Using 80/20

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
1" vs. 1 1/2".

Found that locally purchased 1/4-20NC carriage bolts do not work in 1" 80/20. The square shank is too long so bolt can not be tightened. Work around was to countersink the hole of the part being bolted to the 80/20.

You can install LED lighting strips in the slot of a 1 1/2" extrusion. Thanks to Hein you can now buy from 80/20 a clear snap in slot cover to hide the light strip. I put light strips in the bottom slot of bottom extrusion of the front face frame of the rear upper cabinets.
 

asimba2

ourkaravan.com
You can install LED lighting strips in the slot of a 1 1/2" extrusion. Thanks to Hein you can now buy from 80/20 a clear snap in slot cover to hide the light strip. I put light strips in the bottom slot of bottom extrusion of the front face frame of the rear upper cabinets.
Sweet, I was not aware he had a light cover. I think I have purchased every product he makes.
 

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
Sweet, I was not aware he had a light cover. I think I have purchased every product he makes.
Hein suggested to 80/20 that it would be a good addition to their product line. 80/20 now offers the clear snap in cover for series 15 extrusions as a product on the 80/20 web site. I just ordered two lengths from 80/20 for I think was $3.45 each. I already had the LED light strips installed but the clear cover will improve the looks. Thanks to Hein.
 
Hein suggested to 80/20 that it would be a good addition to their product line. 80/20 now offers the clear snap in cover for series 15 extrusions as a product on the 80/20 web site. I just ordered two lengths from 80/20 for I think was $3.45 each. I already had the LED light strips installed but the clear cover will improve the looks. Thanks to Hein.
Great idea. I imagine that led strip lights would fit in the slot of 10 series also.

I have some colored slot trim that I am planning to use to spice up the interior. I wonder how much light will pass through them?
 

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
Tried to use 1/8" thick angle connectors for a couple of magazine 1/4" plywood retainer strips. Strips are 1 1/2" wide by 14 1/2" long between two vertical extrusions. Purpose is to retain maps and a clipboard in the 1 1/2" 80/20 thickness. Did not work. The 1/8" angles deform at the bolt due to the tapered "vibration proof" tabs on each side of the slot. Result is the tab for the plywood is not perpendicular to the extrusion. Has to change the angles to 3/16".
 

Davydd

Well-known member
How much weight saving does 80/20 have in a typical built out van? Assuming that's the goal. I want a 2500 van instead of a 3500 for an RV and looking for suggestions.
 
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Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
How much weight saving does 80/20 have in a typical built out van? Assuming that's the goal. I want a 2500 van instead of a 3500 for an RV and looking for suggestions.
Difficult to determine if there are any weight savings when using 80/20.

IMO the real reason for using 80/20 is the ability of a person with limited skills to build a conversion. Wood is a lot cheaper but requires more skill. The cost of using 80/20 can be substantially reduced if simple connectors are used and the connectors are fabricated instead of purchased from 80/20. No need to have 80/20 cut extrusions to length. All it takes is a chop saw, drill press and deburring sander.

Both my 2008 Sprinter conversion and the 2015 Transit conversions added about 2000 lbs. In both cases I was still 1000 lbs below the weight rating so no need for a 3500.
 

pfflyer

Well-known member

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
Great find. Have you used this and if I understand the video there is no installation tool?
I did not use these but would have if I had known they existed. Would have used them where I bolted the 80/20 to the van walls and floor. I did thermally isolated the connections either with plywood or plastic spacers.

Wonder what the difference is on load capacity compared to Plusnuts.
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
How much weight saving does 80/20 have in a typical built out van? Assuming that's the goal. I want a 2500 van instead of a 3500 for an RV and looking for suggestions.
To get an accurate weight comparison I would suggest doing some rough sketches of both designs. The primary difference in plywood and aluminum construction is a frame versus a cube. There is no need for galley’s bottom or rear panels with 8020 but with plywood they are needed for strength. Panels are needed for esthetics or cargo containment but not for strength with 8020.

I did some weight analysis for galley and overhead cabinets a while back. See the worksheet attached. To achieve the same strength most likely ¾ plywood would need to be used, or additional braces and thinner plywood. Frame construction allows to eliminate back, bottom or side panels. The galley analysis indicates 3/4” plywood being about 30% heavier if you include mounting hardware, corner braces, screws and nuts. A countertop could be a big factor but for the sake of reasonable comparison I didn’t included it. My O/H cabinets were much lighter with 8020 and sliding doors versus plywood.

I think that in your endeavor 8020 would be a prime candidate for bunk beds. Framed bunk beds would open up already confined space. A ladder could be made from 80/20 using #2051 glide with a hinge to mimic functionality of a library ladder.
 

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gltrimble

2017 170 4x4
How much weight saving does 80/20 have in a typical built out van? Assuming that's the goal. I want a 2500 van instead of a 3500 for an RV and looking for suggestions.


As mentioned 80/20 is more about convenience at a price. In most cases it will weigh less than solid ply construction. But if you have welding skills, steel or aluminum tubing will produce the lightest possible setup.

I used aluminum tubing for things that I would be lifting often, the bed panels. I used steel tubing for the stationary components such as my refrigerator cabinet and the rear storage benches.







Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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GSWatson

2013 144
I made a discovery at the local Ace Hardware while picking up some other bits...

For 15 series, a 5/16 square nut fits like a champ. And a 1/4-20 round furniture knock-down nut works great.

Just in case you run short and can’t wait on the mail...



Cheers,
Greg
 

GSWatson

2013 144
Another discovery...

Out of curiosity, I tried putting a 1/4-20 rivnut into the smooth side of 15 LS series...

It was necessary to drill a little bit into the center channel. I used a 3/8 drill bit, as my step drill would have been too wide at the top for how deep I needed to go.

Worked pretty well!





I tried it on a channel side, but the wall thickness was too much. Possibly would work with a plusnut?


Cheers,
Greg
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
I used t-nuts inserted from the profile end and drilled 5/16" holes on the no slot side to mount door handles on cassette top and rock & roll sofa bed. If you need to remove an item without profile end access than rivnuts is definitely a better choice.
 

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GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
I don't really understand what you mean by the above. There are many styles of drop in T nuts that don't require profile end access.
Indeed, but on the no slot side the only option is to drill holes and add rivnuts or t-nuts from an end. Note that my door handles are attached to solid sides. I used t-nuts with spring so they stay aligned.

Edit. It was a little more complicated on the cassette toilet top, it was slotted profile but solid HDPE board so I drilled only HDPE and could have use any rolled in t-nut before placing HDPE board in place.
 

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Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
Do not recall if I posted 2 hole part # 3279 that I used for most slide in nuts when you have access to the series 15 extrusion end. Less expensive at 79 cents and can be fixed in place. Use a 5/16-18NC x 3/8" set screw in one of the tapped holes to hold nut in place. Works well in vertical slot. Put a bolt in the second hole to move the nut where you want it and then tighten the set screw. The bolt also centers the tapped hole.

https://8020.net/3279.html

Where you want to attach something that you do not want to rotate use the 3 hole version and put the set screw in the center hole.
 

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