Prototype of safer passenger/driver running board

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by Lotus54

I consider ‘PC’ to be

‘Polite and Considerate’.

LOTUS - when I was graduated from Computer Science, PC just meant Personal Computer (which cost $10,000 at that time) How times change.

[Isuzusweet]

What I like about this thread, is the true American spirit in which the the problem was handled. Instead of pages of, griping, complaints and threats to sue, we have a wonderful thread from Alex on how he solved his problem along with a write up on how to accomplish it for other Airstreamers.

Kudo's to you sir and your true Airstream spirit; as no Airstream is perfect; we make them perfect for ourselves.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by Isuzusweet

What I like about this thread, is the true American spirit in which the the problem was handled. Instead of pages of, griping, complaints and threats to sue, we have a wonderful thread from Alex on how he solved his problem along with a write up on how to accomplish it for other Airstreamers.

Kudo's to you sir and your true Airstream spirit; as no Airstream is perfect; we make them perfect for ourselves.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

ISUZUSWEET - Thank you for the kind words. I still do my share of griping & complaining, but as I learned from my senior engineer mentors after college learning the ropes as a newbie - it is ok to complain as long as you become part of the solution and put forth ideas to fix the problem. I was also taught to never shy away from putting forth ideas, no matter how bad, ugly or far fetched they may seem. Out of my 100 ideas, maybe 1 or 2 will pan out. 98 will get critiqued badly, but the 2 will help others and the 98 will stimulate other folks into a better idea. So even a bad idea that everyone may hate, does its part to help steer others away from it. Besides, it is really FUN thinking out of the box

[Alex AVI]

UPDATE:
Sheet Metal to Plasma Cut 304 Stainless Steel

While the support provided by the original sheet metal was very sturdy, I did not like that I had to paint it to prevent corrosion. And even with that, the area around bolt holes get stripped by the bolt threads and already showing very small signs of oxidizing with just a few car washes and heavy fog from San Diego trip.

So decided to redo it to a different material and slightly longer. Original was 8"x24"x1/8" regular sheetmetal with 45° mitered outside corners.


The new one is still 8" deep, 1/8" thick. But it is now 304 Stainless Steel, still 24" inside the cavity & but now 30" wide on the outside edge. It is plasma cut T-shaped piece now. So the part that supports the step is 14% longer and the entire 5" depth of step is completely supported. It is a bit overkill, but did not cost me more than coupe bucks for the extra size

[wachuko]

What do you gain with the larger size? The previous support was smaller that the step?

I agree, best to use stainless steel whenever possible.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by wachuko

What do you gain with the larger size? The previous support was smaller that the step?

I agree, best to use stainless steel whenever possible.

WACHUKO - I honestly don't believe anything is gained, other than maybe having more flexibility for the attachment points for the bolts. It does not make the support any stiffer. Using the standard sized 8"×24" proved to be effective the way it was.

But since it did not cost me any more to have it T-shaped, I decided what the heck, have it cut that way because that was the shape I originally wanted during my conceptual stage. Due to size availability, the sheet I had to buy to get two pieces of 8"x30" was same size to get the 8"x24" . Was basically trying to get my money's worth.

Did you ever do this, i.e. just extend the existing size/shape step, similar to what I previously tried? Would love to see if you did and hear how you feel about just doing that. As for me, the extra length extending towards rear is a big bonus that I had originally not envisioned.