The 5 Stitches Garage.

[taumac]

Gerard, love the new layout! Good to see you spending some time out there! How’s the rv coming? Any new updates


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Thanks man actually it’s back at my house. We replaced floor under bed, new water heater washed curtains and blinds, new curtain rods, resealed entire roof, relocated propane tanks back to original location, fixed all the leaks, and tested and retested and retested all the systems.

It’s going on it’s maiden voyage this Thrusday to Ginnie Springs. We will be using it without hook ups. The camp site we using is in rural side of the camp grounds and only has water. So bathroom will only be used at night so wife doesn’t have to walk to bath house in middle of night.





I will be modifying the hitch with cutting out the 1 1/4 hitch and welding in 2 hitch at CBacres place at some point. I will then buy a load leveling and sway control hitch for my truck. I haven’t found the factory part number on my truck placing the factory 4 pin to 7 pin harness. I did find harness on my truck. Its different than the F150.

Whenwe get back we will be replacing the rest of the floor, upgrading the plumbing and probably replacing the brakes with all new assemblies. After that we think this trailer will be good to go for another 15 years with little to no maintenance.

We only had it here out our house 2 days before it went to my dads to be worked on. Today we started loading stuff in there emptying the attic out of all our camping gear. We plan to keep it ready to go just needing clothes and food we plan to eat. We are really excited to take it on first run.

 

[taumac]

Whoa.....that’s some crazy talk going on there....painting the garage???



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Yes it is sir that’s if I can ever get it finished. I got half of it cleaned up and functional but another half in a disaster area. One of these days I’m planing on taking a air less sprayer and 5 gallons of paint and just spraying everything white. I just really need to get moving out here.

 

[taumac]

That is a great idea. A collage of WOC pics.

If I'm guessing right I think I know what that implies. While an entertaining idea for sure ,I was thinking of something a little more tool box/garage theme oriented. Maybe a wrap that was a picture of a couple Craftsman tool box stacks in remembrance of the WOC.

That’s not bad idea. I did have license plates on it at one point but I got a great idea for those. Hehe it’s on the “to do list”

 

[sdavis622]

Great progress on the trailer! Good work!


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[taumac]

Great progress on the trailer! Good work!


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Thanks really excited for us and new adventures that await us.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Thanks really excited for us and new adventures that await us.

Gerard, enjoy your journey..

 

[rmalkow2]

Enjoy the first camping trip!

 

[JCQuick]

Looking good but man you sure your wife is not helping you with the garage organizing cause only a woman would move things that many times

 

[shortykorte]

Looking good but man you sure your wife is not helping you with the garage organizing cause only a woman would move things that many times

She’s not helping except whispering in G’s hear “Clean it or get your *** kicked......again”
G: Yes Dear. [emoji12]


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[taumac]

She’s not helping except whispering in G’s hear “Clean it or get your *** kicked......again”
G: Yes Dear. [emoji12]


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LMFAO.... you know her way to well.

 

[Grumblebum]

Man your garage is clean again. Mine is a mess and only just got Halloween and Christmas packed away.

The little camper looks good. We have jayco over here in Oz too which are also very popular, I was trying to find the history on the respective au and us websites but nothing jumped out if they are parent companies.

Once you have it sorted (I think it takes a few trips to get the setup right) it will be great to hook up and get away at the drop of a hat. Don't forget your beer - it's the first and most important thing you have to open when you get to your destination

GB

 

[jon72vega]

Thanks man actually it’s back at my house. We replaced floor under bed, new water heater washed curtains and blinds, new curtain rods, resealed entire roof, relocated propane tanks back to original location, fixed all the leaks, and tested and retested and retested all the systems.

It’s going on it’s maiden voyage this Thrusday to Ginnie Springs. We will be using it without hook ups. The camp site we using is in rural side of the camp grounds and only has water. So bathroom will only be used at night so wife doesn’t have to walk to bath house in middle of night.





