Thread: Mmmmm......

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  1. Member
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    #21
    Was gonna spray bomb the springs but... I got the materials to base/clear them so this is clearly a case of... might as well.

    Automotive refinishing materials ain't cheap! When I had my body shop I don't recall being shocked by the cost of materials. Guess I've been away too long - or not long enough. What I bought to refinish the trailer - this is strictly primer/paint was outragous, I thought.

    Consider I got:
    1 Quart of primer
    8oz. primer activator
    1 Quart of basecoat
    1 Quart of base coat reducer
    1 Gal. of Clear
    1 Quart of clear hardener.

    Basically I got 1 1/2 gallons of sprayable material. Cost was a few dollars over $400.00 bucks.

  2. Member low slung cruiser's Avatar
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    #22
    holy shit
    Sterling 22XS / Mercury Pro XS V8

  3. Member
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    #23
    Quote Originally Posted by low slung cruiser View Post
    holy shit
    Yeah... and this was their "value" product line. But I wasn't very surprised. My youngest son wants to bring his 300zx in from Cali. and have me paint it. I did a little research on cost for his car. Materials will be in the neighborhood of $800.00 bucks. And that's only about 2.5 quarts more sprayable than I got for the trailer.

  4. Member
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    #24
    So... said I was gonna basecoat/clear the springs. Proof is in the puddin'....

    Not done...



    Done...



    No... I didn't prime them. No... I didn't block sand'em.... They're trailer springs fer cryin' out loud!



    Gotta equalizer hangin'...



    In fact got two of'em hangin'...



    So next comes springs....

    Right side...



    Left side...



    Next comes axles....

    Front...





    Guess I didn't take any of the rear... They look just like the front - only different.

    Next is hubs. Even though I have the Vault hubs with 5 year maintenance free performance - these have been in service 4 1/2 years. Plus I found one hub that had a bad seal. Gonna pull all the seals/bearings and clean everything up then reinstall with new seals and lube. WaLa - Good for another 5 years.

  5. Member
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    #25
    And to think - this started out as "I'm gonna recarpet the bunks".

    So now I'm doing stuff because I can and no other real good reason.

    The spindles I had McClain trailers install were "Vault" spindles. And one of the features they have is replaceable seal cups. Easier if I just show you...

    This is the old one still on the spindle. You can see where the seal was riding...



    This is a new cup before I install it. It has a lube hole for filling the vault hubs up with their hybrid oil/grease.



    Having never done this before I wasn't sure how I was going to get the old one off. I tried heating it and prying it off. That was a no go.... So I set around thinkin'.... Mmmmm.... then well duhhhh... I have a clam shell bearing puller and a BluePoint pulling set. So... that's how it came off... I was thinking I'd need some kind of sealer to seal the race on the mounting surface. Vault engineers were way ahead of me....




    O-ring seals the mounting surface...



    Then I needed something to drive it on. Li'l rascal ain't easy to get on. But this shop vac extension tube was just the ticket! It's also the ticket when/if I need to install prop shaft seals on my Pro XS.


  6. Member
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    #26
    Made some progress yesterday.... In the process found a fault with the Vault hubs. I had damaged one of the inner bearings getting the seal out so after much contemplation I decided to replace all the bearings. Several, 6-8, years ago I experienced 3 bearing failures in a single year. Cheap bearings was the common denominator. Now the only bearing I like to use is the Timken bearing. It's a 20 mile round trip to the Timken bearing distributor. I get 4 sets of bearings - I already had the seals. Get back to the shop. Install the RF bearing set. Stick it on the spindle and fill it with lube. Grab the RR hub/rotor. Knock the seal and races out and clean it up. Open up a new inner race and put it in the hub. I have a seal/bearing install kit but I don't have a press so I'm hammerin' them in. I can not even get the race to start. Thinkin' I may have put a burr on the edge of the seal opening. I get my die grinder and touch up the edges. That didn't heal the problem. I put the race in the freezer while heating the hub w/propane torch. That didn't heal the problem so I get my digital vernier calipers and measure. The inner race for the rear hub/calipers is .030" smaller than the front. What the hell is up with that??? I'm all over Dexter's (they make the Vault hub) web site. The info there is confusing with about 1,000 different bearing sets and no good way for me to figure out which one I have. I have the original invoice for the hubs and when I get to the rear hub all it says is bearing set #84. Dexter has no bearing set #84 listed on their web site. I call Mclain trailers in Houston. They give me the correct part number for the inner race on the hub/rotor. I make the 20 mile round trip to exchange the 2 rear outer races. Get everything installed an mounted.... Parts list looks like this:



