Whitey Ford

[Nomadcat]

I saw a white hightop with Alaska plates. There may have been a beige there, but I don't recall seeing it. Actually, there was a beige one there that they were installing a 46 gal tank on.

I may be going through Portland again today, on the way to Seattle. If I do, I'll swing by.

Paul

[bettyford]

Paul

Are you going to make it over here to Jackson on this trip?

Ron

[Nomadcat]

Ron,

I'm meeting a friend of mine tonight and we're mapping out a plan. I would love to and it's about 50/50 right now.

If we even come close, I'll contact you a day or two beforehand and let you know.

Paul

[bettyford]

GREAT

Ron

[Nomadcat]

Been busy. In the last month, I put in some rear LED lighting to replace the fluorescents. It's super bright and I'm quite happy with the results.

Got new tires, went with Goodyear Dura-Trac. Believe it or not, the ride is noticeably softer - in a good way - from the Michelin LTX-AT2s, which were like rocks and were suffering from early dry rot. Long story there, but it came out okay in the end and I'm not posting the details. Suffice to say that a squeaky wheel got some grease.

Got a Fiamma awning coming soon and hope to mount it to the Aluminess roof rack. Has anybody here done that yet?

Lots of other little things, but I'm tired and need to get to a business meeting.

P

[jage]

Originally Posted by Nomadcat

Got a Fiamma awning coming soon and hope to mount it to the Aluminess roof rack. Has anybody here done that yet?

Just needs a vertical surface to mount to. Should come with the hardware and be pretty simple to attach.

[Nomadcat]

Yeah, they were pretty decent guys to talk with. Sent them a photo of the rack and they recommended the standard brackets.

I have a piece of poplar around, just in case, that I can bolt to the upright sections and use that as a fixing point, but I don't think I'll need to do that.

[Nomadcat]

Got the awning up today and yes, I know - THIS POST IS USELESS WITHOUT PHOTOS - but I'm tired and I finished in the dark, so I'll have to post them another day.

I must say, after trying a few systems of tarps, poles, etc. I LOVE THIS FIAMMA!

Called Aluminess to see if they had ever mounted any to their roof racks. Indeed, they had. I then bought, for 20 bucks, four machined aluminum billets that fit exactly in the vertical uprights of the roof rack. This is how they said they do it.

After I received them, I went to work. I drilled a hole in the middle of each, then used my new countersink bit - this one works on metal, I only have had wood countersinks in the past - and countersunk the holes. I then used 1/4" machine screws to bolt up the billets to the uprights.

After that, it was a matter of drilling through a half inch of aluminum to get the brackets mounted, then a lot of slow bolting because they were so long and I did not have the proper tool for the job. Then it was just a matter of popping it on and putting in the fixing bolts.

I love the operation, the design and the general feel of it. Very happy. Wish I could buy the Fiamma spoilers in the catalog, as well as the curved rafter, but they don't seem be available in this country.

Okay, I just remembered two iPhone photos I took. I'll post them. One is of one of the Aluminess billets after I installed it. The trained eye will also see the edge of my two aluminum sand ladders, the cover of my Fantastic Vent, and my CB antenna. The other photo I snapped in triumph when I finished, but it's fuzzy and dark. Still, I'm very excited about it. Going to go check my work in the daylight and figure out a good place to store the rafter and the awning crank.

[bettyford]

Sounds like they stepped up on the tires?

Van looks good.

Ron

[Nomadcat]

They basically did, but there were some twists along the way. I'm happy with the new ones so far.

Chance I'll be passing nearby in a month. I'll keep you posted. Some depends on the weather.

Paul