OP
Dargo
Super Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2004
- Messages
- 5,981
- Location
- S. IN
- Tractor
- Jinma, Foton, TYM, Belarus, Yanmar, Branson, Montana, Mahindra and maybe some green and orange too.
After working on this for a couple of days in the afternoons (of course the hottest time of the day), I've discovered that the earlier pictured self tapping screws from Lowes perform far better than the original #30 Torx screws.
I found a local nut and bolt store and took a couple of the original bolts with me and bought exact replacements along with a good drill bit to drill pilot holes. My experience with this; a disaster! I toasted so many drill bits that the store called the manufacturer to ask why. I'm using a 36v DeWalt drill and am applying over 200 pounds of pressure yet the drill bits are toast after only a couple of holes. Trust me, I've drilled many thousands of holes in steel over the years. Something was wrong.
The bit manufacturer said that I had to remove the wood decking and drill only through the steel; not through the wood and then the steel. They said the wood holds the heat in and the bits burn up. Well, true enough, when only drilling through steel, the bits seemed to perform fine. However, there is no way I'm taking all the boards off and drilling them separately from the steel channel under them and trying to make sure all lines up! My thought on this is 'unacceptable'.
What surprised me was the screws from Lowes that are made to go through wood and then steel worked just fine. They went through the lumber and then 3/8" steel no problem with tight threads that sucked the lumber down tight. They far outperformed the original method. The screws are so hard that I shattered 2 of the #2 plus (blue looking) bits but never stripped a single screw head. I'd never shattered one of those #2 plus bits before.
I was only going to replace the 12' section of the 20' wood decking. However, now with the 12' section replaced the front section looks really bad with some gaps as wide as 1 1/2" between the boards. I just checked the prices and it will cost me $81.84 for the treated lumber and enough screws to replace the front half as well. I guess I probably ought to do that while I'm at it. The issue is that it's supposed to get up to 103 degrees here today with high humidity, putting the 'heat index' close to 130 degrees. Maybe not in the cards for today.
I just thought I'd report on my experience with the deck screws for trailers. I honestly did not expect the screws that drill through steel to be the best bet and to be far better than replacing with the original screws. I didn't know that the drill bit manufacturers refuse to warrant their bits when you drill through lumber first. I'd never considered the lumber causing excessive heat on the bit tip and ruining them almost immediately.
**It's those exact screws that "Kebo" posted from Lowes that ended up being far better than the original setup**
I found a local nut and bolt store and took a couple of the original bolts with me and bought exact replacements along with a good drill bit to drill pilot holes. My experience with this; a disaster! I toasted so many drill bits that the store called the manufacturer to ask why. I'm using a 36v DeWalt drill and am applying over 200 pounds of pressure yet the drill bits are toast after only a couple of holes. Trust me, I've drilled many thousands of holes in steel over the years. Something was wrong.
The bit manufacturer said that I had to remove the wood decking and drill only through the steel; not through the wood and then the steel. They said the wood holds the heat in and the bits burn up. Well, true enough, when only drilling through steel, the bits seemed to perform fine. However, there is no way I'm taking all the boards off and drilling them separately from the steel channel under them and trying to make sure all lines up! My thought on this is 'unacceptable'.
What surprised me was the screws from Lowes that are made to go through wood and then steel worked just fine. They went through the lumber and then 3/8" steel no problem with tight threads that sucked the lumber down tight. They far outperformed the original method. The screws are so hard that I shattered 2 of the #2 plus (blue looking) bits but never stripped a single screw head. I'd never shattered one of those #2 plus bits before.
I was only going to replace the 12' section of the 20' wood decking. However, now with the 12' section replaced the front section looks really bad with some gaps as wide as 1 1/2" between the boards. I just checked the prices and it will cost me $81.84 for the treated lumber and enough screws to replace the front half as well. I guess I probably ought to do that while I'm at it. The issue is that it's supposed to get up to 103 degrees here today with high humidity, putting the 'heat index' close to 130 degrees. Maybe not in the cards for today.
I just thought I'd report on my experience with the deck screws for trailers. I honestly did not expect the screws that drill through steel to be the best bet and to be far better than replacing with the original screws. I didn't know that the drill bit manufacturers refuse to warrant their bits when you drill through lumber first. I'd never considered the lumber causing excessive heat on the bit tip and ruining them almost immediately.
**It's those exact screws that "Kebo" posted from Lowes that ended up being far better than the original setup**
