Quote:
Originally Posted by outfield
Those look real nice, and your solution to buy longer ones and cut them down make a lot of sense.
Being stainless, you may want to make a test cut on one end with a couple different tools to see which works best. Maybe a hacksaw, or cutoff wheel? And then try a little filing to finish off the end...
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Pretty much my plan. I have a friend who is a mechanical engineer and specializes in making conveyor belt control mechanisms, he said he'd be able to help me find a way to cut these cleanly.
Another thing I want to investigate is how the ends are mounted to the stake pockets. The original system uses rubber blocks which are crushed and thus expand in the hole to wedge the whole thing into the stake pocket holes. I think it would be better to mount them with metal locking blocks as other brands (like Dee Zee) do. The metal plates Putco provides which pull up and squeeze the rubber blocks are almost the right size and I might just be able to repurpose them for the task. The trick will be to find a way to locate them properly and keep them from spinning out of place while the bolts are snugged down.