Put two Swingcases in my wife's Colorado about 4 months ago. Her bed has a BedRug, the Swingcases, and an Undercover Tonneau Cover. Loved the setup, until yesterday.
Saturday Afternoon we went back on a poor condition graded forest service road about 5 miles. We have heavily upgraded the suspension (Icon Stage 5) and put BFG KO2's on Fuel Wheels so I decided to go a little quicker than I would have in my Jeep. Top speed was 35mph so nothing too stupid, Ride was surprisingly smooth considering the road condition. Sunday I was at Costco and realized one of the three mounting screws for the Passenger Side Swing Case has completely ripped the sheet metal of the bed out and is not grabbing anything. The whole case was pulling away from the bed.
So, I must have overloaded it, you think... Wrong! Had a bottle jack, flashlight, socket set, some tie down straps and some battery powered flares. Total weight is 42.10# (I checked today). Listed capacity on Swing Case website is 75# so just over half. Hindsight is 20/20... I think the install using self tapping screws is dangerous and stupid as all you have to do is take out the tail light and you can reach in with a nut and large washer and wrench.
My issue now is what to do with the metal torn... Any thoughts of how to approach this?
I have one of these that I'm going to install. I have a bed rug already. I'm curious how yours is installed behind the bed rug? I thought they get screwed in on top of the rug? I saw a video where it was installed on top of the bed rug. I guess from reading this thread, I'm gonna use a bolt and some 1'' washers anyhow. Thanks
Potentially the self-drilling/self-tapping fasteners were not preloaded (tight enough) to avoid fatigue. Do you have a photo of the damage to the sheet metal and the screws? I will recheck the tightness of my fasteners, for sure.
If you can access the backside of the bed, then a bolt/nut combo (with washers) would be the way to go.
I used a Milwaukee impact wrench to set them... One that has sheared several bolts before. I felt it impact several time with no movement prior to stopping. I am thinking about a bolt through the swing case mount, large washer, truck bed, large washer, then nut. Only other thought would be to put a thin piece of rubber between the washers and the truck bed to try to allow it to really grip the metal around the current damage so it doesn't just tear further. Does that make sense? Is that a waste of effort?
Rubber won't hold steel together. Drill it for bolts, paint the area, use hardened body washers, use lock nuts and/or loctite to keep it from backing out.
Streak has the right approach I think. The hardened washers should be at least a little larger than the current damaged area. Hardened washers may be harder to come by, I would look at Grainger or Fastenal for these, I am thinking the Home Depot would not have anything but cheap flat washers. I wouldn't think rubber would help anywhere.
I would contact the manufacturer of the toolbox. They may have a "packaged solution" to your problem. They also need to know that their installation method does not work on the Twins truck beds without risk of a major failure. They may discontinue recommending their units for the Twins or provide you with a good solution to the problem.
I find it hard to believe that you are the first and ONLY person to see this issue.
Rubber won't hold steel together. Drill it for bolts, paint the area, use hardened body washers, use lock nuts and/or loctite to keep it from backing out.
He's probably the first to use an impact gun on a sheetmetal screw which shouldn't be done. All it will do is deform the metal and cause slop at the connection. Although I would never use a sheetmetal screw for this application, they're not designed for this kind of cantilevered load nor is the sheetmetal.
I can't see using a sheetmetal screw to hold a cantilevered load, so the impact driver is beyond my comprehension. This type of design calls for a through hole with large washers at least.
But who am I, I over design anything I touch. NASA would never have made it to the moon, heck Orville and Wilbur would still be known for bicycles if I had been in charge of design. Apollo and the Wright Flyer would have never gotten off the ground.:grin2:
Without knowing the loads placed on the fastener (shear/tension), it isn't possible to qualify any fastener for the intended service. The secret to any fastened joint is to result in sufficient PRELOAD in the JOINT to resist any LOADS.
In this case, it appears that the joint may have been overloaded in preload, causing yielding in the joint,upon assembly.
When I installed my swingcases, I used a 3/8" drillmotor to start the sheetmetal screws, then finished them off by hand with a box wrench tightened to "what felt right". Potentially sloppy, I know, but has worked for me in the past as I believe I can feel when the joint begins to yield to the preload applied.
All of that said, you can obtain substantially higher joint preloads using an appropriately sized nut and bolt...
Agreed, engineer in me would suggest cleaning out the hole and use a nut/bolt with large washers to better handle load.
Impact gun "impacting a couple times" probably over torqued it and stripped the sheet metal bolt.
Perhaps you all are correct about the impact, I don't know... I purposely used the 12 volt impact so the torque wasn't too much. (I have the monster 18v at 700 ft/lbs as well and I knew that would basically tear the bed apart.) Who knows, regardless the design seems very poor to claim a capacity of 75 pounds. At 40# you have to lift the bottom of the case to get the latch to release! How in the heck could it hold 75 and still function? And if your wondering... I made sure to load it as biased to the hinge side as I could so it would have the least strain.
