Ramping It Up

After a few tries at repairs, we ended up with a new starter.  Once that was installed, the truck started immediately.  Then, our electrical genius friend Dave Gray came over for a play date with Tom, and they tracked down the electrical problem with the lights, and the tail lights are working again, although Tom still didn’t hook up the roofline running lights.  With the truck once again running and road legal, we planned to head over to Koops’ to have the moto ramp installed…and discovered that something is malfunctioning in the air ride system.  This isn’t a show stopper because we had hard rubber stops installed a couple of months ago so that even if the air ride system completely deflates, nothing will rub and the truck is still mobile, but this is next on our list of things to fix before we hit the road.

Despite the faulty air ride system, we took the truck to Koops’.  We thought the installation would take a couple of hours, but since they built it without the truck being at the shop, the guys found a few complications.

Where the ramp meets the truck, it’s pinned in with L-track.

It then folds up and locks in a U-bracket at the roof.  This is an elegant and simple design, but none of us thought about the fact that the roof is eight feet high, and nobody could easily reach the bolt lock to lock it in when it was up.

So, Justin made some changes to the ramp, and to the U-bracket, and to the locking mechanism to make it work.  But it took a lot longer than a couple of hours, and we ended up taking the truck back for another day before it was finally finished.  

We then took the camper back to Angel, where they had removed all of the cabinetry to be sanded, sealed, and varnished.  These guys are true craftsmen and artists, hand sanding all edges to make sure they’re perfect.

When the finish work is done, they will install everything on the framework in the camper.  We then have plans for a table…more on that later…and a hardwood floor.