Alternatives to drill/bolt mounting tie downs & other attachment points?

Shadewalker

Shadewalker

Member
Searching for "Drill" "alternate mounting" is not working so hot for me currently.. still attempting to find the correct word that will drill down (no pun intended) to what I am looking for without such a broad return of hits.


Oookay, so I decided to just make my own post and see what turns up.


I have built a box for my toyota tacoma 97, which is pretty much totally boltless,other then the bolts holding it to the truck frame. ( I just am not ready to trust the modern tech adhesives that far yet):Wow1:

As it is version one of my design, I have found areas that I should have made attachment points,added things to BEFORE certain construction steps happened,, AS I did not, I now need to add things such as tie down points for kayaks,etc to the box. I am curious if anyone has any suggestions on proper sealing IF drilling/bolting is the only way. or if there are any good how to do it correctly links showing the use of VHB tape / 2part adhesive use.

I have been studying the use of "Bolt Plates", ie, large plate material that is adhered to my main box thru the use of adhesive/VHB tape, which allows the spreading of the load over a larger area, and which I can drill thru, without drilling into the camper's MAIN wall.

The whole thing has been an experiment to test new/or somewhat new methods of construction. In this day and age, I feel it was time to start looking at new materials and get out of the "50's" nail/bolt everything together" (Not trying to upset anyone that uses those methods) Lord knows the material sourcing and construction may be quicker..and I have been tempted.....I just want to build something that doesn't need recaulked/repaired every couple years because of using subpar materials. (Household caulk,,2x2 lumber..here is looking at you!:D


For my solar panel, I plan on using VHB tape, the kayak tie down points, well, those are worrying me, as well as I NEED to buld a wind dam/air foil for the front of the box to help my MPG, and really am not sure about just gluing it. (Still looking for designs on those that are not sized for big rig semitrucks!)
 
Coachgeo

Coachgeo

Explorer
Lets say you found a glue or tape to mount a larger plate with tie down loop.. Would the roof or wall skin your attaching that too want to peel up/out? Where ever you attached the skin directly to something below is where you will have to mount your tie downs is what am getting out..... though you've probably already figured that out so my .02 is worthless :p

As to bolt thru and sealing it for good. What about roll on truck bed liner in a tastfull design pattern around the area; if it is even visible.

Sorry couldn't offer more.
 
S

S2DM

Adventurer
Shadewalker said:
Searching for "Drill" "alternate mounting" is not working so hot for me currently.. still attempting to find the correct word that will drill down (no pun intended) to what I am looking for without such a broad return of hits.


Oookay, so I decided to just make my own post and see what turns up.


I have built a box for my toyota tacoma 97, which is pretty much totally boltless,other then the bolts holding it to the truck frame. ( I just am not ready to trust the modern tech adhesives that far yet):Wow1:

As it is version one of my design, I have found areas that I should have made attachment points,added things to BEFORE certain construction steps happened,, AS I did not, I now need to add things such as tie down points for kayaks,etc to the box. I am curious if anyone has any suggestions on proper sealing IF drilling/bolting is the only way. or if there are any good how to do it correctly links showing the use of VHB tape / 2part adhesive use.

I have been studying the use of "Bolt Plates", ie, large plate material that is adhered to my main box thru the use of adhesive/VHB tape, which allows the spreading of the load over a larger area, and which I can drill thru, without drilling into the camper's MAIN wall.

The whole thing has been an experiment to test new/or somewhat new methods of construction. In this day and age, I feel it was time to start looking at new materials and get out of the "50's" nail/bolt everything together" (Not trying to upset anyone that uses those methods) Lord knows the material sourcing and construction may be quicker..and I have been tempted.....I just want to build something that doesn't need recaulked/repaired every couple years because of using subpar materials. (Household caulk,,2x2 lumber..here is looking at you!:D


For my solar panel, I plan on using VHB tape, the kayak tie down points, well, those are worrying me, as well as I NEED to buld a wind dam/air foil for the front of the box to help my MPG, and really am not sure about just gluing it. (Still looking for designs on those that are not sized for big rig semitrucks!)
Click to expand...

VHB is certainly strong, but it is not a 'structural' bond. Great for attaching something that wont see any loading, but I wouldnt use it to attach a kayak tie down point.

If you want a strong structural bond there are many two part epoxy and polyurethane adhesives, some of which are used to apply body panels to chassis etc. I use proset 176/276 quite frequently and it is incredibly strong. Its important to properly prep the area, and I'd atleast consider grinding down at the adhesive site to bare metal or whatever is underneath to allow the adhesive to bond to that.

