Dale and Terry get a '66 Tradewind

[dbj216]

Hello Slats: I've rebuilt bed frames also, but my job was easier as I like the twin bed layouts. I did modify the "travel lounge" pull out couch in the 69 Globe Trotter some years ago. The slides were shot. So I just made overlapping plywood pieces that would double up when in the "couch" mode and would extend and be single sheets when in the "bed" mode. I guess I didn't like sitting on the edge of the bed that was cantilevered with those slides. So my plywood had real legs under it that would just slide out when we pulled it out. Seemed to work.

Keep on those tangible progress items.

David

[Slats]

By the way, here's that pic of Touring Dan and yours truly referred to above. When my wife and I were at the Outer Banks last week, I had mild regrets about flying there instead of driving, as I would have liked to stop through Lynchburg again for another visit.

[dbj216]

Thank you for the photo. Always nice to put a face with the user name. I've met Arrowood, Atomic13, steinVT and MarkD who are participants on these Forums. Forum friends.

David

[Slats]

So much for trying to rebuild the original slide-out bed frame. I had forgotten how much it stuck out past the door from the kitchen to the bedroom. So I killed that idea and built something more to my liking. I used the old slides from the front gaucho, which I no longer needed after redoing the front room. They were in far better than the beat up ones from the original bed. At the end of the day I was figuring out how to fabricate swing-down legs to support the bed in the slide out position. I experimented with cutting the bottom edge of the leg at a 5 degree angle, with a stop in front of the upper end with a corresponding 5 degree angle. I'm still thinking the whole thing through, but it is fun doing it so far.

[dbj216]

The vintage "travel lounge" as they like to call it. I too put support legs under the one I made for the rear of the Globe Trotter. I just put the pull out plywood on top of the seat plywood. I added a stop. I made the sizes to fit the existing cushions. Our slides were shot like yours I guess. Anyway, it worked for a few years. Then I got a wild hair and rebuilt the whole back of the trailer. We went with a rear bed and mid bath. It is functional, but not roomy by any means.

Your Trade Wind is going to be very nice.

David

[coloradoup]

Nice work slats, enjoyed our little get together this afternoon. Good to see you are making progress. Ever forward.
Mike.

[docflyboy]

Slats- good to see you over the weekend. We'll get our trailers to the next gathering. Jerry

[Slats]

Thanks, Jerry. Good to see you, as well. Now that Covid is in the rear view mirror for us vaccinated folk, I look forward to a more robust gathering at the Roasterie this fall.

[Slats]

Geez. Getting the mid-trailer couch/bed to slide smoothly out was a pain. It helped to put 1/16" thick, 1" wide aluminum strap on the bottom of each side of the the platform, as well as across the bottom front of the platform, to aid it in sliding over the wooden superstructure below. I like the grey burlappy material I used to cover the plywood. I chose grey because I don't yet know what color the cushions will be, but I figured anything will go with grey. I left the piano hinge exposed to hold down the material. I stuck aluminum angle around the perimeter just because I could.

[Bubba L]

Looks good. Were you able to reuse the original Walter of Wabash slides? They work great for a cantilever. At any rate, I rubbed some beeswax in the slots of our wooden slides to lubricate the slide function. Great progress. Good luck

[Dwwalker18]

Dale, looking great! I really like the burlap and aluminum trim!

[Slats]

Thanks Dan.

In answer to Bubba, I used the slides from the old front gaucho, as they were no longer needed after my reconfiguring of the front end; moreover, they remained in excellent shape. The original slides in the middle gaucho were shot. Someone along the line had tried to modify them. The circumstantial evidence suggested they used a hatchet.

My redesigned frame and platform turned out to please me. When in the couch position the facing edge sets some three inches back from the door opening to the kitchen, whereas the original stuck out into the aisle four inches, something that bugged me. Conversely, when slid out to the bed position, the old one was only forty inches wide, whereas my version is forty-four (ever wonder why forty has no u in it? I do. Perhaps therein lies the clue to why it takes me so long to do what I do). In any event, the new width still leaves ample room to run to the bathroom, should the need arise.

[dbj216]

Burlappy? Is that a special Kansas material? Never heard of it around here.

The grey does look nice and goes with most colors. I say that about my grey hair.

David

[Atomic_13]

Keep up the great work Dale. It’s really coming together nicely!

