To Get The Job Done Right And On Time….You Do It Yourself.

Well, the lift kit has been manufactured and installed and will be road tested this morning.After waiting for the metal fabricator to get back to us,(he didn’t have the materials in stock and was waiting).Sal the Park owner here at Hacienda Contreras suggested that we drive over to the city of Sahuayo about 45 minutes away,and go to the metal wholesaler,get the material and do the job ourselves.I love this man’s enthusiasm and encouragement,it sure bolstered me.

  

Sal’s shop here at the RV park,is a mixture of workshop,storage on one side and lounging area and kitchen on the other side.So Barb his wife and he are jockeying for control of the neutral ground.

So with all the materials purchased on Tuesday afternoon,an early start was in order first thing Wednesday.Actually Sal had more large metal working power tools than did the fabricator up the road.He has several large metal cutting tools but the pieces we worked with were of a shape and size that found me learning how to use and enjoying a small hand held cutting disk.

I did most of the cutting and Sal the marking and drilling and by Thursday morning we had the pieces ready for painting.

So there are the pieces of the kit.The only plan I had going in was to go on line to the R-Vision Owners Club(R-Vision the company that makes Trail-lite)and to the discussion forum and search for any lift kit info.

Luckily someone had bought a factory lift kit and showed what it looked like and how to install it.So with that,I downloaded the photo’s,printed them out and used that as a guide for constructing my own kit.

While we were doing the construction in Sal’s shop,he had also requested that a local auto body man come and look at the damaged wheel well.He was out almost immediately,looked and did the repair right away,with the help of his wife they had a fiberglass repair done in no time.

They did a good job,but did miss a small part which I didn't discover until yesterday when we were installing the lift kit.He sent the materials out with Sal and I did it myself,then promptly a few minutes later,while fighting to get a bolt in on the kit,raised my head into the still wet fiberglass.Yes when I go to the barber when I get home,I’ll get a hair/fiberglass cut.

Well…As I like to say….Done like dinner…..Again…..Baby’s got a new pair of high heeled shoes.

 

Sal’s a great guy and a hard worker and was my rock through all of this and I hope was justly rewarded for his fine efforts .

 

So now its a mutual admiration society.

Barb (Sal’s wife)took the photo’s but didn’t want to get into the pictures.

So there you have it,2 full days of knuckle busting work and one day of gathering materials and the job is done….BUT….The road test is this morning,so Willy the worrier isn’t totally convinced until that’s over.I guess its the gauge strength of the materials that is the question mark,but modifications can easily be done if necessary.

In closing I want to say for any RV travelers who may be heading from either coast toward Guadalajara,San Miguel,Patzquaro ,you should make a stop here at Hacienda Contreras RV and enjoy this delightful place,with its equally delightful owners,you wont regret it.

This will always be a 2nd home to me in Mexico and I will continue to return,hopefully not with a lot of problems next time.