Does anyone know if we can get tie downs like these?

[Richard Kolb]

Other then modifing what we have anyone seen tie downs like these for our rigs?

 

[Todd Z]

hell, For 9 bucks, I would buy 1 and try to see if the holes line up or you can make them fit...

Todd Z

 

[Richard Kolb]

Yeah, but I'd rather have oval shaped ones that fit better. Maybe that Erik guy can make a set.

 

[Erik Larson]

I had looked into it a while back. The problem is not making the hook for the rope but that making it strong. The problem is the tie downs I make are t-6061, fairly light tensil strength. The only way I found to make the hook was bolting it to the oval but there is not enough room on th back of the oval for a bolt and washer needed to create a brace strong enough to hold down nearly anything. The problem would end up being with enough force the bolt would rip out of the billet tie down, causing damage to the tie down, the bed rail and possibly anything around it. I usually hauled a quad in the bed of my Trac and if the tie down wasn't able to hold the quad in place I wasn't about to sell them to anyone. I might still have a pic somewhere of the 2 tie downs I snapped when experimenting with this, nearly dropped the quad out of the bed when it happened.

 

[Richard Kolb]

What if the tie-downs were thicker? Basically if they were the same as the ones I linked to but oval instead of rectangle I'd get them.

 

[Erik Larson]

the material cost has gone through the roof thanks to high gas prices so aluminum stock suppliers are charging almost tripple what they were 4 years ago. Sadly the handful of people that still want a functional tie down won't cover the cost of tooling up for it. Aside from the project in the members area cutting down the stockers and putting my plates on top I can't think of another wat of doing that type of tie down without it costing 2 to 3 times what mine do. But those at $9 each are more than a set of mine

 

[Joe Rampino]

Hi Erik,

Do you offer black anodize? I realize you'd be faced with minimum lot charges from the finisher, but maybe we could spread the cost through a "group buy".

Rampo

 

[Richard Kolb]

Yeah, but $9 each gives me a tie-down that is functional in a moments notice.

 

[Erik Larson]

I used to do them in black but the local coaters started thinking they were better than chome shops so they started charging way more. My old prices used to be about $9 or $10 a set for black. I think now the current prices shoves that to about $15 a set for the coating alone. I can look into it again. I was thinking of offering one style in black, probably blanks, they match the bed rail and blend easier. Anodizing would fade with in a year or so to a nice flat gray color so it's got to be powder coated. I'm looking into a 20 yr black nylon for the next batch, could cut costs and offer the color