My Junk

[Kowboy]

Nice truck, Kowboy. You should write a book. It would sell.

Thank you sir. In case you're ever bored ...

http://forum.ih8mud.com/tx-white-trash-elwood-chapter/789126-livin-dream-diaries-madman.html

My spare tire's gone since I broke my Aluminess carrier. Took these pics on my way to San Diego so Aluminess can rebuild and replace the carrier. They're doin' it for free and are great Folks to work with.

Reckon this here's as gooda place as any for an update since the camper Folks are the likely target market. I'm hereby, o'ficial'y givin' a huge shout-out to Aluminess. I had warned 'em prior to manufacture that I got a big tire and I drive my junk hard, but prob'ly shoulda been more specific. They beefed up the standard carrier but I broke 'er all to hell doin' 70 mph 'cross the Nevada desert on a badly washboarded road tryin' to go the back way from the World Famous Mountain Springs Saloon in Mountain Springs, Nevada to the Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings, Nevada. I like beer.

I had the carrier way over loaded. 140 lb spare tire plus a tire mounted carrier for my bike.



Helluva ride and proved to be too much for the carrier. I'm just glad that's the only thang that broke. Rest of the rig and camper held up perfectly. And I think that's pretty cool.





So I made the roadtrip down to sunny, southern Kaliforney to the world headquarters of Aluminess in San Diego.

And it's been nothin' but a pleasure since. They accepted the challenge of buildin' somethin' that would hold up to my abuse. They're doin' it for free even though I grossly exceeded the original design limits. Good people right there. No other way to put it.

They changed the angle of the dangle, added hinges, supports, gussets, and new latches. Lookin' pretty darned stout. Here's some progress pics ...









And it just keeps gettin' better. All the work is bein' completed durin' my two-week hitch at work. So next week when I get my week off from work, I'm flyin' right into San Diego to fetch my junk. And they're gonna grab me from the airport and haul me out to their shop. I'm a nobody and they're treatin' me like a king. You can't beat that. Can't beat that at all. Cheers to 'em. :beer:

 

[craig333]

Glad to hear their customer has improved.

 

[pappawheely]

That's refreshing, seems nobody cares about customer service anymore.

 

[Kowboy]

Reckon need to add a lil' follow-up here Folks.

So I flew into San Diego late into the nite and took me a cab to a nearby Hampton for a free room on my hotel points. Gotta love them hotel points. Big bonus for workin' on the road and livin' in 'em. Anyways ... next mornin' Mr Dave Hoskins, owner/boss/big-shot, at Aluminess picked me up at the hotel. Since his house was much closer to the hotel than his shop was, he had shuttled my junk to his own driveway for me to fetch it and make a quick get-away back out to the Nevada deserts. Just a few minutes later we arrived. He didn't want the extra weight of my bike on the spare tire carrier so he manufactured a custom hitch mount outta aluminum so I could tote my bike. How friggin' cool is that?

My junk was squattin' in the rear since the air had bled outta my bags so I fired up the onboard compressor. Shortly thereafter, somethin' blew out and I quickly killed the compressor with the dash switch. Dave crawled under the truck and found an airhose had blown off the compressor. He took a small hose clamp off the fuel line on the street rod he's buildin' up in his garage and made quick work of repairin' my air hose. How's that for customer service for a bumper warranty??

And this was all done for free. He stated he enjoyed customers that take his products to the limit 'cause it just makes 'em better in the long run.

With the bike secured and ev'rythang in order, I eased on out.

The last thang he said was to bring it back if'n I break 'er again.

Some follks are just good people. And Mr. Dave Hoskins of Aluminess is good people.

And for all the critics out there ... NO ... I ain't got no affiliation whatsoever with the man or his company. I was just a fella that bought a bumper and broke it.

I now look forward to shakin' the mans' hand again and drinkin' some beer with 'im at the Expo.

 

[bruue1]

I enjoyed reading this post more than any other yet. It sounds like Aluminess is good people, I'm glad they did ya right. Could be Mr. Dave Hoslins has read some of your posts on expo? Either way it sounds like a great experience with that company that a person is not likely to get from a company anymore. Thanks for the post.

 

[craig333]

Glad you didn't have any surprises like this

or this

 

[Kowboy]

Glad you didn't have any surprises like this

My surprise was when I broke the hell outta mine.

And then even a bigger surprise on how well they dealt with it and how well they improved it.

Great company.

 

[SDDiver5]

Dang wish I would have seen this thread earlier! I would have bought you a few rounds and wanted to hear some stories!

Great customer service on Aluminess. I had no idea they were in SD... May have to go check them out and drool over some of their SMB's!

 

[Wh1t3nukle]

Sweet. Found your thread here. Kudos on the experience and also sharing it as I'm sure alot of people appreciate it. Good to see customer service is representing. Question: How do you like the latch? I ask b/c I dig it alot!!! Lockable? Upon swinging out, is there a stop? Thanks in advance!

