Will angle iron bolted to inner fender support a deck?

[Skigirl]

Want to put a deck over the stuff in the back of my rig ( a lot of stuff, but all about wheel well height). The deck will go all the way across the back side to side and from the tailgate up onto the last third of the wheel well (and will rest on it)

I want the deck to do the following:

1) be sturdy enough that if the truck rolled the deck would hold the stuff under it (some heavy stuff too)

2) be easily removeable

3) not have a bunch of nuts or bolt heads sticking out of it, so that I could sleep on it if needed. I can lay cross wise in the rig and not have my head or feet hit the sides - I'm short!

Been thru about 8 designs in my head. I think I have most of it worked out. Except this:

If I wanted to affix angle iron to the inner fender (sides behind the rear seat) knowing that my entire interior is line-x'd (so would have to bolt in, yes?), and that it would have to hold up the deck and not snap off in a roll, would 1/4" toggle bolts work? I think any sort of plastic anchor wouldn't be strong enough.

What do you think? /forums/images/icons/confused.gif

 

[Don]

Sure It should be Sturdy enough. A couple of Angle Iron Legs in the Rear, for Support, bolted down through the Wheel Wells, and in the Rear, of Course. Maybe some Chip Board, not Particle Board, for the Top, and Off You Go!

Just Think about It some more, and I'm Sure You'll find the Solution! Don H.

 

[Skigirl]

Don -

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A couple of Angle Iron Legs in the Rear, for Support, bolted down through the Wheel Wells, and in the Rear, of Course

[/ QUOTE ] Do you mean vertical legs? How about a horizontal ledge? The decking edges (I would use 3/4" ply, herculined and covered over with a carpet that snaps onto it) would sit on the horizontal angle iron and be held down with a bolt/wing nut combo.

 

[FLASHLIGHT76]

THE PROBLEM YOUR GOING TO RUN INTO IS THAT YOUR GOING TO HAVE TO BACK THE SHEET METAL WHERE THE BOLTS GO THROUGH. EVER SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOME ONE JUST SCREWS IN A ROLL BAR? THE ANGLE IRON IS PLENTY STRONG BUT YOUR BEST BET WILL BE BOLTS WITH A LARGE FLAT WASHER ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE SHEET METAL. YOUR OTHER OPTION WOULD BE TO CONSTRUCT A BRACE RUNNING TO THE FLOOR TO SUPPORT THE ANGLE IRON WHICH WOULD REDUCE THE STRESS ON THE BOLTS. MAYBE A FORM OF TALBLE LEG DESIGN WHERE THE FEET LOCK ,OR WINGNUT ON A BOLT STUD, TO THE FLOOR THUS PROVIDING YOUR QUICK REMOVAL AND ROLLOVER RESISTANCE. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif <font color="purple"> </font color>

 

[Don]

O.K. just Draw It out on Paper. Legs to Support It. Say 3 Front and Rear, with Horizontal Angle, to Support the Chipboard, with Fender Washers on the Bottom Side of the Bed and Wheelwells. Fender Washers have a 5/16, or 3/8 Hole in the Centers, and the Outside Diameter is around 2".

With the Fender Washers added under the The Bed and Wheelwells, You should"nt have a problem with Sheetmetal, Cracking or Pulling Through. Don H.

 

[Skigirl]

Thanks guys! /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif I'll get to work on that.

 

[HarryH3]

I had a deck in the back of my '77 Blazer and really liked it. For support, I put two 2x6's on edge, right up the center of the back section. Another one went across the very front edge, just behind the seats. Then along the sides, butted up against the side panels, were 2 more peices, one in front of the wheelwell and one behind. All the 2x6's were held to the floor with large L brackets. I topped it off with 2 pieces of plywood and then carpet. The rear was left open, so that I could toss in the high lift, shovels, axe, chains, straps, etc. The only way to access that area was to have the tailgate down.

