Dry Dock is a place that ships and yachts go for major repairs. The yachts get parked at a dock and the water is drained from around the yacht. We put our Land Yacht in dry dock when we got back to our home early August. It needed a big repair that could only be done in a secure location (the entry door), and then as I would work on on thing something else that needed attention would reveal itself. Our Land Yacht is 23 years old we gave it some love this last month and a half.
The scariest project was trying to fix the entry door. Here is a post that talks all about it. I was nervous taking it apart, as I don’t think Ann would ride with me without a door:-)
Here is the link to the door repair, which means bending it to fit better.
Basement in a motorhome?? What is that? Well the storage compartments under the motorhome is the basement.
While I was working on the entry door project I went to look at the Hurricane Heater. This is the diesel fuel heater that keeps the coach warm. When I opened the basement door where the heater is, the screws pulled out of the door that holds the bracket that holds the air spring. I waited till I was done with the entry door to tackle this. What I ended up doing was drilling out the holes and then gluing in wood dowels. In two of the holes it needed more so I bought some Marine-Tex epoxy and filled the holes with that also. Then re-drilled the holds and screwed the bracket back on. I also used the Marine-Tex to repair a small hole in the corner of the slide. It worked really well. it
The coach ended up needing a lot of attention in this Heater area. I knew that the muffler was getting old but as I was working on the basement door I noticed that the exhaust for the heater was just hanging there and decided the muffler / exhaust pipe needed replaced. I took the old muffler to Boise Muffler and had them make me a new one. This time I have a Glass Pack. I made a new bracket to hold the exhaust up and patched a spot where the old bracket was that had rusted out.
I wasn’t done in this area. In preparation for winter I checked and serviced the heater. I ordered a Ignitor, air filter, fuel nozzle, and a new bigger spin on fuel filter. As I was changing out the parts I decided to pull out the burner tube, (because I messed up the old ignitor when trying to remove it) it was also in need of replacement. I emailed the company and had them send me a new one. I have it all together now and hopefully it will keep us toasty warm this winter.
They say that lights under an RV will keep the rodents away. This is a good thing as you sure don’t want them making their home in your RV and enjoying your wiring. The new lights seem brighter and better then the last ones. The light strips come in 16′ rolls. I used just short of 4 rolls. These are marine LED lights and they have a self adhesive backing. I just like them because I think they are cool.
I also checked the step and installed some new home rebuild entry step stops. While doing this I decided to replace my under glow lights. The last lights lasted almost six years and were giving me trouble. That project lead to another small rust repair in the rear of the coach. It is now time to re-supply and clean up the land yacht because we plan to head to Oregon next week. We are going to see our daughter and family, have our coach couch recovered, and volunteer at Aldersgate Camps and Retreats. We will even be in a prime area for the Ring of Fire Eclipse on October 14th. Fun days ahead. If you made it to the end of this post you must have a Country Coach or be really board. Have a wonderful day.