I will be modifying the hitch with cutting out the 1 1/4 hitch and welding in 2 hitch at CBacres place at some point. I will then buy a load leveling and sway control hitch for my truck. I haven’t found the factory part number on my truck placing the factory 4 pin to 7 pin harness. I did find harness on my truck. Its different than the F150.

Whenwe get back we will be replacing the rest of the floor, upgrading the plumbing and probably replacing the brakes with all new assemblies. After that we think this trailer will be good to go for another 15 years with little to no maintenance.

We only had it here out our house 2 days before it went to my dads to be worked on. Today we started loading stuff in there emptying the attic out of all our camping gear. We plan to keep it ready to go just needing clothes and food we plan to eat. We are really excited to take it on first run.

Gerard,
You have done a great job on the camper.
Enjoy your 1st outing in it!

 

[rmalkow2]

Don't forget your beer - it's the first and most important thing you have to open when you get to your destination

GB

Wise words from a camping professional! I heartily agree.

 

[taumac]

Gerard,

You have done a great job on the camper.

Enjoy your 1st outing in it!

Oh that’s first priority of camping.

 

[JCQuick]

Gerard, I think the new lay out looks good also good job on the trailer please keep us updated

 

[Bob Heine]

Gerard, I'm looking forward to your next RV. As soon as you have one, you start looking at the next size up. Couple of years and you'll be traveling around with one of these....

 

[taumac]

All set up at Ginnie Springs. It’s so beautiful and peaceful.









Got about 12 to 14 that showed up today. Got more coming tomorrow.

 

[rmalkow2]

Looking good and I can almost smell the BBQ!

 

[sdavis622]

Looks good Gerard! Enjoy some rest and relaxation!


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[G20-Budo]

Gerard,

I've been away from GJ for awhile, but it was cool seeing how your space has evolved. My condolences on your FIL passing.

And congrats on the new vise you got awhile back (nice collection of vises you got there).

Nice travel trailer, but sorry to hear about the floors and the (HUGE) leak in the tank. Keep the posts coming..as I have time I'll pop in and get caught up.

Take care.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Gerard, just awesome

 

[zmotorsports]

Gerard, I'm looking forward to your next RV. As soon as you have one, you start looking at the next size up. Couple of years and you'll be traveling around with one of these....

^^I completely agree. That's how it starts. My wife and I were married in 1989 and fixed up the in-laws 1972 Fireball trailer that we towed around for about a year and a half then in 1991 we purchased our first RV, a 10.5' camper that we hauled around for about 4 years. In 1995 we purchased our first motorhome and are now on our third coach and love the RV lifestyle, can't get enough of it actually. Just typing about it makes me want to run home, fire up the coach and hit the road. Six weeks of vacation a year isn't nearly enough as we love hitting the road and seeing the country, meeting up with friends and meeting new friends.

I've had people that know me that discover my wife and I love the RV lifestyle and they are bewildered and ask in amazement, "I didn't know you like to camp"? I reply saying "we don't necessarily camp, we RV. There's a difference".

My idea of roughing it is if I have to fire up the Onan generator.

Congrats on your trailer and hope you get out and make many memories in it.

 

[cbacres]

Well we haven’t heard any reports from the camping trip.
I guess it’s the old saying”what happens at the campground stays at the campground”
.


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[taumac]

Thank you everyone. Maiden voyage went ok with only one issue. We camped in site with water only so wife got to use the toilet instead of late night trips to bathhouse. Had alittle seepage from the gray tank valve when took cap off but I’ve also heard those don’t seal very well. I’ve heard that putting second valve in helps that issue. Only other issue was my battery. I’m going to look into a solar charger for it. When I left at 530 Thrusday morning check voltage and it was alittle above 12v and by Friday night it dropped to 6v Volts setting off the propane sensor. The fridge runs on propane but need battery for the electronics. We used the heater to which runs off propane but also uses the battery for ignition but not sure about blower fan. So guessing 16 18 hours using house battery so charged it off truck getting it back to 12.8. I topped it off Saturday afternoon just so wouldn’t have issue during the night. By the time left Sunday afternoon I was still using same 20lb tank. That ran heater 2 nights, fridge the whole time from 530 Thrusday until got back home Sunday about 4pmish. I used stove one morning just because pump valve went on Coleman stove.


