I have a Hitch now!

[melissab]

Yeah! The welding shop was able to use a tap and Die on the van's rusted bolt holes to re-thread them and install the hitch without having to weld it on after all. Cost me $180 though and it still has to go back to the Hitch shop to have it wired but the hard part is done!

We also went to a Battery Shop and bought a brand new Deep Cycle Group 24 Battery for $70 so I thought that was pretty good.

Next after the wiring is tires and then she'll be all set for the trip!

Can't wait! I think we're gonna "driveway camp" tonight to take her for a dry run. With the window A/C the camper gets down to 60 degrees! You can hang meat in there just the way we like it, lol.

[cpaharley2008]

Melissa,
With the T@b and T@da a/c on the floor, you must, and I repeat must, tilt the trailed a little towards the street side for the condensate to drain. Go out and check the tubes to insure that condensate is dripping. If not, you will have a mess inside when you tow and all the water flows inside the trailer. It is a little design flaw by Dutchman. I also recommend you get a B@L leveler, it fits under your wheel and can raise/tilt the trailer to make it level or unlevel as you wish. You will need it at campsites, here is a link
Amazon.com: BAL R.V. Products Group 28050 Light Trailer Tire Leveler: Automotive

[melissab]

LOL, Thanks Jim. My BAL was delivered last week so I'm a step ahead of ya on that one.

When Hubby built the little shelf to sit the A/C in the window he tilted the shelf down in the rear a bit so it's dripping now. It doesnt ride in the window for travel. It will sit inside a rubbermaid tote in case any water is left inside. When I stop for the night I hoist it into the window on it's little shelf and put the plywood insert around it and latch it in. Works like a charm! Thanks for the warning. If I decide to cut a hole in the T@B and have an A/C installed like the factory ones I'll be sure and allow for drainage.

[Andy B]

Originally Posted by melissab

Yeah! The welding shop was able to use a tap and Die on the van's rusted bolt holes to re-thread them and install the hitch without having to weld it on after all. Cost me $180 though and it still has to go back to the Hitch shop to have it wired but the hard part is done!
.

A tap is used to make threads inside a hole and a die is used to make threads on the outside of a rod (like a bolt), so from your description they just used a tap to clean up the threads inside the holes which is called chasing. This should only have taken a minute or two per hole and is very easy to do. Since you brought them the hitch, I hope they did more than chase the holes and bolt on the hitch for $180.

[melissab]

Hmmmmmmmmm, good question, Andy. We didnt know what all was involved in making the 6 bolt holes useable. They did have to go get a Tap and Die set as they didnt have the proper size for my Toyota. He couldnt believe it since they have hundreds of them. It was 2 hrs of labor so I wonder if he charged me drive time to pick up the tap and die too maybe. Since the hitch shop thought the hitch was going to be welded on they didnt send any of the bolts/hardware with the hitch so part of the $180 was $40 in bolts and clips. Now the hitch shop is gonna make good on that for me as it was their fault they didnt send the hardware since they thought it couldnt be bolted and had to be welded. They are taking $40 off my wiring job.
Hopefully by 1pm today I will be all set which is good b/c my HOA contacted me today saying they're recieving complaints about the trailer in the driveway and it needs to be moved. All of my immediate neighbors have no problem with it and have enjoyed watching us get it ready. There is one homeowner down the street who calls animal control the second he sees my house cat has gotten out and e'body has problems with him so I know he is one of the complainers. He also has a cow when the neighbor's sprinkler system gets water on his grass b/c he has the perfect balance going on with his yard. Even trims blades of grass with scissors if the lawn mower didnt cut even. Shoot, the guy polishes his driveway. Guess I'm stuck paying for storage even though I'm leaving Tuesday and will be gone over a month I'm still gonna have to pay the storage lot. Stupid.

[Mike Magee]

I know what you mean, and I sympathize. Fortunately we have been able to keep ours in the back yard behind a wood privacy fence. I so wish I lived in the country, with no neighbors nearby!

[BigLew]

Originally Posted by melissab

Hmmmmmmmmm, good question, Andy. We didnt know what all was involved in making the 6 bolt holes useable. They did have to go get a Tap and Die set as they didnt have the proper size for my Toyota. He couldnt believe it since they have hundreds of them. It was 2 hrs of labor so I wonder if he charged me drive time to pick up the tap and die too maybe. Since the hitch shop thought the hitch was going to be welded on they didnt send any of the bolts/hardware with the hitch so part of the $180 was $40 in bolts and clips. Now the hitch shop is gonna make good on that for me as it was their fault they didnt send the hardware since they thought it couldnt be bolted and had to be welded. They are taking $40 off my wiring job.
Hopefully by 1pm today I will be all set which is good b/c my HOA contacted me today saying they're recieving complaints about the trailer in the driveway and it needs to be moved. All of my immediate neighbors have no problem with it and have enjoyed watching us get it ready. There is one homeowner down the street who calls animal control the second he sees my house cat has gotten out and e'body has problems with him so I know he is one of the complainers. He also has a cow when the neighbor's sprinkler system gets water on his grass b/c he has the perfect balance going on with his yard. Even trims blades of grass with scissors if the lawn mower didnt cut even. Shoot, the guy polishes his driveway. Guess I'm stuck paying for storage even though I'm leaving Tuesday and will be gone over a month I'm still gonna have to pay the storage lot. Stupid.

If it's not one thing,,,,,,it's another!

[GeorgeR]

Originally Posted by melissab

...............They did have to go get a Tap and Die set as they didnt have the proper size for my Toyota. He couldnt believe it since they have hundreds of them. It was 2 hrs of labor so I wonder if he charged me drive time to pick up the tap and die too maybe. .............

They likely did not have a metric tap, one tap, I would think that Toyota used one size for these 6 holes but buying the whole set!!! Perhaps these 2 hours included lighting their light bulbs.
George.

[james kent]

Sounds like shop time is about $70/hr which is not out of sight around here. Many shops charge well over $90 these days and even more in the larger cities.

[melissab]

Close, James. Their hourly labor was $75 an hour which I too thought was reasonable. Baby gets her new shoes tomorrow!

[cpaharley2008]

I have opened a new thread discussion under Home Owners Associations since we seemed to have taken a side topic for discussion and moved the last several responses that were on the new topic. Please forgive me if this was incorrect as I'm in training

[cpaharley2008]

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ons-46913.html