The title of this really should be "To thread or not to thread" but this gets a bit more attention. Anyways, my tongue extension is a rectangular steel tube that slides inside of the tongue. I designed it to have some plastic inside the tongue. This acts to fill in the gaps between the rectangular tube and tongue and allows for easier sliding (no metal to metal contact)
I'm trying to figure out the best way to attach the plastic to the inside of the extension. This must be fastened to the tongue, not the extension. Adhesive is probably not an option since the plastic is HDPE and/or UHMW. I've found that carpet tape adheres to it and that might be useful for installation. Right now I'm thinking some screws going through the tongue and into the plastic might be my only option. If it is, would you recommend machine or sheet metal screws? The tongue extension is made of 1/8" steel. Most of the plastic is 3/16-1/4". I can tap both if using machine screws.
Here's a representation if you were to look down both tubes (with hitch removed).
Blue is the trailer tongue
White is the plastic
Red is the extension (which is actually hollow)
Gap between plastic and extension tube is greatly exaggerated. In reality its only a few hundreths or thousandths of an inch
I'm trying to figure out the best way to attach the plastic to the inside of the extension. This must be fastened to the tongue, not the extension. Adhesive is probably not an option since the plastic is HDPE and/or UHMW. I've found that carpet tape adheres to it and that might be useful for installation. Right now I'm thinking some screws going through the tongue and into the plastic might be my only option. If it is, would you recommend machine or sheet metal screws? The tongue extension is made of 1/8" steel. Most of the plastic is 3/16-1/4". I can tap both if using machine screws.
Here's a representation if you were to look down both tubes (with hitch removed).
Blue is the trailer tongue
White is the plastic
Red is the extension (which is actually hollow)
Gap between plastic and extension tube is greatly exaggerated. In reality its only a few hundreths or thousandths of an inch