Chevy & GMC Vans

Looks good. Can't you get 16ga 6" strap? Seems like it would save a lot on cutting labor.

On the website they said it was 6"X120" but when the quote came it said they only had it in sheets 4' wide! So they quoted for a whole friggin sheet with a 6" strip cut off. I emailed back and asked how much more for another 6 cuts so I'd have a ton (actually 100#) of 6"X120" strips. Still waiting to hear back. I would hope it's not much more since the setup is what consumes time. I can't imagine another 6 slices is a lot of work...but my guess is they charge per cut which sucks. We'll see. I definitely don't want to cut it myself! 16ga. steel is murder for even the best hardware store blade. I might even have them chop me some 6"X6" squares for the portholes and save some longer lengths for the corners. I'm glad I saw this thread...it has me motivated! I wasn't planning on this project until summer....now it might be this weekend!



EDIT: OUCH! They want another $50 to make a few more cuts! What a rip-off.

I just pulled the trigger on my steel order. It should be ready for pick-up on Saturday, though I'm gonna press them for it on Friday...I want to get started ASAP!

Photo_van: I'm going to be ordering a square tubing die for my existing hydraulic bender. I should have that in a week or so. If I am capable of making professional looking bends with it I'd be more than happy to make some for you. I think the radius of the bend will be 3". That's a bit less than what I had wanted so I may shop around a bit more and see if I can get something closer to a 6" radius.

Anyway, I will be starting a build thread for my rack in the coming weeks (or days).

Thanks for the offer Cargoman. I'll be keeping a lookout for your progress. Good luck with the fabrication.

EDIT: OUCH! They want another $50 to make a few more cuts! What a rip-off.

Wow! I'm clearly not charging enough. 50 bucks for 6 cuts, crazy! That would be under a minute of extra cut time. for 50 bucks I would shear strips for an hour. Tell you what actually... 6x6 with how big of a hole? I have a ton (literally probably more) of 16ga offcuts. I will shear the 6x6 squares and punch the hole for you free of charge. You pay shipping and I'll send em your way. let me know.

willisworms wrote:EDIT: OUCH! They want another $50 to make a few more cuts! What a rip-off.

Welcome to California!

willisworms wrote: I will shear the 6x6 squares and punch the hole for you free of charge. You pay shipping and I'll send em your way. let me know.

*&*&^$&#%@! Dude! That is one hell of a generous offer! I'm looking into a 3.5" conduit punch. If that doesn't pan out I'm gonna take you up on that. Thanks!

CC, you better grab that offer. A punch the size you need is grossly expensive.

Seriously I have so much 16 ga crop around it is no problem. I can punch whatever size hole you need cleanly without warping. It is galvanized coated ( not that flakey stuff, the dull grey ) If you need corner pieces , 6x12 two holes? I can do those too. however many you want to pay to ship.

Willis