Dropsides, spare carriers and rails for a GU bakkie
Posted: 04 Jun 2023 15:46
A while ago Ivan contacted me to design a set of drop-sides and spare wheel carriers for him.
His bakkie had been fitted with a flat-bed of unknown origin.
The primary requirements were that he wanted extra weight to improve the ride, and that he be able to accomodate his dogs. And that everything should be removable in case he needed the flat tray.
So I went a little over-board. The sheet used to make the drop-sides from are 3mm thick and the corner tubes of the "crown cap" are 50mm square tube with a 4mm wall thickness. Each side panel weighs about 30kg.
In order to allow any of the sides to be opened independently and to give me a solid mounting point for the swing arms, I designed corner pillars for the rear corners that bolt on, and have substantial gussets. The dropside panels are on bullet hinges so they can simply be slid off once open, and everything except the swing arms closes with Anti-Luces for simplicity and reliability. To secure everything there are lugs in the rear corners where all three opening elements can be secured with pad-locks (one per corner). The top half of the tailgate opens on a gas strut.
Having seen and heard of many issues with swing arms, I suspect these are the strongest I have ever seen.
Danie Rapp did the welding and painting.
His bakkie had been fitted with a flat-bed of unknown origin.
The primary requirements were that he wanted extra weight to improve the ride, and that he be able to accomodate his dogs. And that everything should be removable in case he needed the flat tray.
So I went a little over-board. The sheet used to make the drop-sides from are 3mm thick and the corner tubes of the "crown cap" are 50mm square tube with a 4mm wall thickness. Each side panel weighs about 30kg.
In order to allow any of the sides to be opened independently and to give me a solid mounting point for the swing arms, I designed corner pillars for the rear corners that bolt on, and have substantial gussets. The dropside panels are on bullet hinges so they can simply be slid off once open, and everything except the swing arms closes with Anti-Luces for simplicity and reliability. To secure everything there are lugs in the rear corners where all three opening elements can be secured with pad-locks (one per corner). The top half of the tailgate opens on a gas strut.
Having seen and heard of many issues with swing arms, I suspect these are the strongest I have ever seen.
Danie Rapp did the welding and painting.