    Parts/materials cost to do all 4 corners was just a tad over $200.00 bucks. That includes 3 tubes of Vault hybrid oil/grease, 4 seal wear sleeves, two Vault caps and the bearings/races. 50 bucks a corner.

    Then once everything is installed it looked like this:





    With all the hubs mounted/installed it was time for brakes.... Everything is on. Not bled yet.






  7. Member
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    #27
    WOW! It looks great!
    '06 Gambler 2100
    '06 Mercury Racing 250XS

  8. Member
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    #28
    For my non-skid material I use a product called Treadmaster. It's a cork impregnated rubber with a diamond pattern. Looks kinna like this....






    I had enough left over from my last project to make the two triangle pieces at the front of the fenders. Well... I did until I screwed'em up 2 times in a row. Third time is a charm though......



    To install I use 3M epoxy called G Flex adhesive. It's available at West Marine. Or at least that's where I got it. I'm sure you can get it else where... Once installed a hammer/chisel is the best way to get it up!

  9. Member
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    #29
    Back-up bling???

    I've got some backup lights for the rear of the trailer coming.... But I also wanted to add some backup lights mounted to the trailer frame located between the tires pointing down/out. Found just what I was looking for....



    This light actually comes with 3 different mounting pads. One straight, one angled and on that will mount to a pipe(you only get 1/2 of that mount)...

    Here's my first install then I'll discuss or cuss the install...



    As you probably can see it ain't straight... I'll 'splain why that is....

    I did a little better on the other side. Maybe practice makes better if not perfect...



    The problem installing these particular light with the angle down mount is.... the mounting holes are also at an angle. Meaning you gotta free hand a drill bit at a 45 degree angle into channel iron.

    If you look just above the equalizer you'll see the 1/4-20 tap going in at that 45 degree angle....


  10. Member
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    #30
    Fitting the first two new bunk boards before carpeting...



    Test fit one tail/brake/reverse light to see what it looks like. Looks good to me. Jury is out on'em though. They're rated ip65 - spray with a hose. I put some sealer where the wires come out and if the the seam where the lens is attached to the housing doesn't leak it "should be good to go". Time is the teller of all....


  11. Member
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    #31
    Couple of things....

    First... The tail/turn/reverse lights I got from Amazon. I'm not going to use them and there's 2 reasons why I'm not.

    #1 - The water resistance rating sucks. I could have sworn when I reviewed before purchase the rating was ip67 but when I went back and tried to confirm, after purchase, all I could find is ip65.

    #2 - They have no universal plug-in connections. They must be hardwired into the trailer wiring. Yeah, you could get some weathertight connectors but then you have dangling connectors or the need to strap them down somehow. This might of not been a problem if they were rated ip67, submersible to 3' for 30 minutes, but they're not. So the chances of a failure go up. If they fail there's no easy way to replace them. I found something similar from Optronics that splits out the reverse lights from the tail/stop/turn lights and has two separate universal 3 prong connectors. That means should one fail I can use one of my spares that is tail/stop/turn only.

    The other thing is more an after thought or something I didn't say with enough clarity. I'm carpeting the bunks. I'm using the carpet I got from Bassboatseats.com. This stuff is really of poor quality construction. It makes a mess, comes unraveled at the cut line if you have to - touch it. In hindsight I would spend more time looking for the Garnet carpet from a higher quality manufacturer. I did spend some time trying to avoid the carpet from bassboatseats.com but I would spend even more and would call Syntec to make sure they didn't manufacture what I needed. I think that, once installed, the durability will be fine. It's just a mess to work with.
    Last edited by yupitsme; 08-03-2019 at 06:46 AM.

