Adding an i-beam trolley crane to M1079 van body

[Sapphire]

I'm interested in adding some cargo handling capability to my M1079 (van body). After giving it a fair amount of thought, I came up with the idea of an I-beam trolley system suspended from the ceiling of the van body. The i-beam itself would be on 2 sets of rollers to slide out the rear door for 4 feet. The trolley (with winch) would roll the length of the i-beam. This would enable me, with the proper rigging, to lift pallets into the back of my van body.

I'm interested in about a 1000 lb. lift capacity. The i-beam, trolley, rollers and winch would weigh about 250 lbs. for about 1250 lbs total.

But here is my question: Will the van body and ceiling handle this weight?

I read somewhere the van body roof was rated for a 100 psi point load, but that's all I could find.

 

[radbad]

The roof is very sturdy with aluminum braces at regular spacings. The trick will be figuring out how to mount into all of those.

This past week, I had a max of 12 people on the roof at a festival - all standing on the back 2/3 of the roof due to solar panels on the front. We had maybe 1800lb up there. Not a point load, but the roof didn't care one bit.

 

[Sapphire]

Thanks for the info, radbad!

 

[CARNAC]

I tried this using pipe and an aluminum I beam from a M548 tracked ammo carrier and used the trolley hoist from same. Great idea but the pipe was too weak. The deuce winch I was trying to lift bent down and it led to some excitement.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I used to throw a 4x6 pressure treated on top of my M109a3. I had an eyelet drilled into it and used that to lift heavy stuff into the box. Only one ratchet strap was needed to hold the the 4x6 down, up by the cab. it wasn't easy to swing things in the door, but it worked well and set up quick!

 

[TNriverjet]

I used to throw a 4x6 pressure treated on top of my M109a3. I had an eyelet drilled into it and used that to lift heavy stuff into the box. Only one ratchet strap was needed to hold the the 4x6 down, up by the cab. it wasn't easy to swing things in the door, but it worked well and set up quick!

AKA, the gimpyrobb kickstand. Can double as rollover protection?