A couple little things have been done. I ordered some cushions online, they finally came in! They look great! They are 3″ thick, and Sunbrella outdoor fabric, made to my sizes. Glad I just had them made.
Dinette Cushions
Also put new marker light bulbs in the truck. One was out, and they always seem to follow each other so the others were probably close behind. I used some LED ones.
Marker Light’s new bulb
Also stopped by my local Air Harbor to pick up some Jet A, I am going to try running the furnace on it, it should be nearly the same kerosense. Much much cheaper, and you get to see the cool planes when they are filling you.
I don’t generally like to leave the big bright porch light on, I know a lot of RV people do, but in the middle of nowhere when its really damn dark, that is too bright.
I wanted just a little light to help find the stairs, or just see a little light around the truck. So I came up with a plan. I bought some trailer marker lights, they are small LED’s 60 lumens ish, and mount in a 3/4″ hole. This was important, the flange around the bottom on the box is ~1 1/4″. My idea is to mount them to just shine on the ground around the bottom edge of the box. They are cheap and waterproof, can be found here.
LED Marker light
So the first step is to drill a hole, A step bit was used to do this.
3/4″ hole in the bottom flange
The lights work by removing the rubber, slipping that into the hole, then slipping the light into that. Its pretty secure in there actually.
Light in place
Then the wiring. I had run a circuit to the passenger side tool box area when I was wiring the truck. I figured it would be handy for something in the future to have power out there. I used a light up push button switch, and an old antenna mount to hold it. It had to be spaced away from the corner a bit to clear the door for the propane access.
Switch in the tool box.
And the final result! Its awesome! Just a nice little bit of light around the truck. The camera makes it look a little brighter than it is, its just a subtle bit of light.
After our last snow trip I noticed the carpet under the dog bed was a bit wet from condensation. Need to do something about that. I had planed to insulate the back wall of the cab anyway, it was bare metal panels where the window used to be, so I had planned to do that for noise if nothing else.
So I ordered a roll of thin foam insulation (I ended up with EZ Cool) and got to work.
Pull all the plastic trims out, pulled the back seat, and rolled the carpet up onto the front seats. I am only doing the rear section at the moment, I don’t have time to pull all the front stuff out too. It takes forever….. Not much insulation from the factory.
Carpet pulled back
Cut a piece bigger than you think you need. All the bends and curves make it shrink!
Piece cut
Then start at one end and work across forming, cutting taping. Don’t forget the holes for seats, seat belts etc! I stuffed it as far forward as I could then made sure it was kind of square and started working towards the back. It bends and shapes ok, not sure easy. But making cuts and taping it seems to get it to hold its shape.
Floor done
Once the floor was done I flopped the carpet back down and started to work on the back walls. much harder, curves, small pieces, slots for the trim panels. But it got done. Spray glue worked great to hold in on the larger flat panels.
Seat belt area.Up the the back wall.
I also wrapped around the gasket between the box and the cab. Its not a lot of insulation, but any little bit helps. You can see the seats and trims are back in here too. Eventually I will probably carpet the back wall to match the trucks interior, but for now its shiny!
So the backup lights have never worked, no idea why. So it was finally dark enough to warrant fixing them. Backing up twisty FS roads in the dusk the previous weekend reminded me….
I had checked the fuses but its a complicated mess. Three fuses, two inside, one under the hood, one relay, the transmission selector switch and the added wring of the box, and tow harness… So I started at the junction box where all the lights connect in the back under the box, everything looked good. Traced the wiring all the way back to the transmission, all looked good. Range switch seemed fine and adjusted correctly. So I went back to fuses again….. There it was, one fuse turned sideways, I was checking the wring one. But new fuse in pace and all better!
But I had decided to add more reverse light. A cheap 20″ light bar should work well. I tied it to the trailer wiring so as not to overload the factory reverse circuit.
A couple of rivnuts in the aluminum plates above the back bumper and I have a spot to mount a light. This was my first use of rivnuts, super handy! They work like a rivet but leave a threaded inset.
Rivnut installed.
A couple of stainless 1/4-20 bolts and the bar is installed.
The weather called for a good sized winter storm to hit the local mountains, so what do we do? Pack up and head out to try to find snow!
Snow level was still pretty high, higher than the ski area, but we found the highest spot we could pretty easily get to up a forest service road. We had been up there before, but never that high, there are a couple of steep switch backs that had always held us back. So I grabbed a new pair of tire chains on my way home from work and we headed out for an adventure.
