last trip of the year......

[Manitou]

Nice work indeed.. Do we get a chinooker's discount for your work?

[kdarling]

Thank you for the kind words, chinook440!

Now, looking at your photos, I have a very impertinent question to ask. Please forgive me in advance

It looks like your Chinook has no rear fold down step, and you're using a step stool instead. Sir, with your mad metal skills, how come you've not created or put one on !?

Man, I would have loved to have had your welding ability when I put on my steps. What a pain it was drilling holes for bolts, and also having to cobble up support bars to make up the rest of the bumper step depth.

Btw, at first I put on dual steps, which came right to the ground. Alas, they hung down 7" when folded, which meant they scraped slightly on step hill transitions or high driveway curbs. Just an inch or so too far. So I ended up taking them off and replacing them with this Elkhard 120 single step, which only comes down 5" when folded in, the same distance as the bottom of the towing hitch:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DX7JE4 (only $56 with Amazon Prime)

Regards,
Curious Kev

PS. I also wrote the metal shop who made the original Chinook rear bumper / steps (they're still around in WA), but they wanted $1,000 to make a duplicate. Woof!

[chinook440]

Discounts ... sure ....what you need big guy ? lol

Also

i,m kinda partial to my lil light weight step stool ...., it was a gift and serves it purpose perfectly well

most of time i have a boat in tow and don,t disconnect because i have to launch and retrieve daily
etc, and the reduced ass end tail dragging clearance for aux drop down steps is,t worth it for me.

I made my hitch to tuck up tight as possible to the bumper , to build a Funtional drop down step would reduce my ground clearance which i don,t want . Evevything is a trade off / pros and con,s etc....

Thanks for the feed back
Harry

[kdarling]

Harry,

All that makes perfect sense. As I said, it was a very impertinent question. Sorry! (I think that after seeing your other work, I was wondering if you had also come up with some cool rear step solution that I just couldn't see in the photo

It's just that your cantilevered table project got me super enthused! -- Now I (and I'm sure others) want to learn to make something similar, and would love to have your suggestions on how to get started.

E.g. What tools are needed at a minimum to make something like that table? Saw? Grinder? Helmet? I'm starting from a position of ignorance. For instance, it wasn't until today that I ever heard of a "chop saw."

I have read that it's easy for even beginners to do good welds with MIG welding units. Do you think that's a good way to start? How many amps does a garage circuit have to support for a hobby 110V unit?

Any thoughts would be super welcome.

Thanks! Kev

[Blue~Go]

Or, at least for me (not a metal-worker), I just want Harry to make a batch of them and sell them to us! Seriously, that design rocks. One reason I kept the stock couch base frame (even though some of the member placement could be improved from a convenience/space perspective) is that I can't begin to do as well, size/strength wise with anything I typically work with (couch base frame is mostly 1" square steel tubing). I wish I could!

Harry: I hear you on the step/hitch. I have the "manual" step of my era, which I sought because is quite a bit better for departure angle from the electric step (on the manual one the lower step flips up on top of the upper one; whereas the electric one slides in below the upper one and hangs lower). When I'm towing I keep the lower step flipped up (it then makes an upper step sitting on top of the other upper step). Still, it'd be nice to have the hitch receiver tubing a bit higher. If I "drag" at all, it's on the bottom of that tubing (towing or not). I wish I could weld up a little skid plate for it (or raise it like yours). It's not too bad though, (just on certain commercial driveway departures, mostly).

[chinook440]

Yes Mig welding is very easy to learn. You need a 20 amp outlet for the 110/120 volt welders .

i,d suggest a 130 -140 amp model from Miller, Lincoln or Hobart . Also splurge for an auto darkening helmet will make it Much easier and safer.

I,m not a big fan of the common abrasive chop saws..... they are loud and stinky . They are cheap to buy upfront but the disc,s don,t last long .

I,d suggest an entry level band saw like this instead , much cleaner , safer and you can also use it to cut wood and pvc etc.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... nt=234x104

that or find a used table mounted 120 volt cold saw . or a used better quiality band saw than the one .above.

That along with a hand held angle grinder , a drill and or cheap drill press and some welders C clamps , a square, tape measure work horses or nice table etc. and your in business .
It can be a very fun hobbie and or side work etc.


I really wouldn,t want to sell and ship something like this out because besides being rather bulky the installation is very critical to having it all be easily removed and reconfigured from dinette to couch. That and it wouldn,t be cheap LoL.
But if you just wanted a rigidly mounted table frame in the same basic style that didn,t convert into a couch etc. that would be doable and Much easier all around if you were to attempt to do your own.

Also not sure if you all ever seen this http://www.casshudson.com/catalog/displ ... uct_id=162 this was something i was considering before i made mine.

[kdarling]

Thanks so much for the response and advice! Now I just need to convert the garage into a heated shop. Hmm...

Oh yeah. I meant to ask about your rear door. It looks like it has two windows instead of one. Pretty cool.

Is that possibly for a dog to be able to easily look outside, or ???

Reminds me a bit of an RV I saw with a Dutch door. Separate top and bottom parts. They said they did that so their dogs could NOT see outside and start barking, but the people could still see out the open upper door and get a breeze.

Kevin

[chinook440]

the EXTRA rear door window was there when i bought it. i,m sure it,s not factory installed as both windows have different frames .

you nailed it,s best use !!! as my dog loves looking out of it LOL

..... but it,s not very useful otherwise , with the door being offset you can,t get a good view through it from the drivers seat , either from the rear view mirror or rubber necking !

Tailgaters probably get a kick out of it though when my dog is staring out at them