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You might want to think about using the bed bolts and making an outrigger bar from side to side, i had a rampage unit and doing the bed bolts worked very well with no extra effort, only ever needed the front ones. good luck
I just ran across a video on youtube where a guy used L-Track cargo 12 inch rails in the bed of his truck, and then just bought some 1 inch wide 1/4 inch thick metal strips from lowes and cut them down to use as back strips every where there was a mounting hole in the L-track.. So far that seems to be the best set up I have found so far...because you can use a bolt called a double lug that hooks in the rails and gives you a locked in bolt that can still be used to bolt something down as well... check out www.uscargocontrol.com and check them out to see what you think...
hadnt thought about that route...yeah I am only looking at doing the front, like under where the winch sits, or on the two flaps/wings that are on each side of my loader where the load bars set... kind of like a 6 inch wide aluminum L shape on side of loader is the best way I can describe it.. Thought about maybe putting one bolt in the rear as a "just in case" thing...but really dont "need" to as there is nothing more now back there holding it down other than weight of the bike.
Hey all, hope everyone is doing well... I have an off the wall dumb question for you guys. I have a Cruiser Caddie motorcycle lift loader for my dodge ram pickup. It works great and makes hauling bike so much easier than tugging a trailer. The only issue I am having is I want to be able to bolt it down in my truck bed instead of using their boltless angle screw rod set up. The rods definitely hold the loader in place very well, but they do kind of take up side space in the truck bed when trying to find space for the secondary ramp section. I would like to be able to have a bolt in set up in the truck where I can just slide the loader in, bolt it down and go...then unbolt and slide it out when return back home... Any ideas?
I have attached a picture and you can see the yellow screw rod I referenced that holds loader in place...one goes on each side. Pardon the picture of the bike thats in the pic...thats the only good picture I could find online to show the rod I was talking about.
Forgive me if I am thinking about this wrong..... but the weight of the lift and the bike is on truck bed, correct...?
The "bolt less angle screw rod set-up" is only keeping the load from sliding around the truck bed.... It doesn't really hold any of the weight from the bike on the lift... correct?
When loading and unloading the bike, the lift/bed handles the weight, not the "bolt less angle screw rod set-up".... correct...?
So if you bolt down the lift to the truck bed, the bolts are not bearing the weight of the lift/bike, but just keeping it from sliding around the truck bed, like the "bolt less angle screw rod set-up".
If that is true, wouldn't the bolt joint be used in "shear", rather than "tension"... ?
I believe a joint in tension is weaker than a joint in shear. Doesn't matter (much) what type of fastener, pop rivets, welding, bolts, it is stronger in shear than in tension.
I'm not an engineer, but I would think the rivnuts would do well for that application, without the need for backing plates... For piece of mind you could use grade 8 bolts..
I had a similar situation with a piece of equipment some time back
You mentioned wing things on the ramp. See if the wings flat spots line up with the raised portion of the bed.
Most of the raised portions are 1 in to 1 1/4 in wide on the flat part. Drill holes through wings and bed 3/8 should be ok.
Use a 1/4 to 1/2 thick steel bar on the underside of the bed with drilled and tapped holes for the bolt to go into.
I made the steel bars ( 4 places ) 6 in long and put a good tack weld on each under the bed.
Tack welding will damage the paint an alternative I considered was to ad extra bolts at each end of 6in bars.
You are correct...the rods are used to keep the loader in place and prevent shifting. there is really no weight adjusting on it during loading and unloading. I am just looking for a better option to keep the loader from possible shifting than using the rods. The rods tend to be in the way more than anything else. For example when loading the secondary part of the ramp into the bed. I typically slide it up in beside the main part of the lodaer, but the rods prevent me from being able to slide the ramp all the way up in the bed , which results in having to strap it in a couple different spots to keep it from sliding forward or backwards. So my thought is if I could just bolt the loader down to prevent the movement then I could eliminate the rods...
You are correct...the rods are used to keep the loader in place and prevent shifting. there is really no weight adjusting on it during loading and unloading. I am just looking for a better option to keep the loader from possible shifting than using the rods. The rods tend to be in the way more than anything else. For example when loading the secondary part of the ramp into the bed. I typically slide it up in beside the main part of the lodaer, but the rods prevent me from being able to slide the ramp all the way up in the bed , which results in having to strap it in a couple different spots to keep it from sliding forward or backwards. So my thought is if I could just bolt the loader down to prevent the movement then I could eliminate the rods...
I may be missing something here? As you say, the supplied yellow rods are what keep the loader in place (confirmed by the install instructions on the Cruiser Caddie site...below).
Wouldn't just about any bolt-down system be as good if not better? As long as those rods are, to me they look like they could flex a bit...allow a bit of movement?
Plus...those rods look to be secured only to the stake pockets of the truck bed. Don't look to be fastened to anything "overly structural"
Bolts of any sort would be nice & snug, and as pointed out, are there more for shear strength. But again, I haven't seen one of these so I may way off.
There is a quote button - makes it much easier to tell which comment you are responding to.
Just me - I loaded lots of dirt bike and a few heavier Rice bikes with anything from a 2 x 10 to an ATV ramp and just ratchet strapped them down. My Ultra or other Harleys I own, won't be ging up an aluminum ramp, with a rail and no wheel chock. Even if I load, on & off, from a loading dock my truck will have a secured wheel chock. 800 pound shifting on a quick turn or emergency maneuver I wish you the best with bed rivet nut, those alignment rods, or whatever. Please remember to do another thread if it doesn't work out as you thought.
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Bolts
