Log 2016100601

It's like somebody at the scrap yard asking me: "is it aluminum or steel?"  I often wish I'd respond: "if it's not rusted, how in the hell do I know?"  Is the roof of the motorhome rubber?  I think so.  Everything I've read says it is.

I went to another RV store today.  I can tell that they're very knowledgeable and deal with mostly men.  The ladder I can tell because when I don't know something, they keep trying to drive the hell out of it.  And they don't know how deal with DIY'ers.  Well, I was after covers for my outdoor electrical sockets and cable ports and didn't get them.  But I did get a hand crank for the outdoor antenna and a retrofit replacement for that because the present one is analog.  The current outdoor covers have a layer between them and the outer hull of the chassis.  When I go to replace those coaxial cables, I'm not sure that I can save the shims.  If not, I have squares of 1/16ths rubber and I can make a replacement for, but I'd rather have something that was manufactured for it just to be absolutely sure.

Looks like I'm going to have ascend to their level?  And my mechanical upbringing was cut short when my family and I made like The Jeffersons and we "moved on up."  Mechanical aptitude was where I was my weakest subject in the Armed Forces Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).  But, I started repairing my own car in the Hobby Shop on post afterwards.  And with the hands on experience since then and with this motorhome, I'm improving.

For the last 5 months, the motorhome's engine has been the priority.  I've been almost single minded about it.  The chassis is planned for the spring because it needs the entire cost to do it at once.  So, I've really stayed away from it lately.  Q: Will I become more experienced??? A: When I start working on it.

One of the reasons that I purchased the antenna is that I believe that there's a way to mount two TV's in it.  I might just do the one in the bedroom.  If I can get to mount to the cabinetry with a 3ft swing arm, I can watch it in front of the bedroom curtains and then lock it by the overhead cabinetry near it's passenger side window during transport.

It might be possible to use something like 2x6's to build a brace across the interior side of the overhead cab area,  I think I can wedge and temporary mount it?  But the size of the television will depend on what the new between the seats center console for the cab will look like?  I might want to add steps to the overhead cab there?

There's a big area between the drivers and passengers seats that's built so that the occupants can move to the chassis without going outside.  But I usually drive with the overhead bed folded out because I'm 6'6 and it's not very easy for me to get back there.  Meanwhile, there's storage potential there.