  12. Born on th Llano Estacado Tx Champ's Avatar
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    #32
    I got a set of these for my trailer, you might take a look at. Haven't put them in yet, but appear to be the same some of the trailer manufacturers are using now, like Triton.

    http://www.optronicsinc.com/PRODUCTS...ProductID=2080

  13. Member
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    #33
    Quote Originally Posted by Tx Champ View Post
    I got a set of these for my trailer, you might take a look at. Haven't put them in yet, but appear to be the same some of the trailer manufacturers are using now, like Triton.

    http://www.optronicsinc.com/PRODUCTS...ProductID=2080

    Thanks... I just ordered something similar from Optronics. The ones I ordered are laid out like that but when no lights are lit the lenses is all white/clear.

  14. Member
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    #34
    Making some progress...

    Old and new license plate light...






    This stuff is best known as Water and Ice Guard. It's a roofing product used mainly in the northern climes to prevent roofs from leaking just above the soffit when ice dams can be created during the winter. Down south we use it to line roof penetrations such as drier vents, or water heater vents. It goes under the flanges of those vents and seals around the nails used to mount the vents. I'm using it to eliminate the metal-to-metal contact between the fender and the trailer.



    It's self-adhesive so it'll stick to the trailer mounting position for the fender....



    Bunks got carpeted and installed... Kinna hard to get pictures due to the narrow space where I'm putting the trailer back together...




  15. Member
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    #35
    Since marriage was too big a commitment, can you come live with me for 6 months?

    Your work is awesome.

  16. Member low slung cruiser's Avatar
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    #36
    did you buy NEW fenders or were u able to clean yours up?
    Sterling 22XS / Mercury Pro XS V8

  17. Member
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    #37
    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Prestridge View Post
    Since marriage was too big a commitment, can you come live with me for 6 months?

    Your work is awesome.
    Let me check with my mommy...

    Quote Originally Posted by low slung cruiser View Post
    did you buy NEW fenders or were u able to clean yours up?
    Actually neither... The last time I got all energetic like this, 8-9 years ago, I got all over those fenders. Spent days sanding... buffing... polishing... the end results did not warrant the effort. My take away from that exercise was... if your not going to invest in the equipment to do that job - you're pretty much wasting you're time... The fenders are road weary(read sandblasted) on the fronts but the rest of'em look ok. They blend well with the hull.

  18. Member
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    #38
    Got to try out my under the fender back-up lights this morning... Can't really tell what the finished results will be without the wheels/tires installed but those li'l lights are really bright!




  19. Member
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    #39
    Man that is a lot of work. I'd use that boat for show and buy another for fishing. Looks good..

  20. Member
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    #40
    Quote Originally Posted by Gamblerman65 View Post
    Man that is a lot of work. I'd use that boat for show and buy another for fishing. Looks good..
    Well... you see it's like this. I fish ABA tournaments. Used to fish both the Houston district and the San Antonio district. Used to win - alot. Perennial AOY in both districts. Then.... both districts folded. Soooo... went to the south Louisianan district - 111. They fish Toledo Bend exclusively. I'd fish Toldeo Bend a time or two and never did very well. But figured with enough drive n' determination plus time on the water I could heal that. Figured my first year would be a learning year - and it was. As was year two. To be followed by year three. This October I'll be starting my fourth year in district 111/Toledo Bend. Year before last I came in second in points but that was shear luck. Never/seldom in contention for any kind of win in five words or less - I suck on Toledo Bend. Or I thought I did. Now I think I'm on to something.

    You see, it's my belief that my boat was sooooooooo ugly the fish simply didn't want to be seen in it! So, they didn't bite. Now I've corrected that problem. And with the boat all purdy'd up I figure all I'll have to do is show up and the fish will be jumping in the boat!

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