UPDATE: What size aluminium to use?

St3v3

St3v3

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I need to put a track hoist in the truck.

To get the strength I'm going to have to put supports across the fiberglass roof, that bear on the walls of the body. So, I'm thinking u section aluminium but can't decide what size. It will be 8 foot long, and will need to support 100kg in the middle.

Any ideas?
 
St3v3 said:
I need to put a track hoist in the truck.

To get the strength I'm going to have to put supports across the fiberglass roof, that bear on the walls of the body. So, I'm thinking u section aluminium but can't decide what size. It will be 8 foot long, and will need to support 100kg in the middle.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Would the track hoist manufacturer not be able to give you some recommendations. Maybe a top hat section would be better as that would give more surface against the roof to spread the load.
 
There are all sorts of sizes available. I would have thought T wouldn't be as strong as U?

The manufacturer wouldn't get involved in such an unusual situation, and none of the weight can be spread on the roof as it's just fiberglass with supports, in the wrong place lol.
 
My vehicle (ex mil) had a traveling hoist fitted inside the body for 150kg it was 2 of C section 4mm thick steel x70mm section sides which was a bit over the top being military .
I would think I beam with a small traveling wheeled cradle to spread the point load would be best bet .
eg https://www.metals4u.co.uk/aluminium/c1/i-beam/c7140/101.6mm-x-76.2mm-x-6.35mm-x-7.94mm/p102490

It might be worth contacting the supplier of the aluminium to get their recommendation .

This gives a more complicated set up but same general idea , but you only need one directional capability .
americanpowerhoist.net

APH-500 5,000 lb. V-Pontoon Boat House I-Beam Cradle Kit **Please call before ordering**

americanpowerhoist.net
 
St3v3 said:
There are all sorts of sizes available. I would have thought T wouldn't be as strong as U?

The manufacturer wouldn't get involved in such an unusual situation, and none of the weight can be spread on the roof as it's just fiberglass with supports, in the wrong place lol.
Click to expand...
The hoist presumably runs on its own track so your support system should be equal or better . What you need is a rigid section so you need to work out the loads at the worst point which I would have though would be in the centre of the span , any decent mech engineer should be able t calculate what section would be appropriate.
 
Thanks all. This is for a disabled track hoist thing. That has it's own track, that I need to bolt through the roof into the aluminium supports I'm talking about. It's going to be outside, so I'd rather it was waterproof without needing paint etc.
 
It may seem overkill, but paranoia can be your best friend.
Order the material you decide on a little longer than you require, say 200mm
Prop the ends up on some bricks or blocks of wood having less than 100mm on them each end.
Now for fun and games, help would be best.
Balance in the middle a 100kg load. A 25 litre can of water is just over 25 kg, so you could stack 4 of theses.
If it bends you need a larger size of material in the vertical plane.
 
runnach said:
Can you access the vertical ally framework, Steve, if so, maybe you can dook into the verts?

Bit difficult to comprehend without seeing.
Click to expand...

I understand it's difficult to explain.

The important parts I guess are I need something to span 8 foot, that I can hang 100kg via an M8 threaded bar 4 foot in.

50 x 50 x 50, 6mm wall aluminium U section maybe?
 
the steel tube i have ,was used,with others, in a scania box lorry to sit across the load area to form a second floor for pallets etc . i know you fancy the ally, but this 3cm tube wouldn't be affected by a mere 100 kgs. and it hasn't rusted in 6-7 years
 
mr brown said:
the steel tube i have ,was used,with others, in a scania box lorry to sit across the load area to form a second floor for pallets etc . i know you fancy the ally, but this 3cm tube wouldn't be affected by a mere 100 kgs. and it hasn't rusted in 6-7 years
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Thanks Nige. So what size/ wall do you think for 100kg hanging in the middle of an 8 foot span?

Just one of them, to support the weight, all on it's own.
 
just went and looked at it, turns ot it's 4cm, my bad but i haven't looked at it for years ! . and it's 95 1/4 inches long. anyway if you want to get it and play with it you're welcome . also of course it's easy to weld to
 
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