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welding skid

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rig skid welding
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corbzy

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
hi everyone i am new to the site and am seeking advice on doin awelding skid for my truck. i am goin to build it out of 2x2x 3/16 tubing and am wondering the best or easiest way to bolt down or attach to the bed of my truck. it will be goin into my 11f350 short box crew cab. i am assuming it would be considered "dreaming" to use the factory tie downs in the 4 corners already. should i put bolts through the skid down through the cross members? kinda looks like there is only really one spot to even think aboutngoin through a crossmember. as for just goin through the box of the truck there is a few places to go into the looks like 11 gauge supports of the box. dont think that is goin to cut it.

any suggestions would be awesome thanks
 
#4 ·
I am in the same spot as you are. I have had my welder/compressor on a trailer for years, but now need to pull my big trailer behind the truck and need the welder in the bed. I am considering building a platform out of 2x2 that will fit on top of my welding trailer, and easily bolt down to it, or can be set in the bed of the truck, and be easily secured. The idea that I have nearly settled on is to make the platform to be a few inches wider than the welder/compressor setup and to drill a couple of 5/8" holes on each side. Then mount it on the trailer and drill and tap a hole in the trailer in each location. Then repeat the process on the truck, except tack weld some flat bar under the hole locations on the truck bed. Might be better to use a couple of carriage bolts on the flat bar, so that it doesn't rattle loose and break the welds when the welder is not installed.
The only issue i have with this idea is locating the skid to line up with the bolt holes. I am considering installing a couple of locating pins in the bottom of the skid, so that when I set it in place everything lines up.
 
#5 ·
Im going to go ahead and say that this is a pretty important thread. Im in the same boat as all you guys. Looking for the best way to put a skid in and out of a truck bed.
I think the problem is that modern beds are so goofy and shapeless.

Heres what I have right now. Its C channel bolted in four spots through the bed. The bolt holes are for my trailblazer, and the rusty steel off the back is a pin bracket for a 45 degree bottle rack... All of this works ok, but it needs to go.

Just yesterday I saw a nice little rig with a trailblazer snugged up against the rear of the cab, three bottles tucked neatly across the rear grille of the machine a-la- passenger side. Two nice little lead posts all like I said, sitting nice and tight against the front of the bed.

Of course, when youre eying up someone elses stuff, you always forget to look at how its mounted so I totally blew it on that.

But Id really like to do something like that. The bracket below is really annoying when youre trying to load drywall or 2x4s. so heres one thought thats been bouncing around in my head. a few years back on a different truck, I made a really heavy duty 2"x2"X1/4" wall ladder rack and set it on angle iron that rode the inside rails of my truck bed. I drilled and bolted it down and then proceeded in getting into a pretty decent head on collision with another car which totaled the truck but never moved the rack. and that rack was every bit of 300 pounds. The rack took the hit and stayed solid. so Im thinking Id like to transfer that principal downward and lay angle iron on my bedrails again, bolt it down, and then use it has a starting point for building downward into the bed a nice little mounting point for a skid.
 

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Discussion starter · #6 ·
thats a pretty good idea withe the channel but i can see it would be a pain loading drywall. unless unhad something a little largernlike a couple pieces of 4 x4 tubing to rest it aove the channel. i am goin to start building my skid this week so i am hoping i can figure something out along the way
 
#8 · (Edited)
mb_welder said:
Here's how I mounted mine; it's anchored down using the four factory tie downs and a bit of creativity! 4 eyes, 4 turnbuckles and 4 of those safety chain anchors that screw closed! :)
Click to expand...
Those "Safety Chain Anchors" are called Rapid Links. The ones sold by Princess Auto, or Gregg Distributors have NO Working Load Limit, or Safety Rating. Neither do the Galvalume/Pot Metal Turnbuckles. They may work fine in a Static Load situation, but they will fail miserably when a Dynamic Load is applied - ie car accident.

These are the only Rapid Links I could find with a load rating:
http://ropes-course.com/store/index...e/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13_131&zenid=9b4d6b4ac280d000195517c5845d7481

They are a really mis-used piece of hardware. I remember driving truck, and we used them on our tire chains.

I have lost track of the number of Rapid Links that I have replaced at work that have failed from weight, and vibration. The internal threads on the nuts strip, and the link spreads open until the components come apart.

Fom the photos, your tie-downs are pulling horizontal, or almost slightly uphill to the factory tie-down in the box. In the case of an accident, the skid will then be able to lift off the floor of the box until the tie-downs are pulling it downward. By then, the skid will have accelerated, and developed enough energy to blow your tie-downs apart, snap your eyebolts off at the shoulders, or rip the tie-downs out of the sheetmetal box sides. Either way, the skid is coming OUT.

I would truly hope that time will prove me wrong, but past experiences (as a 2nd generation truck driver) lead me to believe that you are going to earn yourself a Darwin Award.

To the O.P.:

Many members on here will lead you to believe that it will be sufficient to bolt through the sheetmetal and use "Fender Washers" and other sorts of non-sense. It is Ultimately up to YOU to decide what is, or is not acceptable to keep YOU, and those you love, safe.

For ME, a load is not correctly secured in the back of a truck, until it is secured to the Truck Frame by bolting through the floor to brackets secured to the frame rails.

