Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 16:06:47 -0700
Reply-To: "Mike \"Rocket J Squirrel\" Elliott" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Mike \"Rocket J Squirrel\" Elliott" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Some kind of shelf?
In-Reply-To: <c4e7c5f90706011552i1f525d02kc50fe35b0d2205d0@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Lift and separate? Hey hey -- we were cautioned about racy talk yesterday!
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR
On 6/1/2007 3:52 PM neil wrote:
> On 6/1/07, Mike Rocket J Squirrel Elliott <camping.elliott@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> Skewers? Yeah, they have some serious power.
>
>
> I did not know that they were called skewers.
>
> I learned something new!
>
>
>> Are you thinking four vertical pins, two per side, arranged above each
>> other?
>
> Yup!
>
> The challenging part is finding/making the pins that mount on box, and
> then installing so alignment is correct
>
>> This idea is getting better as more and smarter guys ......
>
> In my case, I wouldn't go so far as to say that! (the smarter bit anyways!)
>
> ;^)
>
> Actually I just went out to look at my van.
>
> I can't see how a box would be permanently mounted.
>
> And......
>
> IMHO, my pin idea involves too much work.
>
> I'm sure that if the "Dennis's" of this list were reading this, they'd
> be snickering at the pin idea!
>
> If I were to make a box that would mount above cross bar, and would be
> removable, (I CAN'T see how a box would be permanent) I would mount 2
> U-bolts, or 2 sets of 2 bolts on the bottom, at about 4" in from each
> side of box to support it on crossbar. To keep it from tipping over,
> maybe a U-bolt per side somewhere near top. Just drill two holes in
> each side of box to accept U-bolts. Wing nut from inside box. There
> would be bolt ends and wing nuts near contents of box, but whatEveRR!
>
> ;^)
>
> Or simpler yet, one bolt per side. (like Frankenstein!)
>
> Dril holes near top of box one per side. One bolt would go in on
> forward side of RH post, and other on aft side of LH post. Box
> wouldn't move fore or aft. Just make sure they're long enough. To
> install, put fastener on outside end, insert bolt, then the last
> fastener on inside.
>
> Or better yet, leave bolts in. Just slide them out and adjust
> fasteners as needed when installing. For removal, back off outer wing
> nut, and slide them back in. Do the rear bolt first, get a hand on
> things, then forward bolt, then lift and seperate!
>
> Neil.
>
>
>
>> look at it. My
>> initial idea was to install a new crossmember up near the roof using
>> hose clamps and L-brackets as Jake suggested, and run a PVC pipe between
>> them as the shelf hanger rod -- like a clothes closet rod. The shelf
>> would hang below it in some fashion Yet To Be Determined (YTBD), which
>> gets the shelf up high enough so I don't bonk my head on it. The shelf
>> hanging system wants to be E-Z on, E-Z off for stowing.
>>
>> Tom's looking at this from a different angle, utilizing the existing
>> crossmember, simplifying things. If I understand his idea (50-50 odds on
>> that, I am short on imagination), the shelf does not hang from a rod;
>> rather, it has a backstop which is affixed to the rod using U-bolts that
>> clamp the backstop to the rod. This lifts the shelf up to where the
>> crossrod is, and no dangling is required. This is a good idea but it
>> seems to me that the shelf might rotate downward with weight on it
>> unless the the u-bolts are really really tight -- so much so that the
>> rod might be dented. A tool would probably be needed. But I could be
>> really wrong about this -- there could be a lot of friction between the
>> rod and the shelf's backstop.
>>
>> The kind of weight I have in mind is groceries and stuff like that.
>> Things you'd like to have fall on your head when reaching up to the
>> front to turn off the radio.
>>
>> But your idea overcomes the rotation thing. A 1 x 4 or 1 x 6 backstop
>> with two pin sockets per side, one above the other like (as you say) a
>> Vanagon cabinet door. The sockets mate with the two pins per side that
>> have been hose-clamped to the uprights. I wonder if there is a way to
>> affix half of a 4'' door hinge onto the upright, and the other half on
>> the rear of the backstop, and just drop in the hinge pin to hold it all
>> together? Then hinge the backstop to the shelf, as Tom plans to do, so
>> the whole thing folds flat.
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
>> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
>> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
>> KG6RCR
>>
>> On 6/1/2007 2:07 PM neil wrote:
>>
>> > Forgive me if some of this has been suggested/worked out in posts.
>> >
>> > Wing nuts could have one ear cut off or shaved back. Or you could use
>> > nuts and keep an old socket nearby to tighten. Even by hand that
>> > should provide enough torque, though I don't know how much weight you
>> > want in there.
