Trailer side connectors needed!

[GaryM]

OK, I'm not certain of the name of what I'm looking for, so maybe that's why I can't find it!

On a truck with a flat bed and stake and rail sides, you know, the horizontal boards, perhaps 2x6 or 2x8. At the ends where the side rails meet the rails across the back, there's a stamped metal plate to make that joint. It has a slotted "tongue" the mates with it's mirror image on the adjoining rail. Holds everything together, but slides out when you want to remove the sides. No tools required. There are some used to join parallel rails and some used for perpendicular rails. Maybe they are the same.

I need eight sets for the removable sides and back that my neighbor built for his utility flatbed trailer.

A place to purchase, or perhaps the correct search term would be appreciated.

[bczoom]

Gary,

Do you mean these?
If so, don't forget the other side. Click here.

Brian

[GaryM]

That's exactly it! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

I tried several Google searches, but obviously not the correct ones.

I'll mark the page and show the neighbor.

This is a great place!

[Inspector507]

Gary,
I think TSC sells them as well. Same style.

[GaryM]

No TSC near me. Nearest one is in Farminton, MO, about a three hour drive. I think mail order will be the way to go.

Unfortunatly the neighbors home took a lightning hit on Monday night. So he's not too interested in fixing up the trailer sides right now.

Lots of roof damage, trusses, and drywall. Don't know about any of the appliances as the Fire Dept. pulled the meter first thing. And water damage of course.

[egon]

Ouch ! [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

Egon

[GaryM]

Ouch is right Egon. Real nice folks. House was completed and they just moved in this Spring. Kind of makes it worse I guess. But no one was hurt and it's fully insured.

The general contractor lives two houses up the road, so he's going to do the repairs. I understand that new trusses have already been ordered. Guess it's easier to make repairs if you have the plans in hand.

Perhaps someone knows the answer to this question. I'm told that in the case of a lightning strike that it's common to pull the drywall and completely inspect all the wiring and even do a rewire because you can't tell what may have been damaged. Ever heard of this?

[egon]

Gary:

I would think it would be mandatory as the electrical strike may follow any number of paths to ground.

Egon

[Pat]

Gary, When that many volts and amps are available with such a fast rise time it is hard to predict what might happen. It is not unreasonable to have concern that the insulation may have been charred or blown away on wiring concealed in a stud cavity.

The electric feild vector is intensified by convexities in conductors. It is related to the "brush" effect and inductance. Ionization is easier where conductors have sharp points or sharp turns. So, a location where a wire makes a turn is likely to have lightning "bursting" through the insulation. A bend in a wire is a lump of inductance whose impedance resists the fast rise time pulse of the lightning and the lightning may leave the path of the wire or jump across the bend to follow the wire on the other side.

What a bummer for a new owner. I would be really unhappy if that happened to me after three plus years on my new house.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[GaryM]

I know about lightning not "liking to make turns". That's why many of us bring our coax and rotator cables down the tower and make a 180 degree turn before going into the shack. The lightning is likely to miss the trun and go mostly into the ground.

Sure is sad to look into the guys attic and see the three copper wires from the Romex hanging there with no insulation or jacket.