[Slats]

Hal, our '66 Tradewind, has a thin metal (1/16") angled spine beneath the subfloor, running down the middle, connecting all but the first and last of the cross members.



As I contemplate installing two 14 gallon grey water tanks above the axles, I get fixated on the angle's 1" dangle obstructing an otherwise unimpeded clear space from frame rail to frame rail. Then my eyes gravitate to the shop wall, where my Milwaukee cordless multi tool hangs, awaiting my itchy trigger finger.



I don't see how removing a stretch of the dangle would have much effect on the structural integrity of the trailer, as the plywood floor, with the plywood slats under the seams, should be more than sufficient, together with the remaining top part of the angle still spanning the middle three cross members.


Anyone want to talk me down out of the tree?

[dbj216]

Hi Slats: They built trailers stronger in the mid sixties than they did in the mid seventies. I wouldn't hesitate to remove the angle dangle and make a dongle out of it.

Here is a photo of the angle iron down the center of my frame that shows in my photo of my heat duct project. It is on the far left of the photo.

David

[Slats]

I'm starting to replace the belly pan on Hal, our '66 Tradewind. After unfurling the two long aluminum strips that have been rolled up in a corner of the shed ever since I removed them, I decided to reuse them, albeit it in modified form. Where they were riveted to the crossmembers they were corroded and not fit for riveting back on. So I'm going to cut them short of the corroded rivet line and rivet on a strip of new aluminum that will extend an inch or so past the cross member and will go under the front of the next section to be riveted to it and so on and so on, all the way to the back.



So off I went to Airparts this morning. As I pulled into the parking lot, Chris was walking towards the rear of the lot where it meets some woods. When she got to the retaining wall she gently tossed something up into the woods. When she turned and saw me I asked her what she had tossed into the woods. She smiled and said, "A snake I found in our building." Then we went into the building and she and her brother Mark cut five 2 1/2" x 42" strips of .025 aluminum I could use to bridge the corrosion gap and use to attach the next piece of belly pan. Their cutting machine is an impressive piece of machinery. It makes much cleaner cuts than my Harbor Freight electric shears that tend to leave wavy edges.


One of the fun things about a project like this is all of the long-established local family businesses I have found along the way here in K.C. Mornings like this add to the fun, for sure.

[dbj216]

Hi Slats: Yep, Airparts is a great business. I've bought belly aluminum and some 2024 Alclad from them since 2013. They have served me will. They are mainly an aircraft parts business like Aircraft Spruce.

David

[Slats]

Not a lot of progress of late for a number of reasons, but a chilly day last week prompted me to get going on fabricating our propane distribution system. After putting a Rube Goldberg 3/8" copper line cobbled together with three spare copper pieces and spare fittings so I could get the heater going that day, I set about laying out the 1/2" copper main line with two 5/8" flare tees and one 5/8" flare elbow. The first tee will feed the heater and the second tee will feed the stove. The elbow at the end will feed the hot water heater. The perpendicular lines from the main line to the appliances will be 1/2" copper, at the end of which will be a 5/8" flare x 1/2 mpt connector to a 1/2" fpt x 3/8 flare to the 3/8" copper line coming down through the floor from each appliance. Once I have the components all assembled, I'll lay the finished product on the floor, close the three valves to the tees and elbow, hook the main line up up to my propane tanks and check all the fittings for leaks. I've been getting the hang of flaring copper. When I finished my cobbled-together temporary line to the heater, my bubble test showed no leaks.
Meanwhile, the gray water tanks are on order from Inca Plastics and should be here in a few weeks, if all goes well. So I hope to have them in and the bottom buttoned up sometime in the not-to-distant future. My old mantra (Q: How do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time.) has been replaced by, or perhaps has just morphed into, another: It's not the destination, it's the journey. Or something like that.

[dbj216]

I'm happy to see you have at least 3 valves in your propane system to go along with the 7 or so valves in your fresh water plumbing system. Now you need a control center like a refinery might have.

Glad you are getting the hang of flaring soft copper tubing. I get a "D" in that skill. Maybe not, it would hurt my feelings. I did have some leaks to repair after my leak test. Bubba L recommends the double flair tooling, so that is the way I'm going to improve my grade at the next leak test.

Also glad you're back at it. I don't have a project this winter. Maybe another project soon.

David