I've just finished welding myself a set of aluminium panniers, but need a couple of bits to finish them off.

Can anyone recommend where to buy tie-down loops, and rubber to form a seal between box and lid?

Metal mule have tie downs, 4 for £20, which seems alright I guess, but anyone got anything better?

My lid has a 'skirt' round it, and I want to glue a (square section maybe) rubber strip round it to seal against the box.

Thanks in advance

Try these guys,Fasteners ~ Protex Fasteners Ltd I.m in the same position, going to use the handles as tie down loops and got some self addesive foam for the window fitters on the site i'm working on at the mo. I could grab you some and put in the post ?

Cheers
Pete

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http://www.curryhunt.co.uk

I can supply solid rubber or closed-cell neoprene strip for you. Give me your prefered size and a +/- option if you can, and I should be able to help you from stock. I get almost any size but get stuck for quite large minimum qtys.

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I got seals for mine from: Seals + Direct UK - Rubber Door Seals, Sealing Products
and fasteners from Protex, same as Pete.

John

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JAMBA 2007 - bikerbytes.com/txp

Cheers for the info..

Protex were spot on for the fasteners, I got locking over-centre latches to lock the pannier lids, and heavy duty padlockable latches to secure the panniers to the frames.

I'm not sure what dimensions I'd need for the lid, as I don't know how much neoprene compresses. I've made the panniers to have a 5mm gap between box and lid, so maybe about 9mm thick seal?

Cheers for the link John, they've got an excellent range on there. What exact item did you go for? I think I'll give it a best guess and see how it goes, it's pretty cheap after all.

Thanks again

All I can really find in terms of pannier tie down loops are from metal mule, does anyone know where I can get these:

https://www.metalmule.com/component/...d,26/vmcchk,1/



but cheaper?

Yes, you can buy stainless steel drawer handles. Much cheaper than the MM, BUT, remember, you get what you pay for I found mine in Home Depot for about 4-5$ each.

Try over here Door handles - cabinet handles handle UK

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http://www.curryhunt.co.uk

You can also try stainless cleats for boats. Relatively cheap and different. Available from most chandlers...

Like these: Boat Cleats by Discount Marine Supplies

John

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JAMBA 2007 - bikerbytes.com/txp

Try these eBay.co.uk Shop - 12V MARINE: HIGH QUALITY S S 316 PARTS: ANCHOR CONNECTOR

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Trophymick

H people, good thread. Hd a look at the Seals + Direct UK - Rubber Door Seals, Sealing Products page, they seem to sell every imaginable seal, but which type is the best for panniers? The U-shaped ones seem like a good choice to me, any other picks? Second question, how do you seal a screw holding on a latch or tiedown point?

Paul, if it's a self tapping screw it's pretty much going to be waterproof, if it's a bolt ? squib some silicon sealant in and around the hole before you insert the bolt and when you do it up it will seal the hole.With respect to the seals, I would give them a call and explain what you want to do and I'm sure they would be the best people to recommend !
HTH

Pete

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http://www.curryhunt.co.uk

Superb.

For the seals I first bought the plain expanded neoprene, which turned out to be too thick for the gap I had between lid and pannier.
Matey at seals direct said about 20-30% compression was ideal. I ended up with a bit more than this, and compressing the lid down until it was parallel with the box needed too much force.

So I re-ordered, and this time went for the expanded neoprene skinned on 4 faces. Part number SEN151
This came nextday, and was spot on. Much heavier duty than the other stuff, and just the right thickness to make a good seal. Would certainly recommend this stuff if you're looking.

I also got part number U49 to line the lip around the top of the pannier, which seems perfectly suited, again, I would recommend.


For the tie downs, I've just bought 8 of these

(( 2 X 6MM WIRE EYE STRAPS IN STAINLESS STEEL 316)) on eBay, also, Accessories, Boats Watercraft, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 17-Feb-09 15:50:53 GMT)

So we'll see how they turn out, only £7 for the set, excellent, as I was just about to spend 40 on those ones I've shown above, from metal mule.

Thanks very much for the guidance people, really appreciated.
What an amazing resource we have here!

Silicone around all bolt holes is a definite, can't praise that stuff enough. Afterall they make everything from breasts to computer chips to gaskets!
Good shout Pete.

Mr.Ron, I remember your pannier project was one of the first I looked at, and still have a library of your photos saved on my computer (relating to panniers only, sounded like I was some kind of stalker!) Looked like a good job

John, at the price of those boat eye plates, I think I'll get a couple just to compare, for the couple of quid it's going to cost, I'll try them too I think.

I'll bore you all to tears with an in depth account of fabricating these panniers when they're finally finished. The last bit of welding is being done tomorrow, powder coating by the end of the week, frame for the bike hopefully done over the weekend, leaving in 4 weeks, 5 days, 22 hours and a few minutes!

What a project

Exciting 'init

John

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JAMBA 2007 - bikerbytes.com/txp

Maybe you need something like this kit,

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Happyness is not around the corner, happyness is the corner.