 

[Kowboy]

Dang wish I would have seen this thread earlier! I would have bought you a few rounds and wanted to hear some stories!

Great customer service on Aluminess. I had no idea they were in SD... May have to go check them out and drool over some of their SMB's!

Shame indeed sir ... always up for free beer. Did manage to make a trip to the zoo while I was there tho. Y'all got a damned-fine zoo.

You should definit'ly drop by their shop. Lots of organized work goin' on in a small space. I was impressed.

Question: How do you like the latch? I ask b/c I dig it alot!!! Lockable? Upon swinging out, is there a stop? Thanks in advance!

The latches are nuthin' short of phenomenal. HUGE improvement over the first set. They cradle the load, function easily, and fit real tight when closed. The latches themselves ain't got no lock. But the two swing-arms are designed to be locked together with a padlock when the arms are closed so that they won't swing open none. Nice extra security feature so bad folks can't bust into my camper.

When the arms are swung all the way open, ya drop a pin down thru the arm and into the bumper so they're locked in place. Very solid.

Sorry can't provide some nice detailed pics of all this but I'm back at work now so my junk's 3000 miles away.

 

[jason77]

Hey Kowboy, which camper do you have? I'm looking at doing the exact same thing you are w/ my own life. I currently work 5 weeks on, 5 weeks off, so I could get through a lot of travel in my time off. Just need to get the truck set up for a camper ('99 F250 CCSB 7.3 160k miles).

 

[Kowboy]

The Hallmark Milner. Great Folks to deal with and an exceptional product.

Fits like a glove on the old shortbed Superduty's with all the comforts of home.

Full queen size bed with abundant storage underneath. My bunk goes east-west and the overall, overhead length is perfect for my extended cab. With the extra cab length of your crew cab, I'd seriously consider their new north-south option so ya ain't gotta be crawlin' over your bunk mate to get outta the sack.

I also opted for the high-dollar escape hatch over the bunk. It's used for the bow hatches on yachts. Way nice. (Thems pillows underneath my sleepin' bag ... not a dead body.)



Highly recommend upgradin' to the high-dolly-llama reefer too. Very efficient on 12 volt power. The rooftop solar panels easily provide enuf juice to keep my beer cold for the two weeks my junk's parked at an airport somewhere's. The traditional 3-way RV reefers ain't near as durable or efficient ... and gotta be dang-near level to work. My junk ain't level much.



Stove and sink are flush with the counter top when closed up. Lots of useable space when not doin' the cookin' thang. Nice screened, slidin' window on the port side as well. Cabinets are bamboo. Beautiful wood.





But when it is time to do the cookin' thang ... high-output, two-burner stove that a fella can actu'ly cook two thangs on. And a sink deep enuf to scrub up the dirty dishes. The nice galley area and fixtures makes the squaw work almost bearable.



I picked out a real nice southwest-style material for the interior. Not only easy on the eyes, it's real heavy-duty stuff too so hopefully last a good while. Had the table made of bamboo as well to match and made it a bit smaller than normal for more sittin' room for beer bellies.

The two huge bay windows on the starboard side are a signature feature of Hallmark. REALLY nice. Windows slide open and so do the screens. Run the awnin' out a few feet and the shade over them windows is perfect.





Remove the cushion in the starboard stern and ya got yourself some real indoor plumbin' by gawd. Lil cassette unit is very user friendly and sanitary. Access to the cassette is thru a lil' door on the stern.

Shower's on the outside. I like bein' close to nature ... and not neighbors.



And that sir completes your tour of my humble home.

Carry on.

 

[Wh1t3nukle]

The latches are nuthin' short of phenomenal. HUGE improvement over the first set. They cradle the load, function easily, and fit real tight when closed. The latches themselves ain't got no lock. But the two swing-arms are designed to be locked together with a padlock when the arms are closed so that they won't swing open none. Nice extra security feature so bad folks can't bust into my camper.

When the arms are swung all the way open, ya drop a pin down thru the arm and into the bumper so they're locked in place. Very solid.

Sorry can't provide some nice detailed pics of all this but I'm back at work now so my junk's 3000 miles away.

The latches appear to be Eberhard. Very cool.

http://www.eberhard.com/series/rotaries-strikers

Great touch on the security aspect too!

 

[Kowboy]

The latches appear to be Eberhard. Very cool.

I blew up my original picture super huge and a fella can in fact see where "Eberhard" is stamped on 'em.

You win a prize sir!!

 

[jason77]

Thank you, sir! That looks like a perfect unit, and well planned out to boot. I thought the north-south bed would be nice on my rig, good to see that you agree. How do you reckon it'd function for 2 full-timers? I'd probably completely take out the back seat of the truck to make for additional long term storage in the rig (and maybe a small snack fridge). Of course, I'd only be around half the time, and then she'd have 'er all to herself the rest of the time. Guess I should look into getting rid of the road bikes and getting mountain bikes for exploring, as well. That looks like too much fun.