Ok, the move is officially over

Some more lessons learned this week. Florida charges a flat fee called an impact fee for each vehicle on the road. This fee is approximately 500 dollars per vehicle, and must be paid to get the tags. Also they charge 55 dollars per person for license transfers. So anyone thinking of moving to Florida should make sure to budget these amounts. Also Florida does not accept Alabama CDL's if transfering this license, you will have to retake both the written and the driving tests.
This has been a long week, moved last Saturday, been unpacking and getting things set up, such as internet service. Finally the unpacking is over and we are connected again to the internet. Looking forward to taking a break for a couple days.
We took care of the important things, changing address, licenses, and getting internet. Also had to do some insulating. If your planning to move to Florida, take the time before hand to insulate the roof vents and any unnecessary window, this will help the AC. Otherwise plan on the AC running constantly. There have been some minor setbacks this week. I will discuss them later in my next blog. Have to get pictures ready first. Till next time.
Have fun and Happy Rving.

Moving

Ok, finally finished all the work, will post the awning update next week. Will be offline for about a week maybe to. Moving tomorrow. Send pics and new post as soon as internet is up.

Finding a long term RV park

Ok, we went to Orlando this week. We found several long term RV parks online, and decided to go down and check them out in person, since we are fairly close. Good thing we did. Of the six we found, three where out right off. One piece of advice is to always do plenty of research on the park you are thinking about. There was one we considered that ended up being in an area with a really bad crime rate, and two were practically inaccessable do to traffic. Good to find these things out before your make a reservation, especially for long term.
We did narrow it down to three. Of which Winter Garden RV Resort is by far the best, it not only has the most amenities, but is in the best part of Orlando. The other choices are Lake Breeze and Lost Lake. Both of which are pretty nice parks, one is just a little farther out than we wanted to be, and the other one is crouded.
One thing we really liked about Winter Garden is that they require background checks for all there long term residents. Some automatic disqualifications are crimes agains persons, and theft. So we are waiting the hear back from them, when our background checks are done.
Have fun and Happy RVing.

Brakes and Tires

Ok, since last post I have changed the tires and brakes on the camper. The tires are like any others, take them off and go to a tire shop and purchase new ones. They will mount and balance them, then you just have to put them back on. One of the tires from our camper.

While the tires are off you should inspect your brakes. Our camper had a bad magnet on one of the brakes. Most of the time if your brake controller shows an over current or a short, you should start by checking the magnets that work the brakes. The magnet and pads cost about $65 dollars per wheel. The entire brake assembly is usually cheaper, ours were only $55 dollars each. And it is easier to replace the entire assembly, than just the pads and magnets.
You should first gather all the tools you will need, to replace the brake assembly you will need, a wrench that fits the four nuts on the back of the assembly, a small hammer, a set of adjustable pliers, a set of wire pliers, a flat screwdriver, a bearing packer, a jack, and lug wrench.

 Start by taking off the tires, then you can start removing the brake drums. To do this remove the bearing cover, it is the dome shaped cap in the middle of the brake drum. Then remove the carter pin and the king nut from the spindle. The king nut should only be hand tight.

After you remove the king nut, slide the brake drum forward slightly and remove the outer bearing, DO NOT GET ANY DIRT OR CONTAMINATES IN THE BEARING. Then slide the brake drum off the spindle, again taking care not to get any dirt in the inner bearing which will be on the inside of the drum. This bearing is held in place by a grease seal. Also do not get the drums mixed up, unless you are replacing them mark which spindle they came off of with a permanent marker.

Once the drum is removed you can inspect the brakes. This is when you can check your magnets for wear if no wear is visible you can connect a volt meter in series and check for continuity. This is what mine looked like with the drums removed. Since these where the original brakes I decided to change them all.

The next step is to disconnect the two wires from the brake assembly, you can cut them with the wire cutters, just make sure you leave as much wire connected to the trailer wiring as possible. You can always remove more, but it is hard to add if you make it to short. Then you can remove the four nuts on the back holding the assemblies on. This is what the spindles will look like once the brake assemblies are removed.

Ok, so you have everything off, you can take one old assembly to the nearest RV dealer or parts store and purchase new ones. A really good parts store in the Atlanta area is K&C RV in Dallas, Ga. they have most everything in stock. As well as reasonable prices. Make sure you inspect your drums as well as the assemblies. If they are scratched or pitted inside or have groove on the inside replace them, you should also check your bearings for signs of wear, such as flat spots or discoloration on the bearings. I was lucky and my drums and bearings where in good shape. This is what a good used drum should look like.

So I purchased four brake assemblies, and four bearing seals. The seals are not reusable and have to be replaced when the bearings are removed and repacked with grease. Next you can start putting the brake assemblies back on. Make sure you put the ones marked left on the drivers side of the camper and the right ones on the passenger side. Place them over the spindles and tighten the nuts you removed from the old ones. Next connect the wires to the magnets, it does not matter which wires are connected to the ones on the camper. They just form a continuous loop, as long as they are connected. I prefer to use the Scotchlock connectors, but you can use wire nuts. Once the wires are connected your assemblies should look like this.

