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Welding a lorry curtain

907 - 9/9/11 at 07:58 AM

Hi All.

I just wondered how easy it is to weld seams in lorry curtain material? Anyone done it?

A bloke that lives near me is changing his curtain siders from silver to blue and has
offered me a curtain. I'm thinking steel framed car or trailer cover.

Cheers,
Paul G

balidey - 9/9/11 at 08:09 AM

heat gun and solid roller wheel to compress it.
Its 'easy', but with most things, experience makes it easier.
Just take your time, you just want to soften the PVC, not melt it.

richardh - 9/9/11 at 08:17 AM

how strong would this then be?
Would said material be ok to make a custom "bikini-style" hood for an open top cage?
Where can you get the type of material from?

Thanks
Rich

907 - 9/9/11 at 08:34 AM

quote:
Originally posted by balidey
heat gun and solid roller wheel to compress it.
Its 'easy', but with most things, experience makes it easier.
Just take your time, you just want to soften the PVC, not melt it.

Like a wallpaper seam roller?

I've seen these in wood, plastic, or I could make one in metal?

Cheers,
Paul G

Description

Myke 2463 - 9/9/11 at 08:35 AM

Could try this site.

http://www.truckinfo.net/trucking/repair-curtain-side.htm

balidey - 9/9/11 at 08:44 AM

Yes that roller is fine. A nice hard plastic is fine.
Metal may cool the material quickly, so would avoid that.

You can get a pretty good strong join like this. I have figures somewhere for the strength of the cloth, but for a trailer cover (or cage bikini whatever that is? ) would be fine.

Just thrown out about 100 trailers worth of used curtains.

richardh - 9/9/11 at 08:56 AM

Damn. only need about 8ft square for the kini top

richardh - 9/9/11 at 09:02 AM

come to think of it, i could also use that then for making a cover for my autograss car with the bit on the roof that keeps ripping other covers.

bill132hotrod - 9/9/11 at 09:54 AM

Hi guys

I used to do trailer repairs for a living , yes Hot air gun is the way to do it and use a solid rubber roller, make sure the mayerial is clean and the overlaps are about 1" and i can gauentee you willnot pull it apart.
I also made a complete custom fit cover for my grass track car, the material is very hard wearing and will last for years.
These curtain side when new are tested on a 45 deg angle with a simulated full cargo load on them. So thats how strong they are.
But again clean material is the key with 1" overlap on the joins.
Regards Bill.

[Edited on 9/9/11 by bill132hotrod]

richardh - 9/9/11 at 10:23 AM

bill, where did you get your material from?
My grass tracker needs one for the winter to keep her warm

SteveWalker - 9/9/11 at 10:36 AM

quote:
Originally posted by bill132hotrod
Hi guys

I used to do trailer repairs for a living , yes Hot air gun is the way to do it and use a solid rubber roller, make sure the mayerial is clean and the overlaps are about 1" and i can gauentee you willnot pull it apart.
I also made a complete custom fit cover for my grass track car, the material is very hard wearing and will last for years.
These curtain side when new are tested on a 45 deg angle with a simulated full cargo load on them. So thats how strong they are.

Unfortunately I met a guy with a faulty one some years ago. There I was coming North from the Stafford show in my Robin Hood, in the midst of an absolute deluge, when a truck ahead started bombarding me with rolls of carpet! Luckily I managed to dodge them. I hope everyone else did. The curtain fabric was fine, it was the bottom steel cable that had snapped.

I pulled off to phone the police on my mobile and let them know about the "obstructions" and then gave chase to let the driver know. It was an absolute bastard to stop him to let him know what was happening. With full weather gear and at motorway speeds I couldn't get my arm out to wave him over; flashing him repeatedly was ignored; pulling in front of him a number of times, putting my hazard lights on and slowing, just meant that he overtook me. I think it took me about 10 miles to stop him! Fortunately no more carpets came out.

bill132hotrod - 9/9/11 at 12:04 PM

Hi ya can't remember the name of the place but i used to use a place in west thurrock.
But i'm sure if you know of some haulage company near you i would think they would have a surplus or old damaged curtain laying around the yard/workshops you could purchace for beer tokens.
If not look up trailer repair company's there is a few around that might be able to help.
Regards Bill.

907 - 9/9/11 at 12:42 PM

Thanks for all the replies chaps.

If its as easy as it sounds then I may have a go at one of these.

Cheers,
Paul G

Description

balidey - 9/9/11 at 12:46 PM

You may struggle with that shape, the sides where it concertinas together, as this cloth is quite thick and bulky it may not fold as you would expect.

rusty nuts - 9/9/11 at 06:35 PM

Can't you weld it with the TIG Paul?

907 - 9/9/11 at 07:48 PM

quote:
Originally posted by balidey
You may struggle with that shape, the sides where it concertinas together, as this cloth is quite thick and bulky it may not fold as you would expect.

What about if the sides were fixed to the frame, and the back/top/front was a separate piece
and overlapped over and down the sides by say 150mm?

The overlap would also act as a ventilation slot.

Cheers,
Paul G

p.s. for Rusty Nuts

Mel, I can stick a tungsten to anything, and usually do.