Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
Forum Discussion
Lifting Mechanism.
Started with a piece of steel stock.
After some cutting, drilling,
And grinding,
constructed the lifting mechanism.
The bar across the top is a guide rail for testing.
Once I started testing I found I had to move the central pivot down 1/2". Also the top arm has to have the driving pivot point .8" below the bottom of the bed level.
To create the pivot connection between the different arms I've drilled a 1/4" hole in each arm.
Then used a 1/4"bolt with a nylon spacer between the arms and then a washer-nut-lock washer-nut on the end of the bolt to hold everything in place.
I originally thought I would need the nylon spacer for clearance between the two arms. After having tested it I might just replace that with a metal washer and some 3-in-1 oil to reduce friction.
Looking for suggestions: The pivot connections seem to be a bit of a kludge to me but it's the best I could come up. Can I get some suggestions on how to make a better connection so the steel arms can rotate but withstand lateral(?) force?
There is a machine shop in town but the more I can do myself the better.
Thanks,
Dave
Started with a piece of steel stock.
After some cutting, drilling,
And grinding,
constructed the lifting mechanism.
The bar across the top is a guide rail for testing.
Once I started testing I found I had to move the central pivot down 1/2". Also the top arm has to have the driving pivot point .8" below the bottom of the bed level.
To create the pivot connection between the different arms I've drilled a 1/4" hole in each arm.
Then used a 1/4"bolt with a nylon spacer between the arms and then a washer-nut-lock washer-nut on the end of the bolt to hold everything in place.
I originally thought I would need the nylon spacer for clearance between the two arms. After having tested it I might just replace that with a metal washer and some 3-in-1 oil to reduce friction.
Looking for suggestions: The pivot connections seem to be a bit of a kludge to me but it's the best I could come up. Can I get some suggestions on how to make a better connection so the steel arms can rotate but withstand lateral(?) force?
There is a machine shop in town but the more I can do myself the better.
Thanks,
Dave
