T-slot. need some advice

[NOTJeepBeerSleep]

trying to add some T-slot to my jeep and i am having a tough time figuring out how i am going to add it. what i want to do is drill 2 holes in 2 pieces of t-slot for anchor bolts to go through. if i used a drill press and drilled these holes out how is that going to effect the strength of the T-slot? see my great drawing. I just want to chat about T-slot with someone who knows it.

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[Free2roam]

What are you hanging off of the T slot?

 

[rharr]

I used this stuff:
https://www.cargonets.com/airlinetrack.html

Aviation Track #3
Part # LT-230096
8' section

Drilled holes every 12" and then used a counter sink bit to put a flare on the hole in the track so I could use machine head bolts that will sit flush to the top surface. That track is about 1/8" thick so it can accommodate a counter sunk hole well.

Then just used large fender washers and nyloc nuts on the bottom side of the bed to hold it all down.

 

[NOTJeepBeerSleep]

this will be above my bed. an awning i havent bought yet, lights i havent bought, antenna, etc.

the top i have has these cross bars that the manufacturer says holds 700 lbs. i want to replace the 2 bars with a "box" of T-slot.

 

[LostWoods]

Redo here after seeing your picture.. not gonna be great with just two anchors. T-slot isn't designed to be floated like that so you should probably look into unistrut or aluminum extrusion.

 

[rharr]

if you need to be able to bolt to stuff you can use these type of lugs. (you can see the counter drilled hole in the photo for machine screws.

Still not 100% clear what you are doing but that link has a bunch of parts that might help you.

https://www.uscargocontrol.com/collections/aircraft-style-seat-l-track

 

[NOTJeepBeerSleep]

I just want to make the rack more usable. I Think i want to use tslot because of how I could connect various things in various places. Also I want to make these crossbars into more of a rack or basket for storage. The tslot would open up uses in the future. Maybe it's running steel across and then attaching the tslot to it.

 

[coastiej171]

https://www.tnutz.com/

 

[ggdillon]

I just want to make the rack more usable. I Think i want to use tslot because of how I could connect various things in various places. Also I want to make these crossbars into more of a rack or basket for storage. The tslot would open up uses in the future. Maybe it's running steel across and then attaching the tslot to it.

I also appreciate the ability to easily attach stuff to t-slot. I used it to make a cargo deck over the back third of my tonneau/bed. Works great, love it!

As to the original question, I would think you'd be fine to drill a through hole through a center slot and bolt it to something. I may do that to attach some side rails to my welded aluminum rack. I plan to use a big fender washer that would help spread the bolt heads force over as much of the outside of the t-slot. I can't image that wouldn't be strong enough for what you need, assuming you have selected appropriately sized t-slot in the first place.

Alternatively, can you use 90 angle-iron type connectors like inside corner brackets or inside corner gussets?
https://www.tnutz.com/product-category/15-series-brackets-and-plates/

Or get the internal threaded ends and use them to bolt in from the "end" of the t-slot? That probably what I'll do for the rails on my rack, but it requires t-slot cut a bit more precisely.

 

[johnchabin]

Redo here after seeing your picture.. not gonna be great with just two anchors. T-slot isn't designed to be floated like that so you should probably look into unistrut or aluminum extrusion.

Aluminum extrusion is available with t-slots on 1, 2, 3, or all 4 sides, and anodized clear or black. Black will discolor over time.

The selection of profiles is endless, and each manufacturer has their own t-nuts for mounting.

I use it a lot at work.

 

[NOTJeepBeerSleep]

I also appreciate the ability to easily attach stuff to t-slot. I used it to make a cargo deck over the back third of my tonneau/bed. Works great, love it!

As to the original question, I would think you'd be fine to drill a through hole through a center slot and bolt it to something. I may do that to attach some side rails to my welded aluminum rack. I plan to use a big fender washer that would help spread the bolt heads force over as much of the outside of the t-slot. I can't image that wouldn't be strong enough for what you need, assuming you have selected appropriately sized t-slot in the first place.

Alternatively, can you use 90 angle-iron type connectors like inside corner brackets or inside corner gussets?
https://www.tnutz.com/product-category/15-series-brackets-and-plates/

Or get the internal threaded ends and use them to bolt in from the "end" of the t-slot? That probably what I'll do for the rails on my rack, but it requires t-slot cut a bit more precisely.

love your rack.

question about those 90 brackets. if i were to get 2020 extrusion with 2 slots on all faces and did 2 90s per end would that hold weight?

this is my perfectly drafted plans.
2 tslots top and bottom with the bolts through them.
2 north south t slots connected with 90s and maybe the top plate
3 cross member tslot
maybe some sort of metal mesh for the bottom

 

[ggdillon]

would that hold weight?

Maybe someone else can answer that question but it's beyond me for sure. Still... it won't stop me from commenting.

I will say that 2" x 2" extruded aluminum is pretty darn bomber! I used 1" x 3" (1030) and 1" x 2" (1020 for the two long cross beams) and I have no problem walking around my rack. If I sit (180lbs) dead center on one of the 1020 long ends of my rack, it deflects ~1/4" or so. And that's placed "flat", if I placed it vertically, I doubt it flex much at all with double the "thickness". I first bought one long length of 1030 and played around with it to convince myself it was the way to go.

Is there any chance you could use the corner brackets to support your entire rack by drilling into the four upright posts and mounting a total of eight brackets? I've also made my own using aluminum t-slot from Home Depot. Maybe that would be better and allow some support for each of the four perimeter extrusions?

When you're costing it, all the little hardware bits really add up, even if you're using tnutz.com. For me, the tnuts and hardware were 2/3 of the cost. I used a chop saw with a multipurpose blade to cut some of mine to length.... it was a little "grabby" but for the <10 cuts I needed it worked OK.

There's alot of people making cargo racks for their vans out of extruded aluminum if you look on youtube.

Finally, I'll share some interesting resources. It's up to you to evaluate their trustworthiness.

The 80/20 beam deflection calculator is cool and straightforward:
https://8020.net/deflection-calcula...k0xS7z5DHxi7G9M_a1dgA-OkeiRAeEKSrAS_IkIsHtLl#

Interesting comparison of the different 90 degree strengths. I went with many corner gussets because I didn't have to get the anchor holes drilled and they can fit anywhere along the extrusion so I could change the location to match the items I was carrying (you won't want to do this routinely, though!). Interesting to me that the flat plates are great for torsion but lower on cantilever.
https://www.rmmc.net/8020/technical-data/

just happened upon this one.
https://fandl8020.com/t-slot-aluminum-bar-use/

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