Tailgate weight capacity/ Halfway down

[sharpsicle]

Have you forgotten the difference between breaking strength and working load?

This argument is trivial when the cables can easily handle both guys sitting on the tailgate without issue anyway.

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[ShadowsPapa]

Have you forgotten the difference between breaking strength and working load?

Nope.
Working load is still higher than what Jeep says to limit the tailgate load to in the book.
There's two cables.
1/8" cable, just for example, has a working load of 400 pounds. There's two cables so the load is shared. The two should handle well over 400 pounds, likely closer to 700 pounds with two cables.
Even a smaller cable is going to easily handle 500 pounds as there are two of them.
You aren't going to break the cables or even stretch them by sitting on the tailgate. You aren't even close to stretching a cable that has a breaking strength of over 1,000 pounds.

For hauling lumber on the highway, figure more on the working load, typically about 20% of the breaking strength for "wire rope".

Working load is taking age, abrasion, temperatures and other factors into account - plus a safety margin.
It is calculated for the longer term life of the cable. You don't submit it to 1,500-2,000 pound pulls daily and have it last or be safe.
You can submit it to 400 pounds daily and it will last and be safe.

All I'm saying is that if you sit on that tailgate and weigh 500 pounds, don't worry about the cables. It's not about to break. You may be at the working load limit (of one of the cables) or even above, but you have two cables, they are straight, and not subjected to anything close to stressing or stretching the cable like getting close to the breaking strength.
They have to lower the limits for the tailgate half-way position due to the cable having a radius so only part of the strands carry the real load, like a rope around a pulley. The outer strands take more of the stress than the inner strands in the radius.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

This argument is trivial when the cables can easily handle both guys sitting on the tailgate without issue anyway.

When I put ramps up to my tailgate and load up an antique engine that weighs 500 pounds, I have no concerns.

 

[1GladEWAL]

I see where I went wrong. I didn't have a 3rd support installed. I had just the forward most spar and the tailgate. I was figuring on #10/board, so about #800 not including the pressure of a ratchet strap. So there's that.
Admittedly, I didn't read the book. I just put things in the back.
A better solution would've been to lay the boards on the floor and then strap them, but hindsight is 20/20. I'll check those products out in the meantime.
Thanks for the input, all.

 

[b-roc]

Installed the gladius offroad product today.

The finish is good (not great, but above average). It is radiused where it needs to be. Took me about the same time to install it as to unbox it.

Only minor issue is that the OEM part is indexed while the Gladius part is not (see second pic). So I will watch for rotation over time.

 

[1GladEWAL]

I just got mine in the mail today, You're right about the finish, and mine had some sharp edges but not terrible. Fast shipping. I cant see why it wouldn't work. As long as I get that middle spar in, I should be good to go. Thanks again everyone

 

[rubiryanjt]

Installed the gladius offroad product today.

The finish is good (not great, but above average). It is radiused where it needs to be. Took me about the same time to install it as to unbox it.

Only minor issue is that the OEM part is indexed while the Gladius part is not (see second pic). So I will watch for rotation over time.

Hey bud. I actually own Gladius Offroad and designed the bracket. It's been 9 months or so, I was just curious if you noticed any rotation. I left the index peg off to keep cost down, and the plastic one was so small, I figured it really didn't do much anyways. I originally designed it for my Jeep when I broke both of them, so I decided to just do a run of them. Mine have held up pretty well, almost 3 years now. I'm alway open to feedback to make a better product, so I appreciate the honest feedback.

 

[b-roc]

Ryan,

First - awesome follow-up ... much appreciated

funny you should ask ... I haven't looked at it closely since the first week after install until today when I was taking the Christmas tree to the composting site ... it looked like the driver's side had rotated clockwise by between 5 and 10 degrees ... not causing any issues, but it was slightly off ... the passenger side had not moved (because of how I have the bed loaded, most of the time that I have the tailgate partially open and something resting on the tailgate beyond the bed the load tends to be on the driver's side ... this might explain why the driver's side rotated and the passenger side did not ... asymmetric load and vibration driver>passenger)

As a follow-up to my prior observations - the finish is holding up great after almost a year ... as to the lack of an index, it would be a nice addition but would not have changed my experience over the last year but I will probably fix the rotation within the next month just so that I can ignore it for another year! Even with the original design I would buy it again ... and with follow-up like this, even moreso

 

[AstroZombie]

My plastic brackets are a little beat up but still holding ... that said ... I recently found these aluminum replacements... they are being shipped now so I can't speak to the quality yet ... happy to report back late next week ... but it seems like your need is more pressing

https://www.gladiusoffroad.com/product/tailgate-brackets/

This is a great proactive MOD.just do it and be done. I have not used this feature much but would with more confidence having this replaced already.

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