In early June, 2009 we decided to tackle checking out the wheel bearings and stripping and painting the wheel rims. The bearings showed wear on both sides and Steve even found a small piece of wood wedged into one of the bearings. Luckily he found new parts at the Sacramento Napa Auto Parts warehouse. They were not cheap by any means, around $72. Alot of wire brushing and cleaning up old grease later, the new bearings were installed. I used an electric drill and wire brush and cleaned up the rust on the rims. Used some Rustoleum primer and then some Ace Hardware Laquer Enamel spraypaint in off white for the rims. Underneath the trailer on the frame, there is alot of surface rust. Makes me wonder if this trailer sat in water during it's life. I understand that someone in the Santa Rosa area owned it and lived in it. I plan on putting it safely up on jackstands (about 6 of em) and cleaning up the surface rust. The next day I sought out new tires. The original tires, according to the brochure were 550-15's. 3 different tire places couldn't get that exact tire, so we compromised with a trailer tire 205 75 r15. They weren't cheap either (do I see a trend here?) Paid $68 per tire, plus lots of incidental charges. Ouch. Anyway, the following weekend we brought the trailer out in the driveway and I gave it a real good scrub. The pink housepaint exterior has mildew in the paint and not all of it came out, but it looked presentable. Steve rewired the lights and off he went to Grass Valley to visit another Ranger owner, Michael Donovan, who by trade is a finish carpenter. We've hired Michael to rebuild some of the really bad water damaged areas and re-veneer some of the cupboards. The rest we will attempt to tackle ourselves. It looked really neat being pulled by our truck...very unique. My next project will be to replace the broken glass in both of the front and back windows. I may use Lexan instead of glass, we'll compare the price and go from there!
