A structural assembly for load carrying chassis of vehicles includes beams extending fore and aft on the chassis with passages laterally through the beam webs. I-beams extend through the passages through the beams. Brackets are fixed to the principal beams at the passages. The brackets each include a bracket web, a bracket flange extending from the bracket web and two bosses on the bracket web extending past the bracket flange. The bosses of each of the brackets extend to either side of lower I-beam flanges. The bracket flanges extend through the passages in contact with the beams in the passages. The brackets are shown as integrally formed or as composite assemblies of a plate and an extrusion.

The automotive vehicle structural part (30) includes at least a main panel (40) and a wheel casing (42), the main panel (40) and the wheel casing (42) being made of two distinct three-dimensional parts made of different materials attached to each other by welding.

A pickup truck box assembly includes a pair of longitudinal frame rails, an extruded cross-member, and a truck bed. The cross-member has a uniform longitudinal cross-section assembled perpendicular to the rails and defines a rectilinear profile with a front flange extending from a cross-member upper portion on a front side and a rear flange extending from the upper portion on a rear side. The truck bed is secured on top of the flanges and the cross-member upper portion. The cross-member may include a first end adjacent a first wheel well defined by the truck bed and a second end adjacent a second wheel well defined by the truck bed such that the cross-member spans between the wheel wells. The ends may be spaced from their respective wheel wells a distance selected to provide space for a truck box inner panel.

A floor-crossmember combination to be used in forming a dump trailer floor without the use of floor panels. Each floor-crossmember combination may have at least one elongate arm terminating in a projection and a corresponding slot, allowing adjacent floor-crossmember combinations to be connected together via the projection of one and slot of the other, then welded together.

A unitary floor comprises a top layer, floor components, and a bottom layer. The floor components are sandwiched between the top layer and the bottom layer to provide an integral structure that comprises a continuous surface, unitary floor. Each of the floor components has a material strips. Moreover, the material strips that make up a corresponding floor component is a composite assembly that includes a first set of material strips, which may be interleaved with a second set of material strips. The first set of material strips includes a different density compared to the second set of material strips. Moreover, the unitary floor may be fabricated by a vacuum process, such as a vacuum infusion process.

A vehicle is disclosed having a composite cargo body. A floor of the cargo body is constructed of a first composite material. A roof, a right sidewall, a left sidewall, and a nose of the cargo body are constructed of a second composite material different from the first composite material. Various components of the composite cargo body are bonded together with an adhesive. Mechanical fasteners also may be used to join other components of composite cargo body.

A composite floor structure and method of making the same are disclosed. The composite floor structure may include a platform and a plurality of transverse beams. The composite floor structure may also include at least one longitudinal beam and a plurality of insert beams to accommodate the longitudinal beam. The composite floor structure may also include an underlayment between the plurality of transverse beams and the at least one longitudinal beam. Some or all of these components may be integrally molded together to form a fiber-reinforced polymer structure. The composite floor structure may be used for cargo vehicles and other applications.

A cargo body panel includes a composite construction including an interior skin, an exterior skin, and a core positioned between the interior and exterior skins. The panel has parallel first and second edges spaced in a first direction. A pocket is formed by the interior skin at a location spaced away from the first and second edges, the pocket extending parallel to the first and second edges to define a length. The pocket is wide enough to accommodate a logistics profile insert having a width that exceeds a depth of the pocket, the depth measured into the panel, perpendicular to both the first direction and the length.

A cargo vehicle is disclosed having a composite floor assembly with at least one conduit extending along a length of the composite floor assembly. The at least one conduit may include a first internal cavity and a second internal cavity. The first internal cavity may be configured to route at least one vehicle component. The second internal cavity may be configured to receive at least one vehicle component or a plurality of mechanical fasteners. The mechanical fasteners may be used to couple a base rail to the composite floor assembly.

A crush-tube assembly for securing a truck bed to a frame of a vehicle. The crush-tube assembly includes a first hole defined by the truck bed, a crush-tube defining an inner diameter, a cross-member defining a second hole, and a frame defining a third hole. A bolt extends through the first hole, the crush-tube, the second hole, and third hole. The inner diameter is smaller than the second hole and maintains pressure around a periphery of the second hole. The pressure applied by the bolt around the hole in the cross-member prevents abrasion of the e-coat previously applied to the cross-member and thereby reduces the potential for corrosion of the cross-member.