Carbon fiber bed for GMC
This article on the coming carbon fiber bed is interesting. Car and Driver on the carbon fiber bed I was surprised to see how much the bed flexes under impact. That is actually a good thing as ...
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My anchor, chain, scuba tanks, compressor, etc are all tied down against a stress distribution matt between them and the plastic boat. Also don’t drop my stuff into the boat, ever. Know and understand that plastic will not last nor designed for that kind of use
Even soft and lighter things like ice chest, food box, fishing tackle box, survival box, etc are all tied down
Never beached mine, but partners did and there was always a yearly chore to clean that spot, reapply gel-coat, etc. One of the last straws was when discovered algae growing all around where they beached it. Bubblies underneath the gel coat said only a matter of time before it had to be ground down and repaired
Last straw was their installation of two hugmongo outboards. IIRC, +300 HP each and knew that the transom was not designed for that amount of power. So sold out my part of the ownership
The point is that plastic is very good to GREAT in the right applications. IMHO, a pickup bed is not one of them...by a large measure
Graphene is cool stuff. Was VERY expensive, until some Chinese college kids discovered a much lower cost method to produce, but its use is still experimental at this time. Plus Graphene will need to be layered and current best is poly of some sort. Then that epoxy will become the weak link...as it is with both glass and carbon fiber
Even soft and lighter things like ice chest, food box, fishing tackle box, survival box, etc are all tied down
Never beached mine, but partners did and there was always a yearly chore to clean that spot, reapply gel-coat, etc. One of the last straws was when discovered algae growing all around where they beached it. Bubblies underneath the gel coat said only a matter of time before it had to be ground down and repaired
Last straw was their installation of two hugmongo outboards. IIRC, +300 HP each and knew that the transom was not designed for that amount of power. So sold out my part of the ownership
The point is that plastic is very good to GREAT in the right applications. IMHO, a pickup bed is not one of them...by a large measure
Graphene is cool stuff. Was VERY expensive, until some Chinese college kids discovered a much lower cost method to produce, but its use is still experimental at this time. Plus Graphene will need to be layered and current best is poly of some sort. Then that epoxy will become the weak link...as it is with both glass and carbon fiber
