After having a number of rivets on the scissor arms of my 2008 16.49 I finally bit the bullet and decided to change it over to the hockey stick setup to support the bed ends.
I had put this off for quite a while as it all seemed too hard but now that I have done it, I realise that this is one of the easiest jobs that can be done.
First thing is to get the parts, hockey stick, hoop receiver, socket plate and cap.
Then go to the hardware and get some 12mm screws, with the hoop in the upright position place the receiver so that the knob is roughly parallel to the bed and mark the holes. I centre punched and drilled these in place and screwed them in.
The next thing to do is to remove the scissor arms, I initially tried to do this without removing the canvas ends, but as I had another issue that necessitated removing at least one corner, I bit the bullet and unscrewed the aluminium plates holding the canvas on at the bottom. It was much easier than I had expected and I wish I had done it last time I fixed the pop rivets with the canvas on.
Once the aluminium strips are removed the canvas is only held in place with some thin double sided tape, so it peeled away easily.
With the canvas out of the way use a 6 or 7mm drill bit to remove the rivet head on the scissor arm (sorry no photos of this bit) then push the remainder of the rivet down the tube of the hoop, it falls out of the bottom. Remove the 2 screws at the base of the scissor arms and deposit the arms into the wheelie bin. repeat this 3 more times.
Replace the canvas, as the double sided tape is still sticky it is easy to line up the holes in the canvas with the holes in the bed base and screw the aluminium plate back on.
Back inside the van and insert the hockey stick into the receiver, adjust the length of the hockey stick so that it is at least 50mm forward of the back edge of the cupboard, this is to allow space for the cap to be fitted inside the cupboard on top of the protruding part of the pole. It's probably worth noting that the front one can go dead centre but the one at the back has to be offset to the side due to the divider up the middle of the cupboard.
Put a few strips of masking tape on the underside of the cupboard add tape to the inside where the hole is to come through as this will limit the amount of splitting you get on the laminate, push the hockey stick back so that the canvas is taught and mark around the end of the stick.
Using a 22mm speedbore or hole saw drill through the centre of the circle that you marked around the end of the stick. Remove the tape and screw the socket plate over the hole.
The only thing left is to fit the cover plate. You need to drill a couple of 4-5mm holes for the screws to go through and then try to find that stubby Phillips head screwdriver that you haven't used for ages because the battery drill wont fit in the cupboard (curses with frustration)
Fit the Cover, break out the vacuum sot that SWMBO doesn't get upset at the woodchips in the bed and the jobs done.
Less than $90 in parts and under an hours work, this comes under the heading of why didn't I do this ages ago.
I had put this off for quite a while as it all seemed too hard but now that I have done it, I realise that this is one of the easiest jobs that can be done.
First thing is to get the parts, hockey stick, hoop receiver, socket plate and cap.
Then go to the hardware and get some 12mm screws, with the hoop in the upright position place the receiver so that the knob is roughly parallel to the bed and mark the holes. I centre punched and drilled these in place and screwed them in.
The next thing to do is to remove the scissor arms, I initially tried to do this without removing the canvas ends, but as I had another issue that necessitated removing at least one corner, I bit the bullet and unscrewed the aluminium plates holding the canvas on at the bottom. It was much easier than I had expected and I wish I had done it last time I fixed the pop rivets with the canvas on.
Once the aluminium strips are removed the canvas is only held in place with some thin double sided tape, so it peeled away easily.
With the canvas out of the way use a 6 or 7mm drill bit to remove the rivet head on the scissor arm (sorry no photos of this bit) then push the remainder of the rivet down the tube of the hoop, it falls out of the bottom. Remove the 2 screws at the base of the scissor arms and deposit the arms into the wheelie bin. repeat this 3 more times.
Replace the canvas, as the double sided tape is still sticky it is easy to line up the holes in the canvas with the holes in the bed base and screw the aluminium plate back on.
Back inside the van and insert the hockey stick into the receiver, adjust the length of the hockey stick so that it is at least 50mm forward of the back edge of the cupboard, this is to allow space for the cap to be fitted inside the cupboard on top of the protruding part of the pole. It's probably worth noting that the front one can go dead centre but the one at the back has to be offset to the side due to the divider up the middle of the cupboard.
Put a few strips of masking tape on the underside of the cupboard add tape to the inside where the hole is to come through as this will limit the amount of splitting you get on the laminate, push the hockey stick back so that the canvas is taught and mark around the end of the stick.
Using a 22mm speedbore or hole saw drill through the centre of the circle that you marked around the end of the stick. Remove the tape and screw the socket plate over the hole.
The only thing left is to fit the cover plate. You need to drill a couple of 4-5mm holes for the screws to go through and then try to find that stubby Phillips head screwdriver that you haven't used for ages because the battery drill wont fit in the cupboard (curses with frustration)
Fit the Cover, break out the vacuum sot that SWMBO doesn't get upset at the woodchips in the bed and the jobs done.
Less than $90 in parts and under an hours work, this comes under the heading of why didn't I do this ages ago.
