Alternate uses for jack brackets

[daverave]

Being cheap and low-tech, my alternate use for jack brackets includes a rod holder for those times we are fishing and want to drive a short distance to try a new location. The Berkley rod holder sells for less than $10. You just have to drill new holes through the plastic to mount and scrounge around for some nuts and bolts. They are actually designed to be mounted in the other direction. I wouldn't take the rods out on a freeway like this but it works for us on two lane and FS roads.

 

[MountainSufi]

Daverave,

I suppose you could use sewer pipe with endcaps held on by friction as rod holders...

 

[philos65]

I'm using the jack stands to raise the roof to the proper height in order to attach the canvas to the body of the camper. Haven't done it yet, although I've raised the roof enough to know the ropes are higher than the 36" struts will be. I'm not using the interior lift panels - will either go with four linear actuators and no struts -


https://www.windynation.com/Linear-Actuators/Windy-Nation/Linear-Actuators-various-stroke-lengths/-/244

or four of these cargo bars cut down to lift 30" or so to lock the roof in place once it's lifted by a mobile linear actuator or speaker stand.

https://www.amazon.com/ABN-Pick-Up-Adjustable-Ratcheting-Organizer/dp/B01MZAJRY7


Jeff

 

[ntsqd]

OMG, so many options to choose from! This stuff looks insanely cool.

There's a reason that stuff is called "Engineering Erector Set". We build the bases for all of our production tool stations from it.

 

[yovik]

Being cheap and low-tech, my alternate use for jack brackets includes a rod holder for those times we are fishing and want to drive a short distance to try a new location. The Berkley rod holder sells for less than $10. You just have to drill new holes through the plastic to mount and scrounge around for some nuts and bolts. They are actually designed to be mounted in the other direction. I wouldn't take the rods out on a freeway like this but it works for us on two lane and FS roads.

Nice adaptation!

 

[Mthomas]

Nope, the skis have stayed surprisingly clean, it was one of my main worries with not having them on the roof. I've just had a few specs of dirt to clean off of them after 7 or 8 trips to the mountain so far and I think that's because my tires are wider than the wheel wells by an inch or so. I might put on mud flaps eventually to see if that helps, but so far they haven't gotten dirty enough for me to consider it a problem.

I have observed that while the side of my truck, and the back of the camper are completely covered in winter road grime, the sides of the camper are relatively clean. Side mount rack for the win. Thanks for sharing this bsam92.

Re flip down table: looking through then80/20 catalogue there are all sorts of hinge fittings. Very cool stuff

 

[ntsqd]

RE: 80/20 hinges. I've used the plastic ones for their 1" SQ extrusion and wouldn't recommend those for anything load-bearing. They're really intended just for panel doors and access covers.
Also, can search "80/20" @ mcmaster.com for an alternate source for these cool widgets.

 

[Danneskjold]

The cheap $2-3 hinges from Wal Mart work great with 80/20 as well.

I had a complete custom 80/20 drawer set up in my old (non FWC) camper and love the stuff. Super versatile!

 

[camper101]

That's the cool thing about 80/20, options: https://8020.net/catalog/category/view/s/shop/id/837/?cat=392&series_list=39
Can easily thru-bolt thru the bracket into the t-nuts.

This is awesome! Stupid questions about 80/20 please:

1. So do you just drill a hole wherever you need it?
2. Do I need to use aluminum bolts, and are those best ordered through 80/20?
3. Anybody know the best bolt length (20 or 30mm maybe)?

Haven't been on WTW for a while, but I came here today to find exactly this solution. Thank you all!

 

[ntsqd]

My familiarity is solely with the 1" square size. Drill a hole why? We only drill holes for the blind fasteners. Everything else gets a t-nut or a t-bolt. Most of the tabs for the 1" stuff are 3/16" thick so bolts/screws in the .500"-.625" length range work the best with those and their t-nuts. For there you should be able to extrapolate an appropriate fastener length for the thickness that you're going thru.

 

[MountainSufi]

I'm a DIY'er but have zero acquaintance with 8020 extruded aluminum. For newbies like me, it would be very helpful getting part #'s on what you're talking about (ie what t-nuts did you use, not a page of t-nuts) & what the heck is the bracket # that supports the cross beams. I REALLY wanna do this, but am daunted by mail ordering stuff I've got no experience working with. I'm guaranteed to misorder what I need 3 times before getting it right...

In the meantime 8020 has some other stuff going on that seems oddly beautiful, such as the t-slot stud:

Perhaps this could be finagled with a up/down slider for the upper cross brace, shaving a few inches off the side???

Whoa!!! 8020 has a sh*tload of instructional videos: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=80/20+inc
This vid mentions textured HDPE and shows structural cross bars giving strength to the

I suspect the Thomas Edisons among us can glean ideas for a folding work table here:

Anybody getting a bomber frame and folding worktable together with parts and pictures will certainly earn hero status here at WTW.