Turning off the highway onto dirt it was still raining. We need to get higher!
Turning onto the FS Road
Not long after it started snowing, not hard, but not sticking yet. After getting through the switch backs we made it to 4600′. Not much higher we could easily go, so we found a flat ish wide spot and called it good for the night. IT was snowing and sticking at this point.
Parking for the night
We played in the snow until it got dark and headed inside for dinner. Made a little fire and went to bed for the night. In the morning I could hear the snow hitting the roof vents, good sign! But I had not checked the fuel for the heater before we left….. It was empty. I had extra, but it took a good 45 minutes to get the lines primed again.
Pretty Morning ViewWinter wonderland!
It had snowed bout 3″ over night and was still coming down hard. After a quick breakfast we did some sledding and whatnot. Kid and dog had a great time throwing snow around.
We decided we should probably head down the hill before it got too much more snow. Only one car had come by in the morning, and it was a little slick.
Heading down
Road looked a little different on the way down! Lots more snow. No issues going down the hill, just idled down in first gear. As it turns out in 2WD the whole time…. The front axle is not engaging, one more thing to be fixed. But overall a great trip and fun to play in the snow!
Sooo we needed a backup camera. I had an old phone I figured I would try use as a screen. So I ordered a Wifi transmitter and a camera. Good in theory, not so good behind a huge metal box.
But anyway, the camera and transmitter seem decent, the license plate light was tapped for power, and the camera is powered off the transmitter.
Camera and Transmitter
It was all installed in a tupperware for water proofness, and attached to the back bumper panel with VHB tape.
Now it works, if your behind the truck, not exactly ideal….. As soon as you move past the the back and down the side the signal just drops. Oh well, I guess I need to run wires….
Also a cell booster was installed. This works better! Definitely get better signal, but its still slow if the signal is weak. Also there is some interference with FM radio if its signal is weak also. The external antenna is close, but far enough per the install guide, but moving it further away may help. The unit is a WeBoost 4G-x, its in the glove box, and the internal antenna is above the rear view mirror.
While washing your hair in the sink does work, yes we tried it!, an outdoor shower has always been in the plan. I was originally going to use a standard “RV” shower, but the cutout needed was huge, and it really wasn’t very nicely made.
So I had seen a “shower port” before at some point so I went googling. The one I wanted was a Bullfinch unit. Its really slick, the hose plugs into the unit, and then it is used to adjust the temperature as well. It only requires a 2 3/8″ hole, and has a tiny mixing valve built in. The shower head is also a dish washer style where when you release the button the water stops. Should help with water usage!
Bullfinch Shower point
The shower was installed right above the intake/exhaust for the water heater, not ideal location, but it was about the only spot it fit nicely. With the cover closed it sticks out about 1/2″, the cover has a gasket to keep road grime out too.
Shower installed and closed
When you hook the hose up, the water is automatically connected. just adjust the temperature and its ready to go.
Hooked up
And it works! It actually shoots water a long ways….
It works!
I teed into the water lines near the sink, it is supplied both hot and cold. Eventually I will likely add valves to be able to turn it off and drain it for the winter. I’m still a little worried it might freeze, the valve is in the wall basically. One thing to note is that the Bullfinch uses metric fittings! They are Whale fittings, a common push to connect fitting used in Europe. I found them locally at a marine supply store, not hard to find.
Interior connections.
And that’s it for the shower! I need to make a mat to stand on, but it should work nicely for upcoming trips.
Well as we are packing up in the rain for a long weekend, I see what looks like a window leaking…. Its dripping from inside the frame. I looked at the caulk all around the window, nothing seems out of place. Maybe it was running down the body lines, so I smeared more goop on those spots. Didn’t seem to do much but nothing else I could find.
So off we went, we spent the weekend at the Northwest Overland Rally, great fun, lots of friends we don’t see too often and a nice weekend away. Even if camping in a grass field with 1500 other people isn’t our norm.
Our spotFriday morning before all the people showed up.
It rained a bit thursday night and Friday morning, but no real leaks.
After we got home I climbed on the roof to look up there. Sure enough the factory sealant had cracked right along the joint from the corner extrusion to the roof sheet metal. Damn. It was actually leaking down inside the body channels and just coming out where it hit the window!
Cracks!
You can just see the dark colored straight lines in the picture above, those are the cracks. They are all the way around…. Luckily there is some butyl in between the corner and roof that has seemed to keep it sealed in most places.
Bad.
It was cracked very badly across the front, luckily there is a large strip of butyl here, so no leaks I could find. But it was not adhered at all, this whole section peeled up.
