>>> I want to hang a Datsun Roadster car body from the joists above my shop
>>> and garage space so I can start working on a frame in the shop.
I totally agree with the guys that suggested ways of spreading the load
over multiple joists or trusses, vs beefing up just a couple.
Back in the early 70s when I was a kid my Dad built a 3 car garage with
the intent of being able to hoist a big block V8 and trans' without
pulling the roof down, as he claimed he'd seen friends do.
He "boxed in" the 6 or 8 trusses over the stall with plywood, and at the
top of each, cut a 2" radius semi-circle. Then put up a 4" OD steel
pipe spanning all of them. But he staggered the depth, so with no load
the pipe was sitting on the outer most plates. At the calculated flex
of the pipe under full load (1100 lbs??) it would deflect and be roughly
in contact with all the plates, hopefully distributing the load fairly
evenly across all the trusses.
It was "seat of the pants" engineering, and I don't think anyone had FEA
software then, but it seemed sound.
-Wayne
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