I'd be more than willing to pay for plans!!! Your genius will save me FUBARs and $ well worth the price of detailed plans.

Happy Festivus, 2018!

 

[MountainSufi]

Holy friggin' cow!

Load bearing hinges for the folding work table from 8020. Wish I was smart enuff to engineer this right the first time. I'm posting this for list Tom Edison's:

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

BSAM92

That is flipping genius and exactly what im looking for to mount a fold down table!

Thanks! Well Done!

 

[MountainSufi]

Hmmm... If the flip down table is light & doesn't project much... With extruded aluminum on table bottom... It should be possible to leave the table in place year round... bsam92's Yakima ski racks could be attached easily for winter, and taken off apres ski season... Or left on year round to hold? Perhaps the Speaker Stand hand crank roof lift assist... Or??... The ski racks wouldn't extend much farther than side mirror...

I look forward to benefiting from others trial & error mistakes and detailed plans!

Hmmm... It'd be nice to have the fold down table wide enuff to seat an lp stove... On the side of the camper with 2 LP cannisters... One canister with an auxillary hose going to the LP tank... l could use my folding cosco step stool to give the elevation to comfortably cook???

 

[ckent323]

I have used 8020 to build test equipment support structures at work. It is handy but the 15 series is a bit heavy and I think it is a bit expensive too.

There are some other T-Slot products out there that might work for those wanting to use something like 8020 and which may be lighter and cheaper e.g. MicroRax, MakerBeam and OpenBeam.

Further, 8020 comes in at least 2 sizes in the US 1" (10 series) and 1.5" (15 series) so perhaps the less beefy and light 10 series is useful

https://www.meccanismocomplesso.org/en/tslot-framing-openbeam-makerbeam-micromax/

https://www.isrtv.com/forums/topic/21633-confusion-with-8020-and-where-to-get-it-for-cheap/

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

Hmmm... If the flip down table is light & doesn't project much... With extruded aluminum on table bottom... It should be possible to leave the table in place year round... bsam92's Yakima ski racks could be attached easily for winter, and taken off apres ski season... Or left on year round to hold? Perhaps the Speaker Stand hand crank roof lift assist... Or??... The ski racks wouldn't extend much farther than side mirror...

I look forward to benefiting from others trial & error mistakes and detailed plans!

Hmmm... It'd be nice to have the fold down table wide enuff to seat an lp stove... On the side of the camper with 2 LP cannisters... One canister with an auxillary hose going to the LP tank... l could use my folding cosco step stool to give the elevation to comfortably cook???

Well, you’re in luck.. I’ll be tackling this right after the holidays and will post my progress

 

[MountainSufi]

So Cal Adventurer,

We Are Family

You've got a BBQ waiting when you journey thru Jackson Hole!

 

[ntsqd]

I use 1" almost exclusively on the projects that I work on though some of the other projects really need the bigger dimensional stuff for strength. My preferred t-nut is this one:

https://www.mcmaster.com/47065t142
Note the orientation of the nut-plate in the picture. You can install these upside-down and when you do the boss on the bottom (for added thread depth) will lock into the top of the slot making any adjustment impossible. They grip plenty strong enough w/o needing to intentionally install them upside down.

When I haven't thought far enough ahead or something got added after initial assembly making the use of a "tip-in" nut necessary I prefer these:

https://www.mcmaster.com/47065t226
They're also handy when you need a bolt right up close to a butted end of the extrusion because of the offset hole.

These are the studs that I use when I have to.

https://www.mcmaster.com/47065t233

I prefer not to use studs, but there are two panels on each Back-fill station that need to be stood off of the extrusion by some distance so I use the studs threaded into male/female threaded stand-offs like these: https://www.mcmaster.com/91075a198 to set that stand-off distance.

 

[rando]

I used the 10 series (1") for my jack bracket recovery board and antenna holder, which you can make out in these photos:

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:27097]
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:27096]

It has worked great so far, so I think the 10 series is likely beefy enough. To mount adjustable cross rails (like for the antenna) I use these:

https://8020.net/shop/4132.html

Or these when more rigidity is required:

https://8020.net/shop/4136.html


I like these nuts:

https://8020.net/shop/3873.html

They slide in from the end, but stay centered in the T-Slot so they are easy to thread a bolt into after you have slid them into place. Unfortunately they don't seem to come in stainless, but I use them with M6 stainless button head hex screws.

You can sometimes find offcuts of the rail for cheap on ebay.

 

[ntsqd]

For an 8 foot span I'd be concerned that the 1" 80/20 wouldn't be rigid enough w/o adding some structural features that turn them into a truss. If a single extrusion is what is desired I'd go with one of the bigger sizes.

For a 6 foot span it would be more dependent on how much weight was being attached and where it was being attached. If the weight is near the jack brackets it's likely not an issue. If the weight is attached mid-span then it likely either needs to be bigger or it needs a constructed truss too.