Rough Road Devastation

Fredericksburg, Texas

OH RATZZZZ. That was the first thought as the closet hanger bar was noticed ripped from the wall. The load of clothes coupled with the bouncy roads must have over loaded the rod to wall connection on the last trip. The only thing holding it up was the foam insulation that had been added some time ago.

Of course it should have been noticed before this, but senile old fat men miss lots of things. Well that sets the chore for today. Here is the holes left from the brute force trauma to the rod and wall. The insulation foam had been holding up the rod.

Being that TheOFM is a mechanical genius in his mind, a brace repair was quickly figured out. For those who have never worked in a small RV, let me explain that there is no room to work and frequently even less than that. You set your tools out somewhere away from the work spot and make millions of trips back and forth for every step of the project. There fore the smallest project time frame is measured in hours not minutes.

A 1x2 was purchased and carefully cut to fit in the proper spot. Now it was realized that it needed to be glued to the wall as well as a couple of screws to hold it while the adhesive cures. Back to the store for the screws and adhesive. Finally we have the adhesive on the brace and ready to put into the closet.

The brace was pressed to the wall to transfer adhesive. Then the brace was removed and leaned against the wall to allow the drying time the instruction for the adhesive recommended.
Next the brace was placed in the correct position and screwed with three screws to the wall to hold it in place as the adhesive cures.
While the curing was happening, the other end of the clothes rod got a brace also. It was done differently since there are obstructions along the wall on that end of the closet.
Now that the braces are all in place, it is time to replace the insulating foam around the rear wall of the closet. The previous piece has to be cut to fit around the brace. Careful measurements were taken and the foam marked for cutting.
My boning knife made short work of the foam cutting. It took longer to re-sharpen the knife than to cut the foam. The foam was press fit into place and the end brace modifications were complete.
While checking out the new work, it was decided to add a mid point support also. An angle bracket was screwed to the shelf above. Next wire tie was threaded through the hole in the angle bracket and around the clothes rod. Everything was snugged up and the tag end clipped off.
It looks pretty good to me. We will see what the road humps do to it tomorrow.

Speaking off tomorrow, reservations have been made at Sinton. A couple of things are going on down there that need my attention. Luella and Walt have a new puppy. It is a PUG and needs to have me play with him.

Another important thing is Jerrybs Kayaks is having a demo day on June 27 and it needs my attendance to try out different kayaks. Demo days are usually lots of fun. This may help me choose my next boat for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.