Closet shelves

I quickly came to realize that I needed to use every inch of the closet. Hanging clothes in it was not practical. A clothes bar made for cars works fine for that purpose. So I put in shelves for other storage purposes.

First I did the right side with some plywood scrap I had... then I ended up chopping up a cheap old particle board bookshelf that fell apart when I was moving it to my mom's house since she said she wanted it. I told her I could put it back together but 2 weeks later she said she didn't want it, so I use part of it for my shelving. That's why one side has white shelves and the other has plain wood.

It has been a HUGE help.

Post about the divider inside here: http://cubey7800.blogspot.com/2013/06/closet-divider.html

Trailer tailgate extended

Due to the leaf springs, new axle and 15" tires being installed to my trailer, the ramp was no longer at a good angle to load my scooter. I paid a welding shop $155 to extend it. Now it's a roughly 8ft tall trailer at the tailgate when raised since it's about a 6ft long tailgate and the trailer's bed is about 23" off of the ground. It's actually a few inches taller than the van (including roof ac) now and it's a very heavy tailgate but I can manage it okay. It looks a bit funny but I don't care. I can load and unload the scooter again myself.

Closet divider

I decided to add a divider into the tiny closet to make better use of the space. Now it's half for hanging clothes, half for food and other items. I can stack up the food items without them falling all over the place into the rest of the closet when driving.

The board I used for the divider was the old built in sofa drawer's bottom surface. That's why it matches on one side. I put the smooth side toward clothes so the rough side wouldn't rick catching on my clothes when putting them in and taking them out.

I am tempted to further modify the left side and build in a couple of shelves so I can sort and organize the food better. It wouldn't cost much or be much more work. Perhaps also remove the old clothes bar that wastes space.

Update here: http://cubey7800.blogspot.com/2013/07/closet-shelves.html

Utility trailer

I could have swore I posted a pic of my utility trailer.. but it seems not. So here we go. The first pic below is what it looked like when I bought it. It had a fixed axle with no suspension (!) which I didn't realize when I went and looked at it at night with a flashlight, and bought it at that time.

I have about as much in it as it would cost to buy a new rail side trailer, but it's built heavier duty than store bought ones and it suits my needs perfectly. Having a tail gate ramp and raised mesh sites, it provides a bit more security and protection for the contents while being lighter and less of a wind drag than an enclosed trailer.

It has a new axle, leaf springs, tires/rims, fenders, lights, one new light bracket, and a new paint job using $1 cans of black gloss spray paint.

Need more storage!

I have come to the realization that I am going to have to try to make use of every inch of space in this van. That means doing some unusual things... like using a cheap plastic shelf unit in the bed area to store stuff on. I looked around the house and found what works perfect. very light weight, easy to move to change the sheets, stays in place well and isn't very deep, so it doesn't interfere with me sleeping next to it.

It stays in place nicely while sleeping thanks to the shoestring tethers and can easily be removed and set aside for changing the bed's bottom sheet. I never tuck in the top bedding.

It's simple, cheap but very effective. I can store my duffel bags of clean clothes and linens on the shelves. There is ample space to the sides of it for stashing extra blankets when not in use.