My personal opinion... The sheetmetal in the Colorado bed is quite thin and my fear is that even with washers, it will just bend and tear now that it has started... Not to mention, that I don't feel comfortable keeping that weight in there. I don't know what to do because the bottle jack is like 28 pounds on it's own. And it's my only option given the lift and larger tires as it's the lightest I could find that would actually get the tire off the ground.
Gov agency near me has had three of those do more or less the same thing or a variation of it on their fleet trucks. They won't buy them anymore for that reason.
Cantilevers and swingarms are tough to get right as most Jeepers find out. I wouldn't mount these without a solid 3/16" strip backer behind the bed and at least 4 Grade 8 bolts with nylocks to hold fast. Glad you found it early though, before too much damage and/or rust.
I had all of the self tapping screws fail while offroading. I drilled and put some rivnuts in and some spacers to fill the gaps between the bracket and rivnuts. Nice and secure now
The screws aren't sheet metal screws. They are self-tapping MACHINE SCREWS with normal threads after the tapping portion of the screw.
And depending on the thickness of the bedrug, it's possible not enough threads were engaged or after the initial tightening, the bedrug material became slightly compressed and allowed for a slight gap.
Without seeing these self-tapping screws, but taking into account the bedrug, I would be more inclined to say use through-bolts with large washers, most likely locking nuts or locktight as well.
I assume these were self-drilling, self-tapping type screws?
Screws provided by undercover: self drilling, self tapping machine screws.
The point drills the hole; the first 2-3 threads on the screw will tap threads in the sheetmetal; additional straight threads allow screw to be tightened.
This video showed him installing it over the bed rug and using bolts. I'm not getting the plate he takes off. Colorados don't have that plate. But he is using screws on the inside latch. Only bolts by the tailgate.
Thanks for the video. If I'm going over my bed rug, do you think I would need pilot holes. I never tried drilling through a bed rug yet. Hopefully it doesn't tear up the rug. He doesn't look too concerned about the tail light wires either. I'm guessing they aren't near those screws.
I would think the self tapping portion of the screw would go though the bedrug, but don't quote me on that. I would try one or two holes thru the bedrug and if the screws didn't work, I would look into making holes in the bedrug.
If you want to drive to upstate NY, I can help you with the install.
Thanks for the offer and the advice. I just checked a map and even though you are only one state away, you are basically in Canada! :surprise: I'm gonna give it a try at home first. It would be a fun drive in the spring though. I think I'm gonna drill right through the rug like the first video, using the screws provided. Then get some bolts for the tailgate end and put those in with washers. The worst bumps I go over are the shitty roads in New Jersey, but that is sometimes like offroading lol. Thanks for the help and video.
I would still think just 5 self tapping screws into sheet metal will not be sufficient for any decent load. I would at the least drill the holes out and use washers with bolts or even better a backing plate with bolts.
I noticed in your signature that you have these. How did you install them? Did you use screws or nuts, bolts and washers? And, how are the boxes holding up? Thanks
I would, at this point since there's some damage and distortion of the metal, use the largest piece of 1/4" steel back plate I could fit on the back side. Then nut and bolt with 3/8" stainless hardware. And use a thread locking compound or nylock nuts. Stainless is strong and won't rust as fast as plain steel.
I installed my swingcase over a year ago, used the supplied hardware and what do you know, it's ripping the sheet metal out...
I have not taken off road with the case, only normal daily driving. Only have about 20-30# in it at a time. I can't even swing it close right now because it's so off angle with the top screw pulling out.
Gonna try and get some washers and nuts behind it this weekend somehow to keep it from ripping the sheet metal even more.
I installed my swingcase over a year ago, used the supplied hardware and what do you know, it's ripping the sheet metal out...
I have not taken off road with the case, only normal daily driving. Only have about 20-30# in it at a time. I can't even swing it close right now because it's so off angle with the top screw pulling out.
Gonna try and get some washers and nuts behind it this weekend somehow to keep it from ripping the sheet metal even more.
I installed Swingouts back in 17' on my truck using stock hardware. I just removed them for a Decked System install, everything was nice and tight. I kept about 30lbs in each case. I'm telling the guy that bought my cases to add the nut and washer.
Capacity's 75 lbs, but I'm probably (like others) hauling ~20 lbs in each. If you're not exceeding, call UnderCover & relay your issue/concern. They might offer help, or at least need to be aware of the problem.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ask a question
Ask a question
Chevy Colorado & GMC Canyon
1.9M posts
133.5K members
Since 2003
Join fellow enthusiasts to discuss modifications, troubleshooting tips, and share your experiences with these versatile midsize pickups, fostering a collaborative space for an exchange of knowledge and camaraderie among Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon aficionados.