Another alternative would be 3M 5200. Its not quite as strong as a two part, but is still very tenacious.
 
F

fluffyprinceton

Adventurer
AH...not much info to go on...What's the material & building techniques you used to build the thing? Mounting "hard attachment points" on composite stressed skin structures is totally different than on alu skinned/metal framed structures.Moe
 
Shadewalker

Shadewalker

Member
Its 3mm dibond (aluminum with a plastic core) adhered with 3m5200 to pink panther 2" insulation foam. all panels are bordered by .12" aluminum channel, which are adhered to each other with Dow Corning® 3145 RTV MIL-A-46146 Adhesive Sealant. Good stuff,just super spendy. (Makes 3m5200 look cheap)...ok, I just asked about the proset 176/276,,its $58 a tube at my local distributor,, so only $10 less then the Dow 3145..
hmmm..

I'll look into that proset and experiment with that. ( I've been testing a bond which used DAP advanced siding and window sealant..I would have used the 5200 ,but did not feel like waiting the 7 days for it to cure.)

I like my adhesives, I just need it to set QUICK!!:coffee:

Thanks for the info.

Here is a picture (three in one) of my current test mount using the DOW stuff) its had a chance to set for a couple days, so I am going to yard on it and see what happens. (Yay! REAL scientific)glued bracket for drilled bolt mount.jpg


PS, there IS adhesive UNDER the bracket, I laid it on at least .25" thick and covered both areas of the "L" bracket,
 
Last edited:
S

S2DM

Adventurer
5200 makes a fast cure version which sets in a day and is nearly as strong. Many say 5200 doesn't like being in sunlight and will get brittle which might be an issue in that location. Proset is great, requires a $200 gun to dispense though which is something of a bummer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Shadewalker

Shadewalker

Member
Holy crap! What's so special bout the gun? Air powered or something like that?
[Not sure why I'm surprised, heh...after all, the adhesive is not much less.

Interesting about the 5200,considering its a marine adhesive...(loads of sun in that occupation,I should think. )

4200 is the quick version.

Definitely got me interested in the pronset.:)
 
Shadewalker

Shadewalker

Member
Holy crap! What's so special bout the gun? Air powered or something like that?
[Not sure why I'm surprised, heh...after all, the adhesive is not much less.
 
S

S2DM

Adventurer
Shadewalker said:
Holy crap! What's so special bout the gun? Air powered or something like that?
[Not sure why I'm surprised, heh...after all, the adhesive is not much less.

Interesting about the 5200,considering its a marine adhesive...(loads of sun in that occupation,I should think. )

4200 is the quick version.

Definitely got me interested in the pronset.:)
Click to expand...

4200 is actually the non permanent version. Its about 1/2 the strength of 5200. Comes in slow and fast cure varieties. 5200 also comes in a 1 day and seven day version. The 1 day is nearly as strong as the 7 day.

Nothing special about the gun, its just calibrated for a two part adhesive (it has two separate plungers) and it accepts the proset mixing wands, which allow you to apply it like a single part without mixing first.
 
F

fluffyprinceton

Adventurer
Is this a structural panel - with an inner & outer dibond skin? Or is this a framed structure with a non -structural skin? In the first case a compression tube connecting the two skins can be used in the second case attachment points should be tied into the framing system. Moe
 
Shadewalker

Shadewalker

Member
No inner skin, just the outer. Its a pretty small box (5x4x7ft) I'll have to read more about the compression tube (just to suite my curiosity)

And yes, been attempting to tie most anything that is super heavy into the frame system.

Ack, not even done, and already thinking about version II!
 
F

fluffyprinceton

Adventurer
Compression tubes woulds be to used to transfer the load to the inner skin (if you had one...). I think your approach using an "edge angle mount" (best name I could think of...) is sound as it relies both on the shear strength of your adhesive and some compression strength from the angle of the load against the naturally strong box edge.
Maybe thick alu angle - thick enough to countersink a ring bolt - would be a clean way to do it. The ring (or any other bolt fastened tiedown fixture) could stick up from either the top or box side of the angle depending. Not sure if ones's better than the other strength wise...The longer the "legs" of the angle on the box side the stronger the fitting. You want the load to pull in a line as close to the brake-over point of the box/top joint. Clear as mud? I like your thinking & test prototyping approach. Moe
 
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