That is an intriguing idea.

I would normally dismiss fiberglass, as these gates are outdoors, beaten by the sun and rain, and get handled a lot (ever felt a fraying fiberglass ladder?)...

Yet you mentioned this composite is for knife scales. By definition, they get handled, since they are handles.

However, the thickness of the Apitong slats is 3/4" nominal, and any material chosen for the end gates that is light enough to handle easily must also be dimensionally stable for when a piece of equipment slides back and slams against them, especially when the point of impact is concentrated in one area of the gate, such as when a corner of the equipment impacts it.

In fact, I designed, carefully cut, grain matched, and trial fitted an even more elaborate stiffening scheme for the gates, using Ipe 2x2's miter cut into rectangles between the swing down gate posts, with another 3/4" top cap of Apitong. I can't even describe how long I spent cutting "perfectly" matched miters, and working around the latch hardware that I fixed so that the two panel gates could open singularly or as a pair together to reduce latching complexity in the field.

But after all that work designing and cutting (the very expensive) additional Ipe and Apitong materials, I ended up deleting the entire stiffening scheme, because these hardwoods have substantially more density than more common woods like fir, pine, or cedar, and the added weight of the gate once tilted past the tipping point on the hinge axis would likely by tiresome for the workers, and might cause damage to the lower part of the truck if the gate was simply dropped. That was one of the reasons I added the black rectangular spacers under the gate posts... which were a challenge to find in a material that would also survive the elements (I ended up choosing Santoprene, more durable than rubber, lower durometer than urethane)... anyway, I'm into the weeds here, but below is the temporary mock-up of the rest of the wood stiffening scheme that I ultimately decided to do away with.





The next light truck I spec will use extruded aluminum slat gates. I don't think I "wood" consider fiberglass, but I'm done with wood.

 

Finally got it installed.








Seems to be well built, especially for the price. We'll see how it holds up.

 

Where are you guys getting the boot from? Have this same set ordered for a clients trailer I’m redoing. Trying to have the ULTIMATE rewire. Currently running triplex wire bringing the grounds to the front as it’s a boat trailer so they never get wet and a few other mods.
Thanks

 

Thank you for the pictures. Between you two, this has been put on my lost of replacement parts if/when I need them.

Keep us updated as time and use goes on.

 

Happy so far with the Pollak. It provides a nice snug fit for the trailer side connector, seems quite rugged and well built. The biggest drawback for me is that it's not stainless.

I installed a commercial trailer connector and reverse alarm today as well. Haven't finished the wiring for the alarm yet.

 

RigCity, I used a Grote boot 82-2144 from Napa for my commercial connector. The Pollak RV connector has it's own small rubber boot built into the housing. I coat the terminals with dielectric grease.

 

Very Nice Work Glen!

The advantages of the 7 way round pin connector are higher ampacity and greater durability.

The durability of the 7 way round pin is not just on the truck side, but also on the trailer end, where die cast trailer side wiring couplers with wire spring strain reliefs for the pigtail cable are available, as seen in my photo below...






Below is 7 way round pin truck side receptacle that I specify from Pollak, posted for the benefit of @RigCity , who asked where the boots can be obtained. The boots are sized per the receptacle, so without knowing which receptacle you are using, it is hard to say which boot to get, even though the boot from one receptacle can very likely fit another.

Even like kind receptacles from the same brand, such as Pollak, can still be dissimilar. And this instance serves as that example. Glen and I both have the 7 way round pin die cast receptacle from Pollak. Yet our receptacles are different.

Glen's is a 2 bolt, shallow well, inset, flush mount. The one I specify on the left in the photo below is a 3 bolt, deep well, outset, protruding mount.. Both made by Pollak. Both 7 round pin. And both solid pin, as opposed to the split pin version shown in my photo on the right, which is also a deep well, protruding mount. While protruding mounts offer more shelf support to the inserted trailer connector, they also stick out in the way, and the flip lids can get knocked off in rugged work environments, which is why I recess them into these stainless steel pockets now. Flush mounts, like what Glen installed, don't stick out so much, and therefore need not be recessed.





I'm not sure which boots interchange, but I've even used ball joint boots to protect the back of towing connectors from tire flung debris and wheel splash, so really, there is no one particular boot that fits all.

 

 

Thanks for the compliment.

My trailers currently have RV connectors on them, but I wanted the ability to be able to tow other trailers without an adapter, and possibly may change my 10 ton over to the commercial connector.

I wasn't clear about it in my earlier post, but the 7 way round pin receptacle that I installed is actually made by Cole Hersee. The other receptacle is made by Pollak. Sorry for the confusion.

The Grote rubber boot fits the Cole-Hersee pretty well, but somehow seemed to conduct just enough electricity to make the brake controller think there was a trailer connected. Wrapping the terminals with electrician's tape before installing the boot took care of that problem.

Side note for Y2KW57: why is your avatar picture upside down?

 

It isn't.

If you look very closely, you can see the axle housing drain plug at the bottom of the photo, made more noticeable by the large magnet surrounding it, which I scavenged out of the magnetron of a non working microwave oven. (Every drain plug I have is fitted with similar such magnets)

You can also see the straight (and bright) angular line following the upper right arc of the pumpkin, which is the hydraulic brake line for the right rear wheel end.

Final proof is the backround behind the pumpkin, which is the underside of the chassis, rather than the street.

There are several reasons why I chose this particular photo as my avatar, and your question about it being upside down (others have asked the same thing, including someone recently in another thread) offers a great example by way of explanation.

The metaphors are many... to see the same thing differently, to foster a well rounded perspective, to consider all angles and points of view.

But the main reason for using this avatar... is that it illustrates that I'm usually just talking out of my rear end.

 

Now it makes sense. The perspective that the picture is taken from makes it look like the fill plug is above center, which I know is not the case on the S135 (mine anyway), so I thought that maybe you have an S150 (maybe they have a higher fluid level?). But then I assumed the magnet was the clip that holds the parking brake cable and brake line for the right rear brakes. My excuse is that the avatar pictures are very small and not high resolution

Here's a picture of mine from about the same level as the fill plug.


And one from much lower to the ground to show how much difference the perspective makes.


Notice the difference in the finish of the east coast axle versus your west coast axle...

 

What I really noticed was your overload springs. What's going on with those @materthegreater ?

 

I wonder which malady you are referring to... Could it be the rusty condition, the fact that they are much too small, or their deformed shape?

 

That there are so many leaves (5) in the overload pack above the main pack. I've never seen a five leaf overload spring pack in an OEM configuration of the F-550, so I was wondering what was going on with your overload springs.

If you bought your truck that way, someone between Ford and you changed the overload springs (the main 10 leaf pack looks original, and the overload spring is usually just one additional leaf above the spacer on top of the main pack), so I was wondering if you knew what was going on with the overloads (who changed them, did you change them, etc).

 

Interesting. I had assumed they were original. I have changed the main packs, but reused the overloads. I've never looked too closely at other 550s so I don't have anything to compare it to. A lot of times I wish it had air ride suspension.