>> >
>> > am not certain of your design idea/needs, but I'd think a quick
>> > up/down unit could be mounted at vertical tubes and not cross bar or
>> > additional cross bar.
>> >
>> > I was fixing my bike yesterday, and was just remembering how the
>> > mechanism that keeps the wheels on, works.
>> >
>> > An adj. nut on one end of axle with a lever clamp on the other.
>> > Tighten nut a bit then clamp down. I would imagine something like that
>> > would clamp well, but can't quickly see how it would be adapted. Just
>> > a thought to bring other ideas to the fore.
>> >
>> > I imagine a permanently mounted storage box would not work as it would
>> > get in the way when collapsing pop top.
>> >
>> > How about this.
>> >
>> > 4 hose clamps. Add a small diameter tube to each, and clamp to
>> > vertical posts. You could even file a little groove at each small tube
>> > so band of clamp seats in there.
>> >
>> > Then make a box with 4 posts (like Westy cabinet door hinges).
>> >
>> > Just lift it up and slide into small diameter tubes attached at
>> vertical
>> > posts.
>> >
>> > Likely there's an easier way. Eh?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On 6/1/07, Mike Rocket J Squirrel Elliott <camping.elliott@gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >> Hi Neil, that's a good idea.
>> >>
>> >> The wingnuts(1) might bump into each other, but that's to be worked
>> out.
>> >> I also like Jake's hose clamp + L-bracket idea. Either way would
>> result
>> >> in a new crossmember(2) high up.
>> >>
>> >> The next detail to be worked out is how to hang the shelf. The shelf
>> >> wants to be quick to put up and take down. It could be hung(3) with
>> >> ropes, but that would be tippy. Chain, likewise. Stiff(4) brackets
>> would
>> >> be better. If the crossmember was fastened so it didn't rotate, then a
>> >> couple of strap metal brackets could be made shaped like an
>> upside-down
>> >> "V". Hang two Vees over the crossmember and maybe drop a pin into
>> >> matching holes(5) drilled through the strap and crossmember to help
>> >> restrain the Vees from rotating, too. The bottoms of the Vees could be
>> >> bent toward each other to provide feet for the shelf to rest on, maybe
>> >> pegs-and-holes there, too, to secure everything.
>> >>
>> >> I reckon that if it dangles(6) 12 inches (30cm) below the new
>> >> crossmember, it could be up to 10'' (25cm) deep (fore to aft), and
>> more
>> >> than 36'' (90cm) wide without bumping into the canvas.
>> >>
>> >> I probably didn't write this up as clearly as I could have, and it's
>> >> probably not as simple as it could be. It's just an idea. I dunno
>> about
>> >> you guys, but when Mrs Squirrel shows up with boxes of far healthier
>> >> food that I would choose (produce, mainly) finding a place to stash
>> all
>> >> that becomes a hassle. A 3-foot wide shelf that could accommodate
>> small
>> >> boxes of food and which was easy to put up and take down would be most
>> >> helpful.
>> >>
>> >> (1) See yesterday's disclaimer
>> >> (2) Likewise
>> >> (3) Ditto
>> >> (4) This is getting stupid
>> >> (5) Real stupid
>> >> (6) I'm going to bump myself off the list.
>> >>
>> >> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>> >> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
>> >> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
>> >> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
>> >> KG6RCR
>> >>
>> >> On 6/1/2007 10:03 AM neil wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > Wood this (pun intended):
>> >> >
>> >> > http://web.mac.com/tubaneil/iWeb/Site%205/U%20bolt.html
>> >> >
>> >> > hold a piece of galv steel tube to struts? If mounted, um,
>> criss-cross
>> >> > across new tube to struts?
>> >> >
>> >> > If there's a size that fits diameter of strut/tube combo, and
>> threads
>> >> > long enough, you could use wing nuts for **relatively** quick
>> removal.
>> >> > Or if it's possible to leave in place, then mount with threads
>> >> > pointing toward rear of van.
>> >> >
>> >> > Neil.
>> >> >
>> >> > On 5/31/07, Mike Rocket J Squirrel Elliott
>> <camping.elliott@gmail.com>
>> >> > wrote:
>> >> >> When the poptop is up, I'd like to hang a shelf between the top's
>> >> upper
>> >> >> struts -- a flat piece of wood, maybe, hung by ropes from a new
>> >> >> crossmember (piece of PVC pipe maybe) which mounts horizontally
>> >> between
>> >> >> the upper struts near the top. I can't quite picture what I'd
>> need to
>> >> >> mount that new crossmember to the struts. Some fitting that
>> clamps to
>> >> >> struts, I reckon?
>> >> >> --
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>> >> >> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
>> >> >> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
>> >> >> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
>> >> >> KG6RCR
>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>
| 
