I got out of bed at 5:30 AM on Saturday, although the storms
and the weather radio kept me up most of the night.
I had a couple cups of coffee while I eased into the day. Then
I left for my first stop: Home Depot for trailer bolts. Up at checkout counter,
I discovered I had two different sizes, although I grabbed them all from the
same bin! I went back and couldn’t find any more 2 1/2-inch long 3/8
bolts. So, I ended up just buying five
instead of the eight I wanted; along with the washers, lock washers and nuts (for
eight).
From there, I went and got my haircut. Then I got a massage
and, for the first time in a week, the small of my back didn’t hurt!
Next, I went to ACO and got the other three 2 1/2-inch long bolts
I needed. Since I was in the same shopping area, I walked over to Leda’s Coney
Island for a late breakfast. I got two eggs over easy with homemade corned beef
hash and rye toast. They make their own corned beef, BTW, and their hash has
green peppers and onions along with potatoes. It was excellent!
From there, I completed my Saturday shopping with a quick
trip to Westborn. Then I went home.
I got there just before noon. I changed clothes and went
back out in the garage. First order of business was to replace the dangerous
(to the wiring harness, anyway) screws. I pulled them out and re-drilled the
holes to 3/8 inch. Then I put in a bolt with a washer from the outside and
added a washer, lock washer and nut on the inside. I repeated that six times.
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Screw Before |
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Bolt After |
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Why it was important! |
The weather wasn’t nearly as hot as it has been and a lot
less humid, too. So, I started working on the wiring job. I used my rolling garden
seat to wrap the harness a little more comfortably than stooping, as I had been doing.
I finally got the right side done. I even remembered to
leave two loops of excess wires on either side where the trailer could pivot in
the middle. One of the reasons I bought this particular trailer was that it can
(supposedly) fold up in half and be stored standing upright in the garage. I
never tried it yet, but I left the wires available if I ever want to. So, I was
feeling pretty cocky. You can probably guess how the left side turned out, LOL!
I got the wires wrapped and threaded across the front. I
wired in the sidelight and then wrapped the harness back to the taillight
assembly.
The first problem was that the wires coming from the
stoplight were way too short (like less than an inch long). So, it was a big
problem to get the wire nuts to work and join the existing fixture to the new
wiring. But, I got ‘er done!
Then I went back to wire tie the excess wire to the frame
and realized I had missed one damn hole in the frame! What to do? Should I
really go back and disassemble the short wires that took forever to connect? I decided
not to, and used wire ties to secure the bundle tight under the frame at that
point. But, I was pissed! So much for cocky!
Then I finally put the plug onto the trailer wire bundle. To
do that, I had to solder the four wires from the bundle to the plug wires. It has been years (years) since I tried to
solder wires, BTW, and I don’t recall being that good at it.
But, I heated up the new soldering iron (I bought one after
I couldn’t find the one I know I own) and got to work. I also used the shrink
wrap cover for the first time. I had learned that electrician’s tape is really
not that effective for keeping moisture out and the wires will eventually
corrode. I damn sure don’t want to have to do this again!
So, I soldered the first wire. When it cooled a bit, I slid
the shrink wrap tube over the joint (I had previously put it on the wire and
moved it way back). I held a lighter under it until it shrunk and then squished
the ends for a good seal. Bingo!
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New soldering iron and setup |
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Soldered joint and shrink wrap tubes |
I repeated that three more times and then wrapped the bundle
with electrician’s tape the last two feet (from the friction tape to the plug).
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Trailer plug complete |
Then I backed the car out into the street and backed it back
on the side the trailer was. I hooked up the car plug to the trailer plug and
started testing it. Trailer sidelights working. Trailer taillights working. Trailer
turn signals working. All that remained to test were the stop lights. I got a small
mirror from the bathroom and set it up so I could see the lights from the car
and stepped on the brakes. Eureka! I freaking did it!!!
I went inside and it was 6:10 PM. I had emails and text
messages to answer, so I did that. I processed the pictures I had taken for the
Blog and then (finally) I took my second shower of the day.
After I got cleaned up, I warmed up the last burger and ate
that for dinner. I couldn’t find anything all that interesting on TV so I
watched a comedy special Jake had recommended that was on Netflix: Tom Papa in
New York. He was right, it was hilarious! I turned off the TV when it was
finished and went to bed.
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