@Rick W
@97RangerXLT
I agree about the bolts. If I had double dipped galvanized 1/2' bolts or ready rod I would definitely be using that. What I have is double dipped 1/2" by 8" long lag bolts, which will definitely work for now. I will replace with bolts when I have the coin.
As far as the 45° braces, I don't see the need. I'm using the same factory bolt holes that would be used to bolt to concrete. So the post isn't going to bend. Neither is the
solid 2"x2"x55" piece of steel that the post is bolted to. And then that piece of steel is lag bolted to the wood beam, and I don't see that breaking either.
As far as wind... This will be protected from wind on 3 sides. Even if it wasn't I can't see wind moving it. My truck doesnt move in the wind. My box van doesnt move in the wind. Maybe hurricane force winds would move it. Don't forget that this frame has a 10' by 12' base supporting the posts. The beams are 10' long and 12' apart. The bottom of the vehicle will be at most 6'4" above the ground. So the top of the vehicle would be at 10' to 12' above ground. An empty 18 wheeler would be about the same for catching wind.
Of course I will make sure to look at all the points you guys have brought up and will change my methods if I need to.
I really do appreciate the input, it makes me think over my plans and makes sure I haven't forgot anything.
Not hen picking, all for safety, so I’d rather say it. You probably know most of this.
I still don’t understand what the flat frame on the ground is going to look like. If you could take three minutes and just sketch it with a pencil and then indicate what each piece is, it would help. For example, if it’s an oblong tic-tac-toe board, just sketch it, but then write next to each piece what that piece is: 4 x 6 wood beam w/4” across and 6” tall, 3 inch by 1/4” angle, whatever.
What kind of wood is that wooden beam? I’m guessing you don’t have the termite problems we have here in Georgia, but wood in the ground absorbs moisture and decays, etc. I don’t know if you can buy
Creosote up there, but if you do a little homework, you can find a CONTACT pest control wood preservative for putting wood into the ground. I would bathe it in that stuff. If it’s something that dries up like a pressure-treated board, then I would paint the outside again, to limit the pathways for the critters and the moisture. I know it’s not metal, but yep, rustoleum. The reason it’s good for rust/steel is it’s a phenomenal moisture barrier, and it has a fish oil base.
Ditto on the steel. How are you going to protect it in the ground? Steel rusts because there is electrical connectivity, and where the electrons jump off (everything you do with metal and moisture creates some kind of an electric circuit/potential, might be tiny, but over time), rust forms. So two thoughts for protection.
First, coat the steel. Guess what I would recommend? But if it’s buried, you can use any color you want. Before you just brush it or roll it on full strength, mix up a cup that is cut 2/3 with mineral spirits so it’s super runny. And then really work that in to every place you’ve got a weld, or where two faces go together, tight corners, etc. The thin mix will wick up into the microscopic spaces. An hour and a half or two hours later, coat it with the full strength stuff before the thin stuff fully cures. The layers will bond, and you’ll get a really good encapsulation.
You could pay a lot of money for some sacrificial anodes, but at the end of the day, they’re 90% aluminum with some magnesium. If the steel is not coated, electrons can jump off everywhere, so you would need an anode the size of a Volkswagen. If you seal the steel really well, the electrons can only jump off where there are microscopic imperfections or where there’s a scratch or such. The anode only has to be big enough to protect that little tiny surface area, so you only need a piece of aluminum maybe the size of a Band-Aid box.
The shape and thickness, etc. of the piece of aluminum does not really matter. But you don’t want something super long and thin that may corrode close to the connection point, and then you don’t have the benefit of the rest of the length. I use scrap pieces of aluminum angle, but you can use anything that’s aluminum. One of my favorites are heavy, scrap, aluminum frying pans. You have to sand all the surface off them, which takes about three seconds, but they’re thick and heavy, and will provide a long life.
To connect them, I like to use a braided cable like a ground strap (scrap yard), but you can really use any kind of copper wire, just make its three times as big as you think you might need. Scrapyard battery cables are great. For the Aluminum, I like to drill five or six holes in a row, and snake the copper in and out of the holes, up and down. Then I drill holes for small bolts, and I use flat washers or a scrap piece of steel or aluminum, so I clamp the aluminum very firmly to the copper wire. BTW, you have to sand down the aluminum also, no matter how clean it might look. Where it connects to the steel, you can drill a couple holes, and hold it with a couple bolts by making a little custom plate. Just a rectangle with a couple holes. It has to be super clean, and you have to mash it in there super tight. On both the steel and the aluminum, once you get it bolted up, bathe the connect points (only) with rust oleum, so you don’t get any fugitive leaks at a connection, and the electrons only jump off the large piece of aluminum. The electrons follow the path of least resistance. They will want to flow through the copper before the steel, and through the aluminum before the copper. So the steel and the copper don’t decay, and overtime, the aluminum turns into a piece of mush.
For your whole thing, you probably wouldn’t need more than two or three the size of a Band-Aid box to protect the whole thing. But if you have parts that are sticking out, it’s always advisable to put one at the far end of anything sticking out. And then you want a couple where the most mass is, so right under your posts.
And finally, when you put the thing up, you want those anodes deeper than the frame placement. You can use one of those augers on your drill that you use to plant tulip bulbs ($10) and drill a hole, and stick the aluminum down there, and then use something like a broom handle to just really tamp the dirt in very solidly.
A couple thoughts on wind. I don’t care if the posts are only 6 inches high, you’re putting up something that has a very big surface area, on a much smaller post. When you blow on your hand, and you don’t even have to blow hard, you can generate about 1/2 of a psi, and that’s a very conservative estimate. The concern is the “si” in psi.
I imagine the front cross-section of a Ranger is about 4 1/2’ x 4 1/2’. Do the math: 1/2 psi would generate about 1,500 pounds of force. From the side, I would imagine it’s 50% more. And even a mild wind is a whole lot more than 1/2 psi. Even if I’m off by a mile, you get my point, it’s a lot of force. That’s a hell of a lot of leverage on a 6 inch or 8 inch post.
If you load the truck up, and you don’t have it balanced in the middle, and the engine end is running long, that could put a lot of leverage on the posts. The wind can do much more than that, And just imagine if they were pulling in the same direction.Hence, my call for some angle braces. If you put in some angle braces that are 2 foot up and 2 foot out, they would only have to be about three-quarter inch by 1/8 inch. That expands the surface area of the pivot point by about 5X. It’s not as critical side to side, because there are two posts. And finally, the other thing about wind is it’s not consistent like if you were blowing with compressed air. It constantly surges, and if you’re the lucky one, it can set up a resonant sway on the lift just before you get squished.
And one final final final thought. When you get it all set up the way you want, I would cut a couple of three-quarter inch pipe or better portable supports that you can put under the front and the back of the vehicle, as a safety, in case the lift fails, but also to take any sway out of all of it. If you get heavy handed with a wrench, the wind blows, the mice in the ducts fart at the same time….
When you get all of that together, hold a red onion in one hand, and took a dead chicken under one arm, Wear a totes rain, hat, and hop on 1 foot. While you’re hopping, also spin around, it doesn’t matter how fast. When you do 2 1/2 revolutions, everything should be set properly. But don’t go more than 2 1/2 Revolutions, or the whole thing might pull out of the ground and soar into outer space.
My two cents, I hope it helps
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