The awning went over most of the windows in the front, mostly. It pretty much screamed "trash!", so that's probably where it will wind up.
I don't want anybody to get in trouble (there was a deal involved), so I'll just say it was less than $400 delivered.
Terry,
It was a pretty easy guess with the size and shape of the box. I didn't think that the low profile Air Conditioners had got that low profile yet. Great job on the install, shades are cool!
Mine look like this:
Y'all may have noticed we are still short an "M" for the front of Bertha (okay, I'm a sandwich short of a picnic, but that's another thread). Does anybody out there have an extra one in their parts bin? Brother, can you spare an M? It's kind of wierd, having the only "AIRSTREA " running around.
If there are any "W's" out there, I can probably use one of those.
“You have a very fine color when you've got a spite on.” The Duke to Lauren Bacall in The Shootist. Don’t try this on at home folks! Remember Lauren Bacall was paid to be beguiled by this line.
This weekend I took care of some odds and ends on Bertha, such as repairing the water leak in the water heater supply line, and installing a new holding tank drain cap. I was able to repair the "M", put it on, and in true Murphy fashion, the letter slipped just as the glue was curing. I also finished the outlet cover for the Winegard antenna, and put our WBCCI numbers on front and rear.
Tomorrow, after the storage lot has moved a utility trailer away from our storage spot (it is parked 6" from the curb side of Bertha, I had to crawl under, and use a wrench to raise the stabilizers), I'll drop her off.
Here is a photo showing the new WBCCI numbers:
As an afterthought, I thought I would share with you that we reserved a site in an RV park (resort?) in Tropical Gulf Acres for the winter. Our time there will start September 30, and go at least through March of '08, with a few strategic breaks, like our son's wedding in North Carolina at the end of October. It doesn't make much sense to start fulltiming further North just in time for cold weather.
If anybody wants to look around, or reserve a spot for a while, they have a website, it is Welcome To Sun'n'Shade RV Campground, Punta Gorda Florida.
you can access the back side of those letters (and the marker lights, should you ever need to ) by taking out the cabinet up front. comes right out of the end cap, after loosening a few screws. You might be able to use a fastener to attach that "M" more securely.
Things have been a little slow at work this week (an understatement, they would have to get busier to be "slow"), so I have taken advantage of an understanding management to address a few minor issues with Bertha. First, the plug for the shore power connection was badly corroded, and the contacts were eroded away to almost nothing, so the plug got cut off and replaced. I got a new plug end from Camping World, the ones from Home Depot and Lowes will work, but they are a hard plastic (subject to shattering if dropped), and the Camping World plug has the wire colors painted right on the inside contacts. If you are not color blind, it is impossible to reverse the wires, and get the dreaded "orange light of imminent death" on the side of the coach to glow. Also, the Camping World version is only about a dollar more than the hardware store variety, and is much more substantial.
I also crawled underneath, and started dropping the belly pan, along with the two rear stabilizers. While I don't have the pan completely off, I took enough rivets out so I could view the frame, and got a rather unpleasant suprise. The frame is not bent like I thought it was. No, it is not rotten, either. When the shop performed the repair, they didn't bother putting the braces and elevator bolts in the frame and floor. This worked for a while, but when the frame was subjected to the aditional stress of being tied down with hurricane straps, it sagged downward. Now, in order to fix it, I've got to rip apart a bunch of stuff I have already fixed, so I can access the areas inside the coach, and install the elevator bolts that were supposed to be installed.
It's been ten years since the repair was performed, so the tech that did the work is not longer there, and it will do no good to name names, even though I have the receipts for the repair work ($2400+). I'll try to take and post some photos of the work in progress.
Bertha is now back together,and the frame is close to prescribed distance from the body.
It turms out that not only did the original repairer not bother with any bolts, they used no sealers back there, and the floor at the very rear rotted away under the body. That, coupled with no bolts holding the frame up, caused the sag I saw. I sistered in a piece of 3/4" pressure treated plywood between the end of the "good" wood, and the shell. I attached everything back together, using a myriad of bolts, screws, rivets, and cursing. The rear is now solid again, with a slight sag evident (I couldn't perform the "raise it further than it goes, and attach" method, so it will always be a little low there, maybe 1/4-1/2".
When I got done, and lowered Bertha to the ground, I made yet another disturbing discovery. The right side of the trailer now is about 1 1/2" lower than the left side. With everything underneath in good order, that means only one thing:
Axles.
"Hello, Inland?"
I'll post pictures up to this point when I get home from work today, and pictures of the impending axle replacement. The axles have already been ordered, so let's not go there.
__________________
Terry
Last edited by overlander63; 08-05-2007 at 08:21 PM.
Reason: spelling
Here are some photos showing part of the process of the frame repair. The belly pan got dropped to shore up the crack in the laft side of the frame over the left rear wheel. This was the damage that precipitated the gusset repair over the axles, a known weak point in the longer trailers beginning about 1974. The repair was performed to keep it from getting worse, but nothing was really done about the sag that was already there. The frame is now sturdy, with little of the curious backward tilt to the bathroom floor that Bertha had exhibited before. The tub now fills more or less evenly, and there is no longer that feeling of being about to drop through a hole while showering.
__________________
Terry
Last edited by overlander63; 08-05-2007 at 08:22 PM.
Reason: spelling
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It's kind of wierd, having the only "AIRSTREA " running around.
) by taking out the cabinet up front. comes right out of the end cap, after loosening a few screws. You might be able to use a fastener to attach that "M" more securely.
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