All in all trip trip went very well. Biggest complaint is fuel mileage.... I got somewhere between 10 and 11 mpg towing if about 60 mph on highway. 4500lbs truck and 2700 trailer add maybe few more 1000 lbs in fuel, coolers and other items all with a 4.0 v6 engine that really doesn’t get over 20 mph on highway as it is and I guess really can’t complain too much.

 

[taumac]

I took the weekend off from the trailer to finally get some work done in the garage. In order to clean up the garage I needed to deal with some wood that I had stacked up blocked to use of the file cabinets and side door. This wood was intended for bench tops for the new HF wall.

The idea to make this “look” like a “Steevo bench” but be completely mobile. So I needed to make 3 individual tool boxes look like one seamless bench and have place to mount a vise. So this is the idea I came up with.

I started out with padded out the top using 3/4 plywood.



I just matched previous one I made.

 

[taumac]

Count...

I cut the tops to 44 3/4 long enough for the box and a extra piece on the side the width of the handle.


Here’s the cut down 2x4 for the side piece and use same dimension for the front piece.



The whole idea was to make top to mount a vise and be able to keep handles on box. So the lip from next box would cover previous one.







Unfortunately first attempt didn’t work.


Took handle off for now until I can get router out and make clearance for handle.



I left tops deep to add electrical down the road.




Plan is to plug one into other then into a wall outlet. This space will get me area to do such that and place them right up against the wall.

Got them all put together and gaps don’t look to bad.



Got everything back in place and here the progress I made today.







I still got other tweaking to do but very happy finally came up with solution for these tops I’ve been thinking of since I got them.

 

[cbacres]

Did you say your going to have cleavage in your shop?

 

[Craptain]

Did you say your going to have cleavage in your shop?[emoji481][emoji481]

Not unless he buys a calendar. [emoji23]

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[taumac]

LOL, edited it damn autocorrect has a dirty mind. LOL

 

[jon72vega]

Gerard,
Great job on the bench tops for the new HF mobile wall!

 

[cbacres]

Sorry I didn’t comment before,all I could see was clevage.

Looks good and good idea on the routering for the handles

 

[rixtrix1]

Looks so nice, all clean and organized!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Gerard, you have done well..

 

[Grumblebum]

That's a golden idea G, the benches look great.

How are the file cabinet draws going with the Plano boxes ?

GB

 

[taumac]

Thanks so much guys. It wasn’t on list to be done but glad it least half way there.

GB I really wish I could say I have but I haven’t even started the other file cabinet. It’s probably biggest thing I really need to get working on.

I came up with new term for my garage. FUNCTIONAL!!! I took a pano like night of place and even though the other have isn’t done it’s functional.



I think that’s first time in months the other half of garage looked that way. It’s looked like bomb went off or as someone mentioned left over estate sale.



It’s in good state right now as long as I don’t touch it. Yes I’ve been warned but wife “don’t touch a damn thing is clean right now”. LOL, it’s not up to my standards of clean but its functional.

 

[Duker]

Gerard, the pano photo is great as well as the new setup! So what’s the over/under on when it gets changed again? I am going with July.... takers anyone! [emoji51]


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[shortykorte]

Gerard, the pano photo is great as well as the new setup! So what’s the over/under on when it gets changed again? I am going with July.... takers anyone! [emoji51]


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July! Duker that’s four months away. Oh you mean four changes by July. Gotcha.


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[taumac]

There’s also what is consider “changing” it? Is tweaking considered a change? Its future plans I already had consider a change? I’ve already got the talk from the wife saying “ DONT MOVE A F@CKING THING..... “ and I say “yeah but.....” then I get the stink eye from the wife. So with that said I highly doubt there will be ANY major changes but I know some tweaking with be done. LOL

 

[JCQuick]

I like it!! pay no attention to wife

 

[bagged89s10]

The place is looking great. How do you like those HF so far?