Joined
·
132 Posts
Hippo Box Side Tie Downs pictures by olivecrossbones - Photobucket
We cover our dump box on trips to keep rain and dust out of the various packs and boxes we use. We use a weather proof tarp/cover and attempted to bungee it in place. We did not have the tie down loops in the bottom of the box that the Hippo came with as 2 of them were removed to put in the Honda tool box which was permenantly mounted on the box bed. The bungee system with nothing to hook them to was problematic. I removed the top 2 bolts on both sides of the dump box and hoped to replace them with simple eyebolts. Nothing ever comes simple.:nono:The bolts were 6mm and searches in McMaster Carr, Fastenal, and local hardware stores revealed that eyebolts that were available in 6mm were forged (rust), had loops that were too small and shafts that were too short. After burning several hundred brain cells, finally came up with forged oblong loops that had a female end. I found a bushing that fit inside the female end and allowed the 6mm bolt to pass through. I addressed the rust issue by dipping the loops in plastic dip as used for plier/tool grips. The oblong loop allowed for a longer bolt to be used.
They work great and look OEM (and should have been in my opinion).
I do not have a welder so that option, which many of you have, was not available to me. I am sure there are other solutions to this but this is what finally worked for me.
![]()
![]()
We cover our dump box on trips to keep rain and dust out of the various packs and boxes we use. We use a weather proof tarp/cover and attempted to bungee it in place. We did not have the tie down loops in the bottom of the box that the Hippo came with as 2 of them were removed to put in the Honda tool box which was permenantly mounted on the box bed. The bungee system with nothing to hook them to was problematic. I removed the top 2 bolts on both sides of the dump box and hoped to replace them with simple eyebolts. Nothing ever comes simple.:nono:The bolts were 6mm and searches in McMaster Carr, Fastenal, and local hardware stores revealed that eyebolts that were available in 6mm were forged (rust), had loops that were too small and shafts that were too short. After burning several hundred brain cells, finally came up with forged oblong loops that had a female end. I found a bushing that fit inside the female end and allowed the 6mm bolt to pass through. I addressed the rust issue by dipping the loops in plastic dip as used for plier/tool grips. The oblong loop allowed for a longer bolt to be used.
They work great and look OEM (and should have been in my opinion).
I do not have a welder so that option, which many of you have, was not available to me. I am sure there are other solutions to this but this is what finally worked for me.