I have been in this pizzing content before in the context of securing "Winter Weight" into the back of a truck. It gets pretty sketchy what some people deem as acceptable.

Whichever way you go - I wish you the best of luck.
 
#9 ·
Black Wolf said:
Those "Safety Chain Anchors" are called Rapid Links. The ones sold by Princess Auto, or Gregg Distributors have NO Working Load Limit, or Safety Rating. Neither do the Galvalume/Pot Metal Turnbuckles. They may work fine in a Static Load situation, but they will fail miserably when a Dynamic Load is applied - ie car accident.

These are the only Rapid Links I could find with a load rating:
http://ropes-course.com/store/index...e/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13_131&zenid=9b4d6b4ac280d000195517c5845d7481

They are a really mis-used piece of hardware. I remember driving truck, and we used them on our tire chains.

I have lost track of the number of Rapid Links that I have replaced at work that have failed from weight, and vibration. The internal threads on the nuts strip, and the link spreads open until the components come apart.

Fom the photos, your tie-downs are pulling horizontal, or almost slightly uphill to the factory tie-down in the box. In the case of an accident, the skid will then be able to lift off the floor of the box until the tie-downs are pulling it downward. By then, the skid will have accelerated, and developed enough energy to blow your tie-downs apart, snap your eyebolts off at the shoulders, or rip the tie-downs out of the sheetmetal box sides. Either way, the skid is coming OUT.

I would truly hope that time will prove me wrong, but past experiences (as a 2nd generation truck driver) lead me to believe that you are going to earn yourself a Darwin Award.

To the O.P.:

Many members on here will lead you to believe that it will be sufficient to bolt through the sheetmetal and use "Fender Washers" and other sorts of non-sense. It is Ultimately up to YOU to decide what is, or is not acceptable to keep YOU, and those you love, safe.

For ME, a load is not correctly secured in the back of a truck, until it is secured to the Truck Frame by bolting through the floor to brackets secured to the frame rails.

I have been in this pizzing content before in the context of securing "Winter Weight" into the back of a truck. It gets pretty sketchy what some people deem as acceptable.

Whichever way you go - I wish you the best of luck.
Click to expand...
Excellent advice here...
Keep safety NUMBER ONE!...
 
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Discussion starter · #10 · (Edited)
thanks blackwolf thats what i was lookin for. i will build the skid then place in box and then drill up through the frame in 4 spots. i figure 2 per side should be plenty no ? will take some extra time but definitely worth knowing it is secured properly and wont hurt me or anyone else. depending on where i have to end up drilling up through incould weld on some plates onto the skid if need be
 
#12 ·
There must be some structural reliability to truck beds themselves or I couldnt really see companies like weathergaurd selling their boxes that just bolt to the bed knowing full well the amount of weight to carried in those boxes. I just pulled the plastic bedliner and my above pictured bracket out of my truck this afternoon. Im down to the bare bed now and Im thinking of ways to fabricate a solid foundation for any and all further bed additions/skids.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Citizen Smith, Thanks for the link. I LIKE it.

If I had a ball hitch in my truck, I would use something like that, but seeing as I have a conventional 5th wheel hitch, I use the rails that are bolted to the frame after I slide the hitch out.

On second thought - I could fab up a plate that locks into my hitch rails, has a gooseneck ball on it, and rails to keep the skid from rotating......Then I could customize this project for my application. Hmmm... Food for Thought.

I owe mb_welder an apology of sorts. He posted his set-up here in good faith, and I pretty much picked it all apart. My intentions were NOT to insult the man, or his ideas, but more to point out things that he may not have thought of in the hopes that others make better informed decisions.

In any event, Have a Good Night.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
well i did more investigating today... i went to ford to see about a 5th wheel hitch installed ie the frame rails so that i wouldnt have to drill random holes in my bed and possibly screw me over for warranty... anyhow they completely changed the setups for the 2011 superduty and no longer use rails instead there are 4 bolts that are already located in every bed of the f350's for people to be able to install a 5th whell hitch at a later date....

so long story short i have 4 existing holes in my bed for the 5th whell hitch but i can use them for my skid instead... i didnt see the bolts that where there since they were covered by the spray in bed liner. soooooo wahoooooooo i am ordering up my steel tomorrow and then going to fab my skid and drill out the existing bolts that are buried in line x lol... will post pics when i get rolling. just wish i could find some welding cabinets for a good price lol
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
so i ended up using 3 of the 4 existing 5th wheel hitch holes in the bed of my truck as anchor points the 4th was right above my gas tank and i said F$ck screwing with that... couldnt fit my hand in there... had to drill out the other 3 as it was since the spray in bedliner covered them up nice lol.... built everything myself so any feed back would be great.. hard to find any designs to use on my truck since it is newer and couldnt find a single on it. been a slow process since i work 10 hours a day at work and sometimes dont feel like heading to the garage or driveway to work for 4 more... so keep plugging away here and there... will be mounting cable hangers by this weekend then just need to build my bottle rack for oxyacet, shortly after i hope hahah

through in the pic of truck and trailer when we were camping in crowsnest pass alberta over last weekend... the trailer will be my home away from home on jobs of a week or longer otherwise probably just hotel it
 

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corbzy
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