To have a place to store little stuff, I placed another board across the truck, about 18-24 inches behind the front board. Then I cut the plywood across that line and installed hinges. Now I could access the 2 small areas at the front of the bed by just tilting up the floor from the drivers area. /forums/images/icons/cool.gif I had a 4 foot by 6 foot b 3 inch piece of foam rubber that I would put in the back for camping trips. It worked awesome! I also found that if I tipped the passenger seat forward, a 48-quart Coleman cooler would fit on the floor just right and provide a perfect spot for a pillow. So now I had a little over 7 feet along the passenger side so my 6'3" self could sleep comfortably! /forums/images/icons/cool.gif

The only downside was losing the ability to easily install the back seat. /forums/images/icons/frown.gif

 

[Grim-Reaper]

1.5 inch angle irion in conjunction with 3/4 or 1/2 inch ply will be VERY strong. I build something like your talking about out of straight 3/4. It fits between the wheel wells . Have some totes that slide in it for staorage. Resides in the lady's 79. You will need a little suport in the middle if you plan to load the top, 2-2.5 feet span wil be no problem.
Here is my though since you want it easily removabale. Build some brackets that will permenenty sit on the wheel wells and the corners by the gate. Install a blind nut and yous some knural nuts (think the knobs on a lawn mower handle for folding) so it's can be removed without tools. I would defintatly use some sort of backing plates to handle the wight. BIG fender washers or a peice of plate.

 

[Skigirl]

Thanks Harry, your setup sounds awesome! I am also planning on having the top raise up so I can get at stuff, so hinges will be involved. Still looking at best way to do that.

Grimmy, I can see how to put a backing plate on the wheel well side, but can I get up into the back side of the corner or the inner fender?

BTW, re: middle support, my repair supply box , which sits in the middle of the space will serve as upper support. It's 30" long, 24" wide, and wheel well height. So the ply will sit right on top of it (possible I'll have to raise the top a bit with some bushings, but the bushings will sit on the supply chest).

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Install a blind nut and yous some knural nuts (think the knobs on a lawn mower handle for folding) so it's can be removed without tools

[/ QUOTE ] Yep, I was planning on using knurl nuts for bolt down. Not sure what a blind nut is. I thought I should use something like a T nut would be for wood but couldn't figure out what would work for metal since I don't know how to weld. I'll check into what a blind nut is and how I'd use it.

I talked to Don last night about this, and I'm gonna put up some pics of what I have back there and some drawings so maybe later today you guys can take a peek and let me know what you think /forums/images/icons/crazy.gif /forums/images/icons/grin.gif

 

[Skigirl]

Here's pics of most of the stuff in the rear of the truck, that I want the deck to cover. The deck will need to be removeable, AND be able to be raised (like with hinge setup) so that I can get to the supply box (big green box) and tool bag to the left. Both are too heavy for me to drag out from under a deck /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif (well, I probably could pull the tool bag out). /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif

Drawings of current design coming soon to my site.

 

[Twiz]

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Here's pics

[/ QUOTE ]
Where pics? /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

You can get to the back-side of the rear corners by removeing the tail-light lenses and tail-light bulb houseings.

Do you want it to "hinged" like those hard Tannu bed covers?
Or just hinged sections?

 

[Skigirl]

Hmmmm, guess the url thingy didn't work. OK, trying again:
my stuff

Eric, I need to be able to easily access the repair supply box and tool bag, etc. I'm thinking about putting a piano hinge along the width by the rear seat.

 

[Twiz]

Looks like it all fits back there pretty nice. The Jerry cans might be a little tuff to work around tho'.
(I've seen some tail-gate mounted spare tire carriers that included Jerry-can mounts as-well)

A hinge across the inner fenderwells, braced as needed, would be pretty simple and build some kind of top for it.
Then maybe add a latch to the cab corners, like for-example a latch for a fence or something along those lines. (the cab-corners are pretty strong, lotts of sheet-metal and boxed)
Sounds like a trip to the hardwear store is in order, to get some ideas of whats avalible.

I'd like to see what HarrysH3's set-up looks like, any pics Harry?

 

[HarryH3]

I'll have to dig through my archives and see if I ever took a picture of the inside of that rig. That was 20 years ago when I owned that one, so I don't know if I have any good pics or not. /forums/images/icons/frown.gif

 

[azblazor]

That doesn't look like the back of your truck the last time I saw it! Where's the real pictures?

 

[Skigirl]

ROTFLMAO!!!!! Well hi Mark!!!! Yea, I have a lot less stuff in there now.... /forums/images/icons/smirk.gif But hey, took out all those extra parts... lose the 3 starters, 4 alternators, manifolds, and other stuff, and hey...it's a pretty big rig! /forums/images/icons/blush.gif More room for girls to overpack into /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

And it even runs now (I think) Looking back, I can't believe I took that truck (eventually) to Utah in the shape it was in. I'll be ready to meet you and Peg in Vegas next season. Linda said she'll fly. Coward.

