Secure Mechanical Coupling

What's the best type of wire to use? I recall many years ago wires seemed to have been very carefully designed with many types for many jobs and they often lasted decades if not years. Now wire seems to be a very simple thing without much variation... at least what you see used.

So a wire pair that is flapping in the wind (secured every foot or two) and carrying an amp at 12 volts would best be which type? Should it be mechanically shielded? What would that best be? I suppose a piece of plastic conduit tubing would do a good job. I think I have a 10 foot piece somewhere. Then there is the final five foot that *won't* be clamped to anything except the light at the end. I guess I could clip it to the load at a couple/three points.

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman
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Yes, you are right this is hard to picture. I can't visualize where the hinges are attached or how the pins could have no force on them unless they are rotated so the pins are horizontal. Then it becomes problematic to see how they could be attached to the boards. Is that what you mean by "lapped"? The boards are cut so each one is six inches longer on the bottom half? I can't figure out what you mean by top and bottom edges.

Are you talking about thinning the boards to half an inch over a length of six inches?

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman

I finally got what you are suggesting. I think it is the best idea yet except it costs me six inches of length of the frame. I suppose that is not fatal. The hinges also stick out on the top and the bottom, but I suppose I could recess them a bit with a router. Otherwise the boards won't lie flat and the load might be scratched by the one on top. It still needs tools to take apart and assemble. Less expensive hinges hold the pins with friction which might be a problem both in getting the pin out and relying on it to keep the pin in. Maybe I can open the hinge pivot a bit to make the pin slide more easily and add a hole through both to add a clip pin to secure the pivot pin.

The more I picture this the more I like it. :)

Now the only problem is that I want the hinges to not rust and stainless is a bit pricey. I really can't find galvanized hinges so easily either, but I guess I can find them now that I have more confidence in what I'm using them for.

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman

I have no idea, not my area. But I would start by looking at trailer cable from an automotive shop. At least the application is similar.

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Regards, 

Adrian Jansen
Reply to
Adrian Jansen

Only the part that runs along the frame. The part that hangs off the load to reach the end light will need to be something substantial that can take a lot of bending.

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman

At 1amp you could use "figure eight" flex cable.

Reply to
Rheilly Phoull

Just now reading this thread. I too like the idea of using a metal sleeve. Have you considered using carriage bolts, washers and wing-nuts? That would at least avoid having to have tools to assemble/disassemble. You would end of with two pieces, and could just stack them in the truck bed when the whole 12-foot length is not deployed.

How much weight are we talking about anyway? And, am I correct in understanding that the center of gravity is located one-foot beyond the outermost edge of the truck's fold-down gate?

Reply to
mpm

Sure, a sleeve sounds great, but would have to be made from scratch... Hmmm... I do have some sheet aluminum, less than 1/8 inch, maybe 16 gauge. I suppose I could bend a piece of that. What I've been thinking of is a sandwich of steel plates rather than a sleeve. I can mortise the metal into the wood to give it more hold. I might use the nail plates I've been asking about if I don't use the metal to overlap the joint.

Two possibilities, one is a butt joint and the other is a lapped joint. With the butt joint the board ends could be made in a poor man's dove tail, by that I mean use a router or saw to cut V grooves in the ends like material with pinking shears. The ends would mesh spreading the forces. The metal would mainly serve to hold the joint tightly together. I could even add a second hole in the metal a bit further out so the metal can act as a hinge by moving one bolt to the second hole and loosening the other bolt.

With the lapped joint the nail plates can be used to strengthen the wood and prevent splitting. Then one large bolt can be used to secure the joint making assembly/disassembly easier. Wing nuts are marginal at best. They would need to be pretty tight and some sort of tool would be needed. I found wing nuts with large handles, but they are pretty expensive. I found one that is $20 for two including shipping, so maybe that will work.

The kayak is 17-18 ft long so the center is about 9 foot from the start of the bed. The rack is 12 foot long. The joint would be at about 6' 3" from the start of the bed or about two feet in from the end of the tailgate.

The rack has multiple cross pieces which cradle the kayak, so there would be at least three on each part once cut in two.

The kayak is only about 60 lbs, but if it is loaded with gear it could be a lot more. The heavy end could be loaded into the bed. But with the much larger cantilever ratio I would not be happy if the joint wasn't over designed.

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman

A couple of thoughts. If you have a trailer hitch you could make an adapter to attach to the trailer hitch that would support the frame .

