Are there special angled washers to use to bolt angled "C" channel steel.

[sixdogs]

I'm building a truck "sub-frame" to mount a body to and have used "C" channel steel. A cross section of the steel shows that it is angled on the inside--see photo--.



So how do I bolt the "C" channel to the existing frame and get a good hold? The angle means only a portion of the bolt head will contact the steel or only a portion of the washer will contact the steel. This can't be right.

Are tapered washers made or available and am I the last person to know about these things? If so, where do you get them? Maybe I just bolt the steel together and don't worry about the taper on the inside? Any advice?

 

[bcp]

Re: Are there special angled washers to use to bolt angled "C" channel steel.

Most I see are square, like these. Your steel supplier may have them or know where to get them in your area.

Beveled Washers | Fastenal

Bruce

 

[bindian]

Re: Are there special angled washers to use to bolt angled "C" channel steel.

Aircraft sometimes use self aligning washers and nuts. The nut is rounded on the bottom and the washer is concave on the top.. But I would buy a reverse counterbore with the pilot the size of the hole. Then you can counterbore your flat bearing surface without removing too much "meat". Aircraft Tool companies have them forsale. Grainger might even have them.
hugs, Brandi

 

[mrmikey]

Re: Are there special angled washers to use to bolt angled "C" channel steel.

Yes there is http://tinyurl.com/qfmyjpu , just the first site I found with a pic....Mike

 

[chim]

Re: Are there special angled washers to use to bolt angled "C" channel steel.

Yes there is http://tinyurl.com/qfmyjpu , just the first site I found with a pic....Mike

Interesting that you'd link something from Portland Bolt. They made a bunch of 3/4" x 6" HDG lags for us not too long ago. The lags were not available as stock items from anyone, and we needed thousands. The picture below shows one of the bulk boxes we received.

 

[Baby Grand]

Re: Are there special angled washers to use to bolt angled "C" channel steel.

Yes there is http://tinyurl.com/qfmyjpu , just the first site I found with a pic....Mike

I had no idea these were available.
Another idea to save in the "toolbox"!
Thanks for posting.

 

[joecdeere]

Re: Are there special angled washers to use to bolt angled "C" channel steel.

if you have a trailer hitch installer near you, they have them too

 

[triptester]

Re: Are there special angled washers to use to bolt angled "C" channel steel.

If you need only a few tapered washers and have a scrap piece of channel. Cut the flange off and drill holes in it to make washers.

 

[jaotguy]

Re: Are there special angled washers to use to bolt angled "C" channel steel.

over sized acorn nuts ( lug nuts ) ... put in vise and grind to come close to the contour needed ...

 

[Baby Grand]

Re: Are there special angled washers to use to bolt angled "C" channel steel.

If you need only a few tapered washers and have a scrap piece of channel. Cut the flange off and drill holes in it to make washers.

^ What triptester suggests is the best solution! So simple - and so effective.
Why didn't I think of that - this is why I like TBN - you get the TBN collective's brain at your disposal.
If you cut from the same run of channel that you're building with you'll get exactly the right angle.
If you look at how a channel is dimensioned, that angle isn't specified - it's a result of a few other dimension.
Each of those dimensions has a healthy tolerance on it, so when you do a tolerance stack the resulting angle can vary quite a bit.

By using the channel itself you guarantee that your bolt's head or nut will seat as perpendicular to the flange as possible and you'll get the maximum strength from your bolts because they aren't loaded in bending.