopping at Dollartree and found these neato boxes of smaller black scented doggie bags!

You might think this is a dumb thing to blog about, but it goes along with the next photo:

 Mom and I were shopping at Goodwill last Friday and I found two of these, still new, in the wrappers! They are made to fit around the Flexi brand retractable dog leashes we already owned. 

Sure beats having to tuck extra bags, keys, cell phone etc. into your pants or sweatshirt pockets
to just take the dogs out for a walk.

Well, off to feed the little gremlin girl some lunch and spend the rest of the day making lists of things we need to pack before leaving on vacation!!!  Wheeeeeeeee