Progress Update:
Rolling, Rolling, Rolling ... Keep Those Doorgies Rolling, Rawhide! ;-)
Although I want to be cutting wood, and banging nails, and screwing screws while the truck transforms in front of my eyes, the unfortunate fact is that there are a few boring, but necessary things that must be done first. I mentioned three of those in my first main post.
So far, I've completed the first task -- rolling door latch and cable support bracket restoration. I'll describe what that was like for grins, and in case anyone else attempts this.
Why did I mess with that part when everyone else says to remove and trash the roll-up door?
Well, because I'm keeping the roll-up door.
Why?
Because I'm going to make the last 2-1/2 feet of the box into a "shed", giving me much benefit, and eliminating nearly every problem associated with roll-up doors. You know, mini-garage ... peg board, hanging extension cords, tools, batteries, generator, etc. At the 2-1/2' mark, I'll build a wall that isolates the shed from the living space. That will necessitate a door in the side of the box, which is also on the "to do" list. In any case, back to the rolling door latches, etc.
First, the main door latch was falling off. That would have left the entire vehicle unsecured. Thus, the priority. The rivets holding the latch to the door were rusted through mostly. So, I removed it (drilled and hacksawed it off), fashioned some steel plates to go under it and behind it on the other side of the door, and bolted it all back on. That part was not difficult, but was just time-consuming.
Second, I needed to do something similar to the two brackets on the door that hold the end of the support cables. Those cables attach at the top of the door to a rolling spring bar under tension. They are what literally pull the door up when you unlatch it. The door structure around the latches was in poor condition. So, I did something similar by removing them, adding steel plates to reinforce them, and then reconnecting them.
Well, once you disconnect one of those support cables, the real fun starts. Allow me to illustrate ... the basic steps to fix one side / one cable:
1. Raise door to near highest position.
2. Remove cotter pin holding the main pin in the support cable bracket.
3. Remove the main pin. The cable now dangles free, no longer under any tension.
4. Because the cable is not under tension, the cable unspools from the winding wheel at the top, creating a cable hairball.
5. Said hairball makes moving the door up or down nearly impossible.
6. Fight the door to get it down to the near lowest position.
(Insert sub-project here to fix / reinforce the support cable bracket)
7. When you're ready to reconnect everything, unwind the cable from the bar and wheel above. Remove the cable entirely.
8. With the door still down, in exactly the right position to barely allow your hands to access the winding wheel at the top, wind the cable around the wheel again the right number of times (see other side for comparison).
9. Push the cable out the top of the door crack, so that it hangs down on the outside of the door.
10. Being unable to lift the door now, crawl out through the pass-through into the cab. Exit to the rear door.
11. Now the rodeo begins. The cable connection point is dangling about 6" above the bracket. You can't just pull it down. Doing so requires the force to rotate that entire spring/tension bar mechanism above the door.
12. Fashion a saddle stirrup gizmo to tie to the cable. Step into it and use your body weight to pull the cable down, while simultaneously inserting the pin through the cable and bracket at the same time. This takes a lot of force and luck.
13. When Step 12 fails many times, bounce on the cable to try to get it to come down enough. For me, that created at least 250 lbs. of downward force, and that was barely enough to get the cable into position.
14. When Step 13 finally succeed, put the main pin in, and replace the cotter pin.
15. Test the door by rolling it up.
16. Watch as the cable get snarled and create a cable hairball again because a) the tension is wrong, or b) the winding wheel and cable are not in proper alignment.
17. Repeat Steps 1-14.
18. Repeat Step 15 & 16. Curse profusely.
19. Finally learn how to move the winding wheel to make it align with the support cable bracket at the bottom of the door.
20. Repeat Steps 1-13.
21. Finally figure out that you can put a ratchet rope on the end of the cable, so that when you bounce and the cable goes down, you can tighten it and save your progress. Repeat this a couple of times until the cable gets reattached.
22. Repeat Step 15.
23. Watch as the door finally works. Release a tense breath.
24. Notice that the support bracket and the wheel are not really quite in alignment.
25. Try to adjust them.
26. Watch as the hairball magically returns.
27. Repeat whole process about three times until it is finally correct.
28. Realize that you learned far more about box truck roll-up doors than you ever wanted to know.
29. Start on the second of two support cables.
...
And just for fun, the first time I did this, it was under deadline, finishing at 2am.
Below are a few before and after photos ...
Latch before:
Latch after:
Cable Support Bracket before:
Cable Support Bracket Rodeo:
Cable Support Bracket after:
Next update will be on repairing the wood in the box walls.
Vagabound
