Back on Her Own Four Feet(Wheels, but that does not sound as catchy)

The past two weeks have not seen as much production as I would have cared for. I am not going to make excuses, but a major reason for slow forward progress has been the weather. Fall is here now and with it comes many rainy days. Lost days has lead me to find a solution. The solution is leasing a commercial space. Finding the right space, negotiating a lease, and lining up the required trades to make the space fully functional has also taken me away from working on the Double Door. As of December 1 Frank's Trailer Works will have a large facility so that there will no longer be lost days due to the weather.

I have not been a total slacker however. Things have happened that were highly productive. Bruce came for a day and a half visit. We spent a good deal of time doing a conceptual layout that we both feel will work very well for his needs. Both of us made some compromises in our visions so that we can create a highly functional trailer.

Something that has caused slight delays was the waiting on axles. The time delay ultimately falls on me for not creating enough lead time. I ordered these Axis axles through Colin Hyde Trailer Restorations. Colin was extremely helpful in ordering and held my hand through the whole thing. You do have to do some measuring, careful measuring I might add. It is not difficult and he will walk you right through it. My total came rather quickly via email as to the cost with shipping. I simply mailed off a check and a few days later received a build date of the following week. From the time Colin received my check to the delivery was exactly three weeks. The axles came well protected on a pallet. All hardware was included with the order. I only had to acquire the shocks and that was very easy.

The chassis is now back on the ground sitting on her tires. The wires you see are for the brakes. Once the belly is installed they will all drop down at the hub through a rubber grommet.

Another delay has been the grey water tank. The manufacturer punched in the wrong model number and sent me a 53 gallon tank instead of the 30 gallon, I not only ordered, but altered the frame to accommodate. I was held up many days waiting for the wrong tank to come and even more days for the correct one to show up. They finally got it right, and the tank went into the frame as if it was made for it. Oh, yeah, it was made for it.

From the side of the tank I ran the drain line forward for the shower. The entire Bathroom will be a wet bath configuration. More details on all of this will come forth in the near future.

I also drilled into the top of the tank for the feed from the kitchen. This will also serve as the vent for the tank.

Originally all the umbilical wires connected to the trailer wires in the belly. I hate laying on my back messing with trouble shooting wires, so I eliminated the need to do that by bringing all the wires up in the front. In this area we will have a wiring compartment. Trouble shooting will be very easy.

All of these things needed to take place before I can install the belly pan. The installation of the belly pan began this afternoon but did not get to point that much can be said about it. Perhaps in my next post, this will be highlighted.

By next post, I feel confident that the shell will be back into place. Please stay tuned...