Next we will repack the bearings and replace the grease seals. Then all that is left is to replace the drums and tires and your finished. I recommend doing the drums one at a time. First remove the grease seal on the inside of the drum, then use a bearing packer to repack the bearings. Being sure keep the outer and inner bearings seperated.

Bearing packer

Old bearing before repacking.

This is the bearing after repacking.



Once the bearings are repacked with grease, you can put the inner bearing into the inside of the drum and replace the grease seal. Make sure the seal is square to the hole in the drum and use the hammer and a block of wood to drive the seal into place. The grease seals should be slightly recessed in the drum when installed.

After the seal is in place you can replace the drum on the spindle.

Then replace the outer bearing, king nut, cotter pin, dust cap, and replace the tires. Your all finished.

Have fun and Happy RVing.



Sagging steps

One thing I have notices is that there are several products on the market to prevent the folding steps from sagging. Most are legs that go under the steps and have to ge adjusted every time the camper is moved. After looking at the problem and the many options on the market I came up with my own idea. Almost all the campers I looked at had the steps installed in the same way. I understand that the different manufacturers use standard steps. This very practice is the reason the steps sag. The steps are made to fit many different models of campers so there is a space between the rear of the steps and the frame. Most are only attached to the floor of the camper which puts alot of stress on the connecting hardware as well as the floor.
To fix this problem I used two pieces of one inch aluminum angle, which can be purchased at any warehouse store like Home Depot or Lowes. And four 1/4 inch bolts that where one inch long.
You have to have the camper leveled and then level the steps. Once the steps are level measure the distance between the rear of the steps and the frame. Add about four inches to this measurement, for attachement hardware. Then cut your angles, aluminum angle can be cut with a hacksaw, skill saw, or miter saw (NO SPECIAL BLADES NEEDED). Then clamp the angles into place, making sure they are placed all the way to the frame bridging the gap. Drill two holes in each side for the bolts, install bolts, and tighten.
The finished fix will keep the steps on the same level as the camper without any extra adjustments. It also made the steps much more stable, and was cheaper than any of the products on the market. In all it took about one hour to complete, and cost about ten dollars.

Toilet valves

Sometimes you have to do a job that while not very hard or expensive is just plain crappy. Our toilet valve was leaking, you can tell it is the valve because it will only leak when the toilet is flushed. The valve only cost fourteen dollars, and takes approximately one hour to install. One piece of advice is to empty the black water tank first, because you have to remove the toilet.

The toilet removes like most house toilets, turn off water supply, remove the two nuts at the bottom. Ours was a Thetford toilet so the nuts are half inch. You can use a half inch wrench or socket, if using a socket you will need a swivel. Once the toilet is removed, take it ourside and turn it upside down.

You can then get to the screws (two on the Thetford brand) that hold the valve on.

Once the valve is replaced you can reinstall the toilet. Make sure to use a new flange seal when reinstalling the toilet, this seal comes with the valve. Put the seal down, place the toilet on top of seal, and retighten the two nuts, and reattach water line. Then check for leaks by turning the water back on and flushing the toilet.

Have fun and Happy RVing.

Fixing Corners

This week we tackled the second largest project on our camper. The previous owner had made some repairs on the rear corners of the camper, and due to the poor job of caulking, I was worried about the repairs being correct. After some initial examinations I learned they where not. So this week we tackled repairing the rear corners correctly.

This was what they looked like when we started. You can see the caulk smeared around the seams. What worried me was not only the overall look, but the caulk was pulling away from moulding and permitting water to get behind it.

Then first step was to remove the mouldings.

This is what the corner looked like with the moulding removed. Notice the large gap between the side and end panels.

Next we removed all the old caulk on the sides with a plastic putty knife, this way we didn't scratch the paint on the Rv. Then we repaired the corners, there was some water damage so we had to use longer screws and in a couple of places had to replace a small piece of 2 x 2 lumber. The 2 x 2 stock was purchased at the local Home Depot and cut to fit. Be careful when pulling back the sides, to get it into place, or you will bend the siding. After the bad wood was replaced the siding was screwed back into place. 





This is what the corner looked like after the repairs had been made and it is ready for the moulding. Notice the new wood visible on the corner, and there isn't much gap between the panels.

Next we prepaired the moulding by scraping off the old putty and caulk.

Then we put new putty tape on. I used the grey putty tape, make sure you put on enough to cover the moulding. This is what seals the joints and makes them waterproof.

The next step is to reinstall the moulding, starting at the top and working down. Be sure you keep the moulding tight to the sides as you put it on, since there are not screws in the sides to pull it up.

Finally you install the vinyl trim that covers the screws, and the project is finished. This just snaps into place and is trimmed to length with a razor knife.

This project cost us about $25 dollars in materials, and took about 4 1/2 hours to complete. We no longer have any water damage to the framing, and no worries of leaks, as well as the improved looks of the camper.
Considering the cheapest mobile repair in atlanta is 85 dollars an hour, by doing it ourselves we saved at least $382.50, not bad for half a days work. This is something anyone can do with a few simple hand tools, and the rewards are more than the savings. There is a lot of satisfaction at seeing the fruits of your labors.
Till next time,
Have fun and Happy RVing.