In article rs.com,
buck wrote:
OK.... OK....... I THINK I SCREWED UP THE TERMINOLOGY ....... I said RAFTER,
but what I should have said was that it is the lower horizontal 2x4 of a
common TRUSS. The trusses are 24" on center. I was thinking about lagging
in a 2x6 board with lag screws across "three trusses" ..... and then screw
in my two eyebolts ....... so all the weight should be spread across the
three rafters. The problem is that the ceiling is in the garage and has
wallboard on it but I can see that the span is 24" between the trusses. A
lot of the townhouses here have wallboard ceilings on 2x4 trusses so I would
imagine they are holding up a lot of weight already with no apparent effect.
So now that I have everybody thinking about a horizontal 2x4 truss rather
than a rafter....... Is this more acceptable or even a worse idea?
-sorry for the wrong verbage.
Thanks for all previous responses..... Appreciate it!



I missed the 2X4 part when I made my first reply. I was thinking you
meant a 2X6 or 2X8 or larger joist. Anyway, since you are talking
about a truss made of 2X4s, I'd say it's not a good idea. Trusses are
usually engineered to support a roof and little else, they have
a definite limit on safe loading of the lower horizontal and will not
take additional loading to the same extent that stick-built framing
joists will.

With your idea of laying a 2X6 across 3 trusses and
spreading out the load, you might be OK depending... If you know who
manufactured the trusses you could checki with them for allowable
loading, or look at similarly sized and constructed trusses if the
manufacturer is unknown. If this will just be a "dead" load, not
swinging or subject to shock or impulse loads, you could just do a
test; Lay the 2X6 up there, then s l o w l y do a pull up on it. If
your comfortable with the degree of flexing (or lack thereof) let your
conscience be your guide.


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Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland