Richard's Pop Up Mods

OK, I've spent hours with my head inside the front left (driver side) cabinet working on the pully there. This is new territory. It turns out that the floor was rotten in there, and the pully was far from straight, and had been modified a bit. Now there is Pressure Treated Plywood where the rotton wood was, and steel plates to tie it to the solid part of the original floor, and to anchor the pully and lift channel properly. It's beautiful. Next step is to replace that 4/32 cable (slightly oversized) with the 3/32 cable that the factory uses. Argh, then I have to straighten out the first pully again and give it a try.

the good part is that my oldest (turning 9 tomorrow) daughter Caroline helped me a lot by holding the wrench on one side while I tightened bolts on the other side of the floor. She is also good at getting nuts started on bolts in places where my hands just won't fit. It was good time together. She knows me well. She came out to help me with a first aid kit in her hands. We didn't need it.

Happy Birthday, Caroline. Your a very smart girl, you brought your daddy a first-aide kit

Coolbreeze1

Richard wrote:OK, I've spent hours with my head inside the front left (driver side) cabinet working on the pully there. This is new territory. It turns out that the floor was rotten in there, and the pully was far from straight, and had been modified a bit. Now there is Pressure Treated Plywood where the rotton wood was, and steel plates to tie it to the solid part of the original floor, and to anchor the pully and lift channel properly. It's beautiful. Next step is to replace that 4/32 cable (slightly oversized) with the 3/32 cable that the factory uses. Argh, then I have to straighten out the first pully again and give it a try.

the good part is that my oldest (turning 9 tomorrow) daughter Caroline helped me a lot by holding the wrench on one side while I tightened bolts on the other side of the floor. She is also good at getting nuts started on bolts in places where my hands just won't fit. It was good time together. She knows me well. She came out to help me with a first aid kit in her hands. We didn't need it.

Sounds like you have plenty to give thanks for today! You are a blessed man regardless of what your camper does..

I think it's a beautiful thing the way you and your daughter got together when she was helping you. You are a great dad to those kids and it shows in their faces when they are around you.

On the other hand...I think she wants you to get it done so you guys can go camping somewhere else besides camp driveway!!!

I'm glad you still have all of your fingers!

Dave

haha, don't "saint" me just yet. I needed her help! She fit in places by big old *utt wouldn't think of going. I even paid her a dollar for helping!

Just a dollar!!!?? You are definately no saint, minimum wage is about 7 bucks now.

abivens wrote:Just a dollar!!!?? You are definately no saint, minimum wage is about 7 bucks now.

That's right Alan. There is a thing called child labor laws. Hope this doesn't get out on the net

Coolbreeze1

Actually it's worse than it seems. I gave her a dollar credit toward what it cost to replace two library books she left outside in the rain. It wasn't even a real dollar!!!

OK, for anyone still following the details of my PUP lift repair, here's the latest.

I took the back out of the cabinet that houses the electric cable. There is one pully in there that I hadn't inspected, but it was just like three others that go over the wheel well and they were all fine, so I hadn't done the disassembley. Well, it was frozen. I have it spinning now and re-installed.

I've replaced rotten flooring with pressure treated plywood and steel plates under one lift post and turn pully, so it shouldn't change angles when loaded now.

I've re-re-re-re-straightened the first pully and lift arm spring channel past the winch, and have it re-enforced with steel plates and braces. So it shouldn't move or bend when under a load.

I've re-enforced the studs in the wall that that same pully/channel mount to. The studs are attached better, and they (three of them) are tied together with half inch plywood and six screws, so they shouldn't move when under a load.

I've replaced the 1/8 (larger than stock) cable to the furtherest end of the system with the correct 3/32 cable so it shouldn't bind or cause friction.

I've made sure I don't have twists and crosses in my cables that could cause a bind when under a load.

I've got new eye bolts and nuts to attach the cables to the main block/winch cable. I've got to adjust and put a ferrule/stop on the new cable at the winch end, still. I've got the battery charging. I'm going through everything again to make sure all the moving parts are screwed back/bolted back properly, then it will be time for another test.

Oh yeah, I re-did the electrical outlet on the outside of the camper. I had to. I had to undo it to get the electric line out from under the lift cables when I put them back in, oops. Much easier to un-hook and re-hook an electrical line than to take that pully system back apart again. I've got bolts and braces that Coachmen/Viking never contemplated to try to keep this thing from breaking.

I will go out to my little TT.. go inside.. close the door.. and in solitude.. Say a little prayer for the "test" .. Ya gotta get campin' again.. "safely" for you and the kids!

If your prayer doesn't work and the test fails, we'll have to take up donations for Richards therapy.

Coolbreeze1

Keep up the good work Richard, that thing will be bomb proof by the time your finished!!

I'm sure everything will work fine. Sounds to me like you went over it with a fine tooth comb. Good luck

Dave

My Roof went up and down several times . It didn't break, or bend, or anything. One corner is a little (about an inch) low, but fixing it would involve more than I'm willing to do. My roof goes up and down , my roof goes up an down , my roof goes up an down!

I'vwe got the cabionets all re-installed. Now I can get back to all the other ongoing repairs and mods. The canvas fits in a channel around the inside of the roof. Some of the screws that hold it in the channel have torn through over the years, so I'm putting washers behind them. This isn't a mission critical repair, just something that has to be done sometime. Things are back to "normal".


Woo Hooo! I can camp again.

Glad to hear that things are looking up Richard

Coolbreeze1

I'm still taking my 2x4's, just in case. And a tent.

That's awesome Richard! Glad you and "Miss Danger" are on camping terms again!

Dave

I must confess, I am going to miss the stimulating "shop talk".

abivens wrote:I must confess, I am going to miss the stimulating "shop talk".

I doubt that, we'll just switch to talking about your pop-up makeover.

Richard wrote:

abivens wrote:I must confess, I am going to miss the stimulating "shop talk".

I doubt that, we'll just switch to talking about your pop-up makeover.

That's it, lets listen to Alans rebuild.

Coolbreeze1

Well, the electrical system stopped working, but a new 15-amp fuse fixed that. Does that count as a repair? I now have a spare fuse to take with me as well.

Richard wrote:Well, the electrical system stopped working, but a new 15-amp fuse fixed that. Does that count as a repair? I now have a spare fuse to take with me as well.

Not sure if you could consider it a repair, well in your case it could be

Coolbreeze1

I always carry extra fuses, can you imagine how frustrating that would be if it blew out in the evening

abivens wrote:I always carry extra fuses, can you imagine how frustrating that would be if it blew out in the evening

I now have extra fuses as well. I would have been tempted to put a wire on the outside of a fuse if it blew in the night, and that would be inviting danger. After all, fused blow for a reason!

I got out there today and moved the furnace thermostat from underneath the dinette. I would have take a pix, but it's cold. Just imagine it on the back of the dinette bench by the fridge. This way the warm air can reach it and it will make the heat go on and off. Amazing concept. My next step, when it's a bit warmer is to bend the vents so they don't all force the hot air right down to the floor. I want a few to blow up, and a few to blow straight ahead. I'll likely have to take the cover off and bring it into the workbench to avoid breaking the punched out fins.

While out there, I turned the lights on with the electrical center set to battery power and they were really dim. Battery had a full charge two weeks ago. The cold weather drains them fast. I put the trickle charger back on it.