Talon Inserts with steel Torklift Receivers

[stevenal]

After many trips over the mountain passes to Utah, my tie downs started to look rather rusty. The most visible part is the insert. I was considering the whole sand, prep, prime, and paint path; and decided to try and find something that might last longer. When I bought the tie downs, Torklift did not yet offer the Talon (aluminum) version for my truck, so I went with the normal steel set. They subsequently came out with the Talon. I reached out to Torklift to see if they had Talon inserts that would fit my steel Torklift receivers, figuring that when aluminum corroded, it would not look as un-sightly. The answer was yes, and they directed me to the correct part number and ordering website. The rusty old inserts needed some persuasion to remove, and I started wondering if I had made a mistake ordering the Talons. Dissimilar metals, road salt to serve as an electrolyte, and you have a nice galvanic cell to assist with the corrosion process. My first thought was to apply plenty of anti-seize. After the first was done, I began to re-think. It appeared to me the clearance, insert to receiver, might be sufficient to accommodate heat shrink; electrically insulating the metals from each other. In addition, if I ran the heat shrink out to the plate of the insert, it would provide more protection from sanded roads. I looked on Amazon for 2" heat shrink, avoiding the double walled products. I selected the one that had a negative review stating it was "paper thin." Sounded perfect.

The rear tie downs were the worst, located just behind the wheels. I scraped the receiver insides the best I could, pulling out rust colored mud. My pressure washer nozzle fit right inside, which flushed out a lot more rusty mud. I used a heat gun to shrink the heat shrink over the new inserts, and to dry the receiver tube interiors. The inserts just fit, with some needing a gentle hand tapping to get into place. I'm ready for the next trip to Utah.

[Grit_dog]

The heat shrink will wear through about as quick as paint, where it touches. 
best plant would be to clean up and repaint the receiver pieces. You could use an in frame spray nozzle to get the insides. And then maintain them periodically. 
Some good rust proofing lube in the sockets like Fluid film, or grease/antiseize will help greatly as well. The shrink tube won’t help, really. If anything it’ll trap more moisture as soon as it begins wearing through which will basically be immediately. 

[stevenal]

The contact is fully spread out now, and I don't expect the heat shrink will wear through. I can report back following the next round trip to Utah coming up mid-March.

The  reason I rejected using anti-seize and all other lubricants is they will not electrically insulate the two metals. The galvanic cell will still exist. 

[Grit_dog]

Please doo. 
why does the pic look like you just sprayed the inserts with plasti dip?  Didn’t see a hard line where the shrink tubing ends. 
Those inserts move up and down and forward and back as the truck and camper attempt to flex and move separate from each other (the reason the tie downs are needed, essentially). 

[stevenal]

The hard line is not visible in this photo, since it's directly behind the plate. I assure you it is heat shrink and not plasti-dip. 

[stevenal]

1700 miles later, including wind strong enough to keep me under the speed limit at times, several mountain passes, and a short distance on a boulder strewn road into one of our favorite boon docking sites; and the heat shrink is holding up. The only obvious wear is longitudinal from insertion and removal, and this is minimal. The rust is on the surface. This is the same left front of the earlier photo. I'm calling this mod a success.

[MORSNOW]

Good to hear, and see!

[MORSNOW]

I agree with your points Grit dog, but I also think the heat shrink will make a tighter fit and spread-out contact points that will help with wear and corrosion.  

[Grit_dog]

The heat shrink will wear through as quickly and in the same spots that the paint initially wears through. 
difference with paint is it stays bonded to the metal where it hasn’t worn through, but moisture will creep under and stay under the remaining heat shrink, in short order. 
Think of it this way, would you use heat shrink insulation in any other situation where you’re looking for abrasion resistance?  Nope. And it certainly doesn’t have the compressive strength or durometer to provide that protection. 
This situation isn’t unique although more unique to truck camper tie downs because most of them don’t get used in winter/road salt situations.  
but there’s ALOT of trucks running around with stingers rusted into their trailer hitches. 
The real solution is if you’re going to expose bare steel to a corrosive environment then you need to maintain it periodically. 
Slobber some grease or whatever on it, plug it in and don’t expect it’s not going to get washed away or filled with dirt/sand. 
You could potentially control the galvanic action if the 2 pieces were solidly connected and not subject to cyclic loading that includes slight movement between the parts. But that’ll never happen in this scenario. 
Topical lubricants and periodic maintenance are the answer here. No magic easy button. 

Theres a lot of over-thinking going on here. 

[stevenal]

Thanks for the likes. Let's see if I can post a photo. Looks like it works, and without using a separate hosting site.😀Talon insert with heat shrink

[MORSNOW]

Great idea on using the "paper thin" heat shrink!