Peeled and sanded.
I ended up taking a grinder and going all the way around, grinding the middle of the existing sealant to expose fresh stuff to bond to, and to get the cracks out.
Ground down
I will be adding a second layer of polyurethane caulking, Sikaflex 1a specifically, over the existing stuff. It doesn’t bond well to bare aluminum, so a coat of Sika 260 primer was brushed over it. Before that, a scrub brush, acetone and lots of rags were used to get everything as clean as possible.
Not many pics, its sticky messy work, but 8 tubes were used to cover the seams. It was troweled and finger smooshed around. Hopefully sealing and thick and flexible enough to last a few more years.
Sika smeared on
This will take a few days to cure, but I think it should work well. Hopefully it bonds to the existing stuff and gives me a long life flexible seal.
We had been thinking of a live edge slab for our table, but coming up wiht small pieces was difficult. We went to a local guy a couple weekends ago, and found a piece that should work!
Its a cedar or Lebanon, a local 98 year old tree that was taken out when the opera house was remodeled.
Raw slab
It will be finished with a satin polyurethane, lots of coats and lots of sanding…..
I made a leg out of a piece of steel, this will be at the outside edge. A piece of aluminum angle iron is attached to the wall to support that side. I drilled and tapped the floor for the table leg.
Supports
Then the top gets set in place and screwed in! It turned out very nice. It’s a little skinny, but makes getting in and out of the benches easier.
Finished
I will give it a couple coats of paste wax once the poly has set for awhile. That will give it a good wear layer.
Because we are leaving on a longer trip, we should probably have the water done right? Starting two days before we leave is the vest time right?
Well it was a TON of work but it got done, and we only left two hours late.
To start I had a 30 gallon tank, it just barely fit under the larger bench at the dinette. It was so tight that I had to take the ledges that hold the top up off…. But it just fit. We laid down 2″ of foam insulation under the tank. Hopefully this will keep it from freezing when outside temperatures drop to -15 (that’s as cold as we have stayed!).
Insulation under the tankTank dropped in
With the tank in place, there is just barely enough room to make the connections. I almost got a slightly longer tank, and I am really glad I didn’t.
With the tank dropped in I had to secure it in place. I used a ratchet strap to hold it vertically, and its pinned in by the bench to hold it horizontally.
Tank held down in place
With the tank in place I could start the plumbing. I used pex pipe everywhere I could. Its great stuff, connections don’t leak, its ok with freezing, and a little bit flexible. On the outlet from the tank, I put a T, one side will go to the water pump, the other side has a valve so the tank can be dumped if needed.
Water feed connection
The water runs across the wall/floor and into the other bench, this is where the water pump goes. The water pump being in with the heater should give it lots of heat to keep it warm in the winter. Valves were used both sides of the water pump so it can easily be removed if needed. Reinforced vinyl hose was used either side of the pump to try to keep noise down. Its still quite loud.
Water pump installed
The hot water heater was installed next. It needs one hole for intake and exhaust, its a concentric vent. Also a propane connection, and an electrical connection.
Intake and exhaust
So out come the hole saw and one more hole is added. Some careful measuring and drilling a hole from the outside and inside, and I go them to line up!
Heater sitting in place on the interior
The intake/exhaust was glued and screwed into place, and I could then run the propane line.
Outside buttoned up
Propane was connected and it was back to water. Again I used valves so the heater could be drained if needed. I am hopeful that it wont be needed! I still need to run the drain though the floor.
Almost done!
Next up I had to drill the hole for the faucet. Using a diamond bit usually works well, but needs to be kept wet. The trick is kids modeling clay, it works great to make a dam around the hole so it can be kept full of water. Use towels, it will make a mess…
DamDrilling
Hole!
Wohoo it didn’t break! The bit walked a little so its not perfectly centered, but oh well, it didn’t break! So a hot and cold line was run up and a threaded adapter was used to connect to the faucet connections. You can also see the hose barb adapter used for the sink drain in the next picture.
Sink connections
The grey water is simply a six gallon jug that sits under the sink. I think this will work well, it also helps track water usage some.
Grey tank is the blue jug
And put it all together and we get hot water coming out of the tap! Now I didn’t get to installing the outdoor shower yet, but the pex pipe can be cut and modified easily.
Hot water!
That brings us to the end of the water part one. It worked great, being able to just wash hands etc was so nice, we never used the water in our old truck at all. We also found out that the sink pull out can go out the kitchen window for showers 😀
