Thursday, May 20, 2010

A Work in Progress....

A few months back we were able to purchase an enclosed trailer...God is good! We had been watching for a trailer (in our price range!) for quite sometime. We looked at a couple different trailers...but nothing 'fit the bill'. It was either too expensive, not wide or long enough or not in good enough condition.

We wanted a enclosed trailer vs an open trailer because we wanted to sleep in it when we arrived at our destination. You could say...one step better than a tent!! We would haul the quads then unload..then set up our cots! It isn't as deluxe as the new 'toy haulers' at a price tag of 30,000...but close!

I spotted this one on Craigslist (you knew it!!)....one problem it was 3 hours North of here and it was listed as ' first one with the cash'. Long story short, we promptly e-mailed them at 9pm..they responded promptly...Steve was on his way North at 5am the next morning...as you can see, he bought it! It was a fantastic deal!

This was what it looked like when Steve got started on it.... It doesn't look too bad..but it did have some significant cosmetic damage....this is a side shot. Steve had already ripped off the diamond plate on the front and it had no fenders. The corner pieces were all banged up..so they came off too! Steve was able to have a friend make him some metal tubing and cut him some new Diamond Plate. Steve, Tyler & Troy painted those wheel wells...they were all rusty and gross!! Then Steve realized the brakes weren't working, so he had to order new brake assemblies (x4)...and some other brake stuff...they were so rusted on, it took him a whole night per wheel to fix....lots of grinding!!

Then there was the interior....
We needed to paint the walls and especially the floor. The floor was particle board so it was really dirty...and you couldn't even get it swept out good! The built in shelves were pretty dirty too...they needed a good coat of paint too! A friend of ours gave us a 5 gallon pail of Sherwin Williams paint...so we got busy! We painted the walls and the front shelves. We did buy a gallon of porch and floor paint for the floor....we wanted that to be more durable.
We also painted all the trim/hinges and tongue with black chassis paint..it's like tar!
Here is Tyler and Trent getting ready to paint the floor.... Here is a picture of where we are so far. I know, I think I have made it seem like not too much work...but it's been A LOT of work!! Steve has put in unmeasurable hours to get it looking like it does! He has been out there working non-stop for 2 weeks now. He has definitely done the lions share of the work! It's a good thing Steve is sooooo handy!
Here is the 'almost' finished product! Notice the new Diamond Plate all the way around and on the corners! We are going to take her for a spin this coming week-end. We are headed to the UP with 5 other families. The boys can hardly wait! We need to add the lettering....Team Buckner...you guessed it!

4 comments:

Ae (Otherwise Known as Amber) said...

Love it!! I'm sure you'll have a great time in the new "toy." Congrats on such a great deal.

Vicki said...

They should name you Ms. Craigslist! Or pay you for advertising:)

The trailer looks great! I hope you have some screening to roll-down for when you a sleeping in it.
Have fun and please be safe this weekend.

~joanne said...

Oh, that was another one of the additions...a screen door. We bought one of the those cheap wood screen doors and Steve cut it down.

The Hendersons said...

Impressive buy. Impressive refurbishment. Impressive result. You guys are so creative (buying as well as reworking) and handy. What a great trailer. I hope you enjoy it for decades to come. And.. what a great idea for ensuring you will be dry at night when you go on those long adventures.