Hey gang!

I’ve been chipping away at the bus the last couple weeks, knocking off small projects here and there. Today’s unlocked achievement was the surprisingly-easy install of a tow-hitch receiver, something I’ll need when I hit the road to tow my get-around vehicle with me.

The receiver was another fantastic free find (chronicled here – Score: Trailer Hitch Receiver), and the Class 8 mounting hardware itself was a paltry $9.83 at Home Depot. I also made sure to pick up some Lock-Tite to secure the hardware in place.

So, first thing I did was hoist the receiver into place to get a feel for where I was going to fit it. Once I got it into a good location, I laid it down onto a sheet of cardboard. I marked the holes where the bolts would need to be drilled, and marked the outer edges of the receiver so I knew where to place it back against the chassis. A couple of trigger clamps held it in place, I put on my face-shield, and started in with the drill.

The final holes were going to be 1/2″ to fit the mounting hardware, but I started small with just a 1/4″ bit. I have this nice set of drill bits from DeWalt, which I didn’t realize until today are actually a titanium set, so they bored into that steel like it was just hard cheese. After I had these pilot holes drilled, I took the cardboard template down and moved up to a 3/8″ bit. Everyone I saw recommended this process of starting small and sizing up to shave out a bit more of the hole each time without overworking your drill, and who was I to argue I knew better? Needless to say, it worked perfectly, and the 1/2″ holes were done after maybe only 20 minutes of total drilling. I hit the holes with the rust-oleum rust-prevention spray paint, you know, an ounce of prevention and all that.

Now, getting the hitch in place and securing it was a more clumsy job than I expected. I recommend having an extra set of hands if you can find them. The clamps I had were just not strong enough to help me, so I had to lift the receiver into place and get just one of the bolts started enough to hold it in place, while I went on to the other three. This worked okay in the end – taking one nut off long enough to apply some lock-tite and put on the locking washer, then putting the nut back on and working it up, then going to the next, and so on. After this little bit of fuss, I did manage to get all four nuts & washers tightened onto their bolts complete with a healthy dose of lock-tite.

Total time was a little more than an hour, which I had kind of hoped would be the case? but I didn’t really expect it? I was totally convinced I was going to break a drill bit off in the chassis and not be able to get it out, or that all my batteries were going to wear out before I got the holes drilled, or my drill was going to burn out or SOMEthing to keep me from finishing this project this week, let alone in a single afternoon! Color me surprised/relieved/proud/accomplished!

Total Cost: $17.81

ALSO: Before I mounted the hitch receiver, I managed to hit the floor with a can of rustoleum oil-based enamel. Ended up using more of the paint than I thought I would – it’s supposed to cover like 100 square feet, and this area is maybe half that? But it looks great, and it’s DONE, so hopefully tomorrow it’ll be cured enough that I can go move the foam panels over to the starboard side so I can start in treating the rust on the port side.

Oh also now my hands are covered with paint. This stuff is impossible to clean off! Should I just toss the roller and use a new one next time? Is that how this is done?

Progress!