Closed - Internal Stiffeners

Not sure how many of y'all watching are full-time parents, but during the week I get my work done between naps

I want to say, I hate cutting thick (read expensive) steel without it being put to use, but at least there's progress to be had from that cut out.

Got the internal bracket, L bracket, and tie down cut out from 3/16".



Like @Sand_In_My_Taco suggested, this one's the wild card in the whole thing.



Of course, in the middle of bending I got an ERR message and my batteries crapped out.

I JUST ran out of AAA batteries since they go to my kid's toys had to steal them from the garage TV remote.



The internal bracket is easy, just needs 90 total.

The L bracket? That bitch needs between 9.8 to 10 degrees.



Matched perfectly.



The tie-down bracket.



And finally, mock up.





It is so damn close it's scary.



If my eyes are correct, and with how I measured the 16 gauge bracket attached to this, my left set of holes are about 3/32" off with the right holes being only 1/16" off.

That's real damn close to where it needs to be, so not bad for a first try.

The prototype set is almost done! Just need to adjust the distance of the holes from the bend line, cut out the 3 hole bracket, weld some nuts, and send them out for test fitting.



Oh and because no one asked, one of my adult ramshorn snails gets to live another day. Before heading into the garage I thought Shinobi was going to eat it since it had already left a handful of baby ramshorn snail shells empty.



It crawled away some short time after this picture was taken.

 

Assuming the first test setup lines up per our mock up, anyone that installs this really just needs to get.one thing correct, and that is the first measurement. After that everything just sorts itself.

 

Quick half-assed edit but it'll look like the discontinued set.



The hole drilled and marked there is the bottom hole.

The above hole is 2.25" from center to center.

Goal was to keep the "top edge" below the curve of the bed as we didn't want anything sticking out above it.

 

To add to the above picture, we closed the tailgate to ensure that nothing would contact/interfere with the tailgate itself.

 

But in the mock up, those brackets will pass through the tri-square right around the 4 inch mark. The circular hole needs to be on the outboard (fender side) away from the tie down point, does it not?

 

No you're right, sorry I mocked this up for my own jig set up and not the way you guys would install it. It's why I never included the pictures in the initial post with instructions.

This is install in the truck, my apologies for the confusion. I totally see how I messed that up

Driver side setup.



Tie down opening will face towards the cab like in my professionally done photo edit.



Hard to see but here's that bend that follows the bed shape.

 

I tend to do flangehead, but that’s just me… external, I get button for smooth, no snag. Torx doesn’t strip as bad as hex. Honestly, provide the most common (and the specs) and the weirdos like me can change what we want to on our side. I’ll probably do flange on nut and bolt with distortion on the nut for lock. (I did say I was the weirdo, right?)

 

No problem, it just triggered me. As long as you knew it was inside out, and were making adjustments in your head, no problem. If it was me, I could very easily see me forgetting half way through and start forgetting to reverse a part.

 

The 2" off one edge and mounting things in relation to that was all that was needed for the tie down itself.

The rest of the components just fall into place.

Using the tube to measure the distance from it and the holes just allowed me to use the whole thing as a "reference" when recreating the internal bracket out of 3/16".

The flat pattern option in CAD worked damn perfect and I would say 1/16" of that deviation is probably my fault due to the bend line I set in place on the physical part.

The other 1/16" on one edge probably had to do with my own sheet metal rules I never implemented.

Before I dig into it myself, I'm back on dad duty but maybe someone could look into the default flange rules for 3/16" mild steel on Fusion 360. I run a 30 degree punch with a 90 degree bottom die.

 

I'll add the hardware specifics to the initial post for weirdos like you

The button head bolts I've got coming in are M10 x 1.50 x 30mm.

 

You know, I'm going to make the adjust on the next one here but send both the first one posted as well as the new adjusted one.

You already have one hole drilled out, so you'll just need to measure 2.5" up, 2.0" off the leading edge, and mark your upper hole.

Afterward, you can test both internal brackets to see which one lines up how it's supposed to and I'll run with the file that works on your truck.

 

We are go for the second internal bracket (adjusted) then I'll get some hardware in the next day or two to get this mock set done.

 

While the air compressor fills up, thought I'd showcase the bends on the 3/16"





Much nicer than I expected.

Oh and yeah, square toe is the way to go. None of that pointy toe shit.

 

It's cut.

I use a tungsten carbide tip to scribe my bend lines.



Tiniest bit of bevel, but it happens when slight curves are involved.



I'm fucking positive this is ready to go.

After bending, it fit exactly as I needed it to.



Just need hardware for mounting.

I'll order some up tonight.

 

Looks great!

Can't wait to see how they fit, and report back.

 

They look so good I'm almost tempted to cut the other side out.

Mainly because shipping will be $15 and I rather risk that and some extra steel instead of $30 for two shipments.

What do you think?

Investment is

Also, button head bolts arrived and man they look good.



I posted the specs on the first page but here's the extra room you have with a 30mm long bolt.



*Disclaimer: nut shown is for display purposes only*

So it'll definitely be more than long enough to utilize @MagicToolbox 3D printed insert as well as any washer used. The bed itself is only 1/16" thick.

 

oh great, there he goes… showing his nuts. Looks like you could drop to a 20 no problem.
What grade are you going with? 10.9?

 

These are 10.9 yep!

Think grade 8 hardware is used for the interior panels and only 10.9 for the exterior bracket?

Adding more pics to the initial post.

 

No real preference on hardware. Like others said, a few extra bucks for better hardware is always worth the investment.

 

How does the collective feel about putting a plastic spacer between the tie down points and the bed? It will be under constant compression, but also exposed to UV, heat and cold. There are two versions in the USPS hands heading for @Kwikvette, one that can be bolted in place and a second smaller one that I would anticipate be held in place with double sided tape or perhaps a snap fit - probably inserted from the bed side towards the center.

I can easily add a couple of small counter sunk holes for some bolts. Or perhaps a sandwich construction. If you plan to use rope or straps through the tie down point, several members have voiced concern that the sharp edge of the steel will cut through. I agree with this assessment. I would rather not add to the labor load to make these parts by requesting that they be hand filed or otherwise rounded over prior to sending them out. A printed plastic part would solve this problem.

The parts I have sent are made of black ASA which a UV resistant plastic similar to ABS. I don't know how it will fair if we are relying on it to assist in holding the bed in place. The pressure is primarily against the larger bracket inside the fender, so therefore pulling on the tie down, through the bolts and the (essentially) giant washer that is the tie down piece.

There are several versions on the way, 3 of which are already out of date, so would be available for destructive testing as soon as they arrive.