Running board mock-ups

[birkebeiner]

I've been inspired by Skinz air boards and lately by Bamboo's boards made of square and round bars, to mock up my own design. Unfortunately I don't have the tools to make these so I've drawn them up in Google SketchUp in 3D for now. The drawings are not with accurate dimensions as I don't have the sled in front of me to measure it up, but the idea is to use flat profile alu on the inside (what mounts to the tunnel), round alu cross bars, and a L-shaped alu outer profile. I guess it should be strong enough (but without any material strenght experience I'm only guessing) Mounts for drop brackets aren't drawn in either at this stage, and if I even made these I would make it look a bit better towards the end, tapered inwards at the back. Minor details

However, these shouldn't be too hard to fab, but need the material and someone who can weld alu. If alu isn't strong enough they can always be made of CrMo 4130 (or maybe titanium )

 

[birkebeiner]

Forgot to add, very much inspired by Rick's shorty skuzzball and tubie (which I btw look forward to completed ).

This site rock!

 

[APEX 06]

I like the idea, been think if doing, something like this for my apex mtx. Just dont know what to do with the coolers yet.

 

[birkebeiner]

Testing out my own 3D ideas in real life, but this is still very much on the drawing board.

Materials I've used so har is, all aluminium:
L-shaped 10x20 mm profile, 2 mm thick
Flat 2 x 20 mm prfile
Round 15 mm, 1 mm thickness

Still trying to figure out the angels, distance between the crossbars, etc so only trying it out for a foot or two. Will be interesting to see whether this alu will be strong enough...

 

[zx4ever]

Looks great, This is one of the best mods you can do to your sled. I just measured mine and the rungs and they are 2 3/4" apart but the are 1 " square tube, and i put mine on a 22 degree angle seems to work good. I think your design will be strong enough. Its good to see people making things themselves.

 

[Leno]

looks sweet

 

[rlcofmn]

I don't seem to ever make it over here for some reason, but since I just put a thread up here maybe that will change.

One bit of advice I can give you, overbuild the outer material. Keep in mind that when you weld your 6061 aluminum it becomes "soft" this is a big reason I really like using 4130. Skinz boards are made of 1/4" wall 1" aluminum (.693 lbs/ft), my latest set of 4130 boards is 3/4 .035 (.267 lbs/ft) and they did not bend a bit.

 

[birkebeiner]

Thanks Rick! Will def keep that in mind. I don't think the 2mm L-shape profile will be strong enough so will have to find something else.

 

[rlcofmn]

I'd look at maybe some rectangle materials. Like 12 x 35 x 3 or something similar (1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1/8"). But just keep in mind when welding heat treated aluminum you need to over build it, engineer the welds into areas that the structural integrity will not be compromised or have the completed project heat treated. The 3rd is not really a viable option, I'm not smart enough to engineer it right and I don't like weight. This is why I generally avoid structural parts from aluminum if welding is required. This is why billet products are so great, complex parts can be made without annealing it. But billet parts are not always practical. But a nice thing with aluminum for running boards is that you can easily run traction screws into it. 4130 is too thin to screw into, this is something I'm still working on the perfect solution for.