5 tips you should know before working with Extruded Aluminum! // 4x4 sprinter van build Ep. 4 

Drop in T-nuts are a life saver.

Save yourself some money and trouble: instead of the brackets, use the end connectors. You have to tap the center hole and drill an #7 access hole in the cross piece, but they fasten with one screw, cost less, and are stronger than the brackets.

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about, why rough cut the extrusion when you should do your layout and cute everything to length once, your using the worst possible method to connect the extrusion together, you clearly arent aware there are half round nuts that can be inserted into the slot after the fact, just another unqualified RU-vidr making videos on a subject they have no expertise in. Your video actually shows one of the l brackets which is bent and not properly fitted into the inside corner of the extrusion joint and I would seriously question if any of this would hold together a year or two down the road as your connector choice would not handle the constant movement and vibration in this application.

Thanks for sharing.🙂

L-Brackets aren't the way...IMO 3 Hole Bridge Plates , T-Plates etc as much as possible. About to begin my build and will be making my own plates out of angle steel as aluminum is to flimsy.

Thank you. (p.s. the music is a distraction)

Great info , thanks. Terrible unnecessary background guitar solo 😂

80 - 20 shift and comes loose over time. I would recommend you use Controlled Dynamics Angle Lock products. Contrary to traditional T-slot locking systems, Angle Lock tightens with dynamic environments.

So we bought a townhome-style condo with a lanai with one exterior screened wall framed with aluminum. It appears self-tapping metal screws were used to tie the hollow square aluminum framing tubes together. Along the bottom, a sheet of aluminum is fastened to the aluminum frame to create a non-screened band along the width of the fabricated wall. This got us thinking that we could "4-season" the room by adding our own sheets of aluminum to the remaining screened in spaces, or adding plexiglass or such to areas we want to still want to see through. The square aluminum support frame/beams could be clad on both sides leaving the interior 2-3" space a void or filling it with insulation. Is this a naive DIY, or are we as first-time homeowners on to something?

Step 1. Acquire money

Your doing it the wrong way....

Maaaaannnnnn this looks to be SUCH a GOOD video, but does anybody know how we can watch this video without the music?😯 ADHD has me slapping my head around trying to hear what he's saying.😭

I've worked with extrusions quite a bit (building wok benches and CNC Machines) and converted a 7 meter bus to a motorhome. The reasons I wouldn't mix the two 1. nothing in an older (bus was an 80s assembly) is as square as you'd like for using extrusions. 2. Often there isn't space for framing (why a lot of the installations use ply/mdf box construction). 3 so many curved surfaces that rigid frame won't mount well in (eg installing cabinets along the curved roof corner). 4. many large surfaces actually slope/taper (eg. the floor of the bus slightly sloped towards the door) . This is my experience and isn't true across the board. I've seen extrusions implemented well in other builds, only providing points for others to consider before launching into a project.

good to see you are highlighting some of the 'issues' of using this for a camper build. good info

This aluminum framing should be much lighter overall than wood framing when fully constructed, correct?

i'm thinking of going with these cheap steel l brackets for attaching the 80/20 cross beams on my roof rack. think they're strong enough for that application? all the 80/20 brand connectors are way more expensive and / or require machinging.

I would like to make a frame for a bed in my van with it and I was wondering if I should use the 40x40 or if it will be fine with the 20X20 size, please. Thanks in advance!

how do you attach surfaces to these extrusion boxes?

what is the width you choose for the bedlift? You rivnuts it what size of wood. Thanks

I want to make a set of steps with the frames being the 80/20 and the part to step on be 2 by 8. The 8in for the depth of the step. And then another one a few inches higher. Building the frame is the easy part but nobody tells you how do you attach a piece of wood what kind of screws do you use to go through a 2 by 8 and Connect into the channel below. Everything I find it's just people putting thin pieces of wood into the channels as Cabinets and Doors. Anybody with some insight it would be much appreciated

Nice tips!!!

Great video. On suggestion....L-brackets are not a good way to mate these parts. You want to look into "Blind Joints/Corners". Super simple and very strong. Example: Omron D2F-01L Micro Switch

How do I get such panels and other aluminum because they are not found in my country and how do I know their types and prices I follow your wonderful work from Iraq

Great video ! Thank you so much !

Mann I've watched a few of these you made it seem so damn hard... Use a tap and bang a thread in the centre hole of the extrusion drill a hole straight through the other side piece big enough to get the Allen key through now your bolt is in the t track and screws directly into the end of the other tube

That stuff is heavier than the wood, and way more expensive. Wood lasts 100s of years and easily obtainable and healthy.

Those L brackets are the weakest way to connect 80/20 according to the manufacturer and I am not using a single one in my 80/20 RV build

Do you find you get shocks or static off the metal?

L brackets are not the right way to make joints.

Thanks for these tips.

Assembly can be very easy if you don’t do it the way he and all the other lemmings do.

Roll in tee nuts can be used if you need to mount something to a inside piece.

on the fourth tip, why can't you use slim T-Nuts or grind down two side of a bolt head to avoid disassembling?