20141119-18At the front of the box, is a platform I had constructed for the housing of the electrical panel, a generator, tools, and other storage as necessary.  In the first picture, you can see I was using it for my scrap storage.  Of course, certain adjustments had to be made to allow for the movement of the jack on the tongue.  I am used to man-handling the trailer with the jack, being able to swing it round the yard as I needed.  But I am beginning to see that the weight distribution is becoming disturbingly problematic.  While not yet a problem, it could be soon.

20141201_175848Oh well, pressing onward.  Framing in the box wasn’t difficult, using the same techniques I had developed so far, it progressed quickly.  That is until I needed to deal with the angles I found myself with.

Even so, planning for the insertion of a set of doors to access the storage area was challenging.  Tall or short … I settled on short, but two, so they opening could be wide.  Then, as I was looking at the 20141205_151152whole box, I realized I needed to provide for a way to capture water during rains, and direct that water to my under floor storage tubes.  But we’ll discuss that in a different post.

It came together ok, and while I am pleased with the result, I will make some adjustments for the next unit.  The angles will provide some small aerodynamic result while on the road, yet the doors will provide easy access when parked.

Two other aspects were moving forward with closing in the boxes on either side that will house the batteries, and lastly, adding some wheels on the back of the slide out to facilitate pulling it out, and pushing it back in easier.

The boxes were straight forward, just adding the bottom shelf, then sealing, drilling vent holes, and finally adding the doors – and locks of course, to secure them.

The wheels were a different matter.  Early on, I thought of this way-cool idea of having 20151016_113746drop-down, aircraft-landing-gear type legs that would drop down as you pulled out the slide-out, then lift up easily when pushng it back in.  Well …… it actually worked ok for a while on the concrete.  But I ran into a snag:  they were’nt adjustable.  As such, uneven ground was going to be a problem.  SO, I went a much simpler, more dependable and flexible route.  Purchasing two more trailer jacks, I mounted them on the end of the slide-out.

20151016_113801Now, I can drop the legs, adjusting for any uneven ground.  Once extended, I can then easily pull the slide-out into position. I found that the two stronger legs provided not only stronger support, but better handles with which to pull out, and push in the slide out.

Next time:  Interior work begins …