I'll post a pic of my Barstow library card in lieu of the "real" pics /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

Pam

 

[Skigirl]

Thanks Eric, I'll take a look at that. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[Skigirl]

Grimmy, I looked into what a blind nut is. That's exactly what I wanted! It's a t-nut for metal! And looks like I'll need to rent or buy another tool to put them in. Wooohooo! /forums/images/icons/grin.gif /forums/images/icons/grin.gif /forums/images/icons/grin.gif

 

[Grim-Reaper]

MAN I SHOULD NOT TYPE RIGHT AFTER WAKING UP WITH A HANG OVER! So now I'm typing right after waking up without one when the baby decided it was time to get up. We will see if my spelling and grammer looks a little better.
Sounds like you found some of those crimp in thread inserts. I have a kit that was pretty reasonable from Eastwood. They work well but I'm not sure I would trust them to heavy loads. Blind nuts or captive nuts are any nuts that are fixed so they don't require a tool to hold them. Those thread insrts are made out of Aluminum and I question the over all strength. I supose if you installed them in such a way tha the actuall weight is not working on them just the bolt that goes into them. Trying to figure out a way to explain that makes sense here. If you put the nut straight through the deck of your shelf then if the truck rolled it would pull directly on the insert when subjected to the load.. If you were to put a bracket at a perpendicular angle to the deck like it was pointing at the wall then the load would be against the bolt with a sideways load against the thread insert. Hope that makes sense.
Personnaly I overbuild everything. I also weld some. I make my own blind nuts by tack welding a grade 8 nut to the metal.
You can get into the fenders , tail pan and the whole floor without much dificulty. There is about a 2 inch gap up in the fender wells. If you pull the tail light you and look right through the fender to the ground. If you bracket will be down low against the side wall or up near the tail light then with some electrical tape on a open end wrench to hold the nut you should be able to get a bolt started. Just takes holding your tounge just right. /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif Tounge touching right ear lobe usualy does it for me LOL. The only pace in the rear that is pretty well inaccessible is the box section that the gate latches to. It pretty restricted access from below.
Hmmmm that deck is going to be heavy to tilt up. Might want to put some gas struts on it like those used on a hatch back. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif They are very strong so mount them on a angle so you have leverage on your side otherwise you will have to jump on the self to get it closed.

 

[Skigirl]

Well, good morning Captain Hangover!

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If you put the nut straight through the deck of your shelf then if the truck rolled it would pull directly on the insert when subjected to the load.. If you were to put a bracket at a perpendicular angle to the deck like it was pointing at the wall then the load would be against the bolt with a sideways load against the thread insert. Hope that makes sense.


[/ QUOTE ] Yes, that makes perfect sense. The nuts that I saw were made of different materials (stainless steel for one) but I agree that a plate or huge fender washer or 2 would have to go underneath the nut crimp...it may just be easier to get someone to weld some grade 8 nuts to steel plates. Now I just need to find someone to weld it. I have a couple ideas.

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Just takes holding your tounge just right. Tounge touching right ear lobe usualy does it for me LOL

[/ QUOTE ] Funny, I use the same method /forums/images/icons/grin.gif

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Hmmmm that deck is going to be heavy to tilt up. Might want to put some gas struts on it like those used on a hatch back. They are very strong so mount them on a angle so you have leverage on your side otherwise you will have to jump on the self to get it closed.

[/ QUOTE ] Started looking at that weight factor yesterday. I've modified the concept a little. I think I should have the 2 pieces hinge together just behind the supply box. The way stuff is laid out in the back, is all repair stuff is close to the tailgate. Emergency survival gear stuff is in the second row, towards the rear seat. So, if I hinge it that way, then I'll only lift a 2' wide section. That shouldn't be too bad.

Now, the deck half by the tailgate would rest on the supply box when flat, but with a hinge behind it, the deck section in back of the supply box won't have support in the middle. So I'm thinking about putting drop in legs (2) or fold down legs as a solution (I'm open to others). There isn't much room back there, everything is pretty stuffed together, so however the legs go they need to be positioned at the rear edge (tailgate edge) of the deck piece. If you look at the photo again there's that big blue duffle there. To it's right is a subwoofer. To it's left (not in pic, but taking up the whole space) is another rescue bag (with climbing gear). So somehow legs need to fit in there.

I'm also considering dropping the piano hinge idea and hooking the front and back pieces together with something like a door hinge or those military hinges that dovetail into each other. That way, when I wanted to remove the deck, I can take it out in 2 pieces. One piece would be too heavy for me.

So, what do you think?