Drilling into the frame?

[chillman88]

What's the fun in having overload leaves (leafs?) if you never abuse them?

Fixed that for you

 

[CaptBuffalo]

Now if we're talking about suspension related parts that get abused I would say that the bump stops for the front axle take the cake lol.

In other flatbed related news, I cut one of the ladder rack crossmembers out because it was at waist level while standing in the bed which is no fun. Next I'll well in a couple short pieces of c-channel to "craddle" the bar so it can still be used. In the process of cleaning the cuts up my angle grinder kicked back and rode my arm like a ramp. But this is a SFW site so I'll spare the bloody details lol

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[derjackistweg]

I also posted this on FTE, but I've read more about this subject on here so I thought I'd pick the knowledgeable brains here too:

*long post warning*

I had a question about drilling holes in parts of the frame for flatbed mounts. I know that it is ill-advised to drill into the horizontal part of the channel, and the stock bed holes can get stretched out if used wrong.

So that leaves the vertical part of the frame, which is what truck body builders use. But my frame doesn't have holes in the right areas.

Another thing I've read is that drilling or welding to the frame messes with the strength of the frame and can lead to cracking, which is what I want to avoid and the whole reason I'm going to do a floating mount design.

Any tips on how to drill safely? I'm only thinking of two 1/2" or smaller holes per mount spot. And the spots I'm picking are right behind the cab, and above the rear axle.

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This is how "professionals" do it:
https://www.manted.de/manted/aufbaurichtlinien/gb_all.html
MAN guidelines to drill in frames, mount onto frames etc. - very mandatory stuff!