Or just make your frame so it extends over the cab of the truck like people have ladder racks.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

Den tirsdag den 15. august 2017 kl. 08.11.14 UTC+2 skrev rickman:

add posts and use wire rope to support the part hanging ?

Reply to
Lasse Langwadt Christensen

A trailer hitch would provide support *closer* to the bed than the tail gate does. Hoisting the frame over the cab would eliminate the point of the frame. I have in the past thrown the kayak on the cab roof and tied it off at each end. It is a bit heavy, but I can still lift it over my head. The problem is all the damn ropes needed to secure it, and they can't really do such a great job of that. Once I had the front secured by the hooks under the bumper and took a sharp turn for an exit ramp. The hook on the boat ripped the carry handle and the boat came loose!

I can secure the frame in the truck bed with "quick" release devices and tie the boat to the frame with simple straps. The idea of cutting the frame in two is just an idea. If it doesn't work out I won't do it. But it does help a lot with the remaining inconveniences of a 12 foot long frame.

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman

Lasse Langwadt Christensen wrote on 8/15/2017 6:34 PM:

I don't follow what you are describing. Are you suggesting stakes in the bed sides that reach up high and supporting the end of the boat from those? Or I guess the frame end. Yeah, that could work maybe. But I'd like to get rid of the rope. Rope always needs adjusting.

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman

How about this?

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Reply to
krw

Thanks for posting this. I was not aware that such things were available and thought one would have to be fabed.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

. Hoisting the frame over the cab would eliminate the point of the

You never said what the purpose of the frame is. But assuming easy loading, try a search on " easy loader canoe " You still have to pick up 1/2 the weight.

The

Try searching for " cargo straps ". The straps are polyester and do not have much stretch as well as a ratchet for easy tensioning.

Reply to
dcaster

This ain't my first time at the rodeo. "Easy" is a relative term. None of the loaders I've found do very well on a pickup without a cap. The kayak is as long as the truck, so front and rear tiedowns are mandatory. It's all just a PITA. I want it to be truly easy.

As if I've never seen cargo straps before. I bought a set of 4 heavy duty straps at Costco and used them for some time, but they were always a bother. Adjusting them for more than a few inches means they have to be unwound and restarted. Then there is the long extent of strap hanging loose. It is hard to tie strap ends. Strap requires special knots.

I appreciate the advice, but I have pretty much seen all the options available. I even thought of building an "auto" loader that lets you load the boat into the bed and then lets you crank the whole thing up onto the roof. It could work, or I can just load the kayak into the bed and be done with it. I'm just trying to see if I can find an easy way to make the rack break down for storage that doesn't weaken it too much.

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman

That's just one example. There are others with different price points and quality. Harbor Freight carries one, too.

Reply to
krw

I think he means like a suspension bridge, they'd be attached to the outside of the frame. perhaps use steel "rope". I'm thinking vinyl covered stainless rope like used for clothes-lines, low voltage lighting, and handrail underfill etc, there's a special tool to swage the terminations. it'll probably need turnbuckles on one end too. _ ..:'H':.. ..''.' H '.''.. ..'' .' H '. ''.. 8============o#============= ~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ []____/ \ ___ | O | \___/

'. ropes H tower 8 tail lights lights pluged into trailer connector. Or possibly have the towers attached to the hinge pin so the whole thing can fold flat.

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Hmm, I think those tires need more air.
Reply to
Jasen Betts

If you view the "towers" from the other perspective you will see what is wrong with the idea. There would need to be something to support them from falling sideways. 1x6 inch board is very sufficiently strong to not need any extra supports. If I can't build the joint so it doesn't need such drastic supports, I won't do it.

At this point I am pretty sure I can use something like the HRS416Z tie strap by mortising it into the boards to be joined and sandwiching it with outer 1x6 pieces. Appropriate fasteners would be added that pass through the boards being joined, but act as support pins. There would be a single bolt running through the layers to hold it all together with large wing nuts. So remove a bolt on each side and the whole thing is disassembled.

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Rick C 

 From Wintercrest Farms 
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Reply to
rickman

nah. bolt them to the side there's already cross members keeping the

1x6 faces vertical. and all the force is in the down direction anyway.
2.7mm steel plates. yeah, that has a chance of working. but your wooden clamp idea seems dodgy. those holes are going to get bigger and bigger and then your kayak snaps in half.
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Reply to
Jasen Betts

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