Here’s a few of the latest project pictures…

Since taking these pictures I also decided to replace the U-bolts. As I’m sure you can see in most of the pictures, the corrosion just isn’t worth the threat of breaking the axle out in the back country. Some new custom made 7/16″ U-bolts have replaced the old 3/8″ U-bolts, just a bit more peace of mind while on the road.

I’ll update on the roof once the trailer is a roller again.

Well, it turns out, that was a success. I have removed all but two of the backing plate mounting bolts. Considering that I had only soaked the curb side, I didn’t even think I’d be able to get any of the nuts off on the other side. THe other two are soaking right now, and I’ll likely let them soak for a day or two before trying again. I did manage to scratch my arm when the wrench slipped off trying to get the last two nuts off so I figured that was a sign to stop.

I was also able to remove the clips that are screwed to the axle that hold the brake line. Unfortunately I broke the T connector where the rubber and two side brake lines meet. I’m sure it won’t be a big deal to figure out a new method to mount the new T connector, but I’ll figure that out when I get there.

Right now I’m trying to decide if it’s worth my time to strip down the axle with the wire wheel and give it a good coat of undercoating, but we’ll see how ambitious I am over the next few weeks. The U bolts looks like they could use replacing but I’m not sure I want to open that can of worms yet.

For now, a few shots of the test fit.

I spent most of today stripping paint off a bunch of the smaller parts and painting them silver. I also prepped and painted the new shock.

Tomorrow I plan to get most of the hitch reassembled so that I can move on to working with the axle. Still no pictures, and at this point I’ve missed a few shots of the bare metal before paint, but I don’t really want to hold up the project just because I can’t find the camera.

UPDATE: I’ve added pictures to the past couple of posts. Check out the photo gallery for more pics.

I’ll also be picking up some parts from the post office in the morning, hopefully that will get the ball rolling and see the hitch assembly complete and ready for brake line installation next week. After we return from a weekend away over the Thanksgiving long weekend, I plan to attack the axle and brake assemblies in an effort to have that disassembled before the end of the month and have new parts on order.

Considering the brake system was not my original winter project, and just a small maintenance task, it’s grown in size, but most of that is my own fault due to wanting to get some fresh paint on the parts. This takes most of my time, but good preparation ends with a decent paint job, not that I’m after perfection.

I still haven’t taken any new pictures but hopefully I’ll get a chance to snap a few pictures tomorrow in the daylight.

I also stripped all of the paint off in preparation for a fresh coat of paint, though I’m not sure if I’ll use the black or silver on this part, I do intend to keep the silver on the main hitch coupler, but this might be a nice bit of contrast.

UPDATE: I’ve posted some pictures after painting the hitch jack.

I’m also still on the hunt for our camera, so explains the lack of pictures in the past couple of posts, but rest assure, I will post some once I’ve located it.

Tomorrow I think I’ll start stripping paint off of the main coupler so it can be painted and ready for re-assembly once the new parts show up.