3D printable fix for loose 8020 corner bracket covers

[LeoDavidson]

The corner brackets that come with the P1-X and (from photos) TR80 and some similar 8020 cockpits have covers that don't stay on very well.

There seem to be a couple of bracket/cover styles, so some may be OK, but the type I have barely stay on under gravity let alone movement or strong vibrations.

I didn't want to glue them on or replace the covers, as I need to keep things adjustable and like how they look, so I came up with 3D printable clips that go inside the brackets and add a lot more friction to the covers so they should only come off with intentional force.

If you have a 3D printer, you can grab the STL files for free from here and try them out. Please check the photos of the brackets and their dimensions there to make sure you have the same type before wasting any time or filament!

I hope someone else finds these useful.

8020 40x40 corner bracket cover holder by LeoDavidson

8020 40x40 corner bracket cover holder clipsThese clips go inside the corner brackets that join two pieces of 8020 40mm aluminium profile. They hold the plastic covers in place, which otherwise fall out too easily.The original covers are retained. (They look nice. I wanted to keep them. The only...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Are these sim-lab caps that fall off, somehow mine are super tight, took some serious pounding to put them on. Very ingenious solution, btw.

 

[LeoDavidson]

Are these sim-lab caps that fall off, somehow mine are super tight, took some serious pounding to put them on. Very ingenious solution, btw.

Yeah, Sim Lab caps. I don't know if they changed the style of them at some point. In a Sim Racing Garage video from a while ago, he said you can use a soft hammer to fix them on. Couldn't get a good look at them in the video, but it didn't seem like hammering would help in any way with the ones I have, unless it makes the feet expand or something.

Not wanting to hammer something that isn't meant to be, I emailed Sim Lab first to check, and they confirmed the type I was sent (at least) shouldn't be hammered on and the best things to do was either bend the legs outward a bit to give more friction or to use an adhesive.

Didn't really want to bend the legs in case they snapped (although the legs seem to be stronger than I thought, in fairness, as I didn't break one while forcing them into my various prototypes!), and didn't want to glue them, so I designed the solution in the first post. Went through a few ideas before it ended up here. (Simply making the legs thicker sort of worked, but meant they wanted to pop off, so they took a bit more force to get off, but once that force was reached they FLEW off, haha. The solution I ended up with doesn't have that problem.)

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Yep, I used rubber mallet or they wouldn't get on. Must be different parts supplier as they are off the shelf item, not something sim-lab makes.
You can get them on amazon or from any 80/20 store.