Manufacturers of trailers, utility trucks, work trucks and fire apparatus have seen a significant increase in the longevity of their truck bodies due to the use of stainless steel, aluminum and zinc-coated sheet metal. The need for longer life cycles has forced the truck body manufacturers and their customers to look for improvements from other materials used in these applications. One area that has lagged behind is the limited selection and availability of improved tread plate products. Any of the trucks in these industries depends heavily on the use of tread plates for a wide assortment of parts, namely bumpers, overlays, steps, walls and, of course, floors. Stainless steel and aluminum applications are limited on finishes and gauges and rarely need any other finishing once installed. The major issue for designers and manufacturers has been the certain fate of the painted hot-rolled carbon tread plate parts once the finished truck has left the factory.

We have all seen trucks on the road that have nice finishes on a painted Galvanneal body, but then we notice the work area of the truck; a scratched tread surface on a floor or bumper that is bleeding orange from the rust of a painted, but otherwise unprotected carbon steel surface. Manufacturers need the availability of a carbon steel tread plate that will resist corrosion and hold a paint job once it is in the field.

Rigidized® Metals Corporation has the answer with its line of Rigidized® Tread Plate. Rigidized makes a line of tread plates which can be made from any metal sheet, including any grade of stainless steel, any aluminum alloy and zinc-coated metal, namely Galvanized or Galvanneal carbon steel. Rigidized® Metals can produce all of these metals in three different tread patterns to appeal to any application. Finally, truck body and trailer manufacturers have a choice in specifying a tread plate product that fits every metal requirement.

One of the most significant benefits of the Rigidizing process is its ability to produce tread plate patterns in a wide range of thicknesses. Similarly, the constant challenge to any truck body manufacturer, these days, is to reduce the overall weight of each unit. This is another major reason to choose Rigidized® Tread Plate. While the term "tread plate" often suggests a heavy decking plate usually 3/16" or 1/4" thick with a solid back, Rigidized® Metals offers a thickness range of .018" to .125" in stainless steel and can make zinc-coated carbon steel tread plate up to 10 gauge (.135"). All types of metal can be rolled to up 60" wide. The availability of lighter gauges allows these patterns to be used in decorative but still functional areas such as door liners, toolboxes and covers. One-side bright aluminum is available in sheet and coil up to 48" wide from .025" to.125" thick.

Most notable of the Rigidized product is the hollow back produced while rolling the sheet steel on a synchronized set of rolls. The pattern on the bottom roll meshes with the top roll to create a raised pattern or "lug" on the top side of the steel sheet, while an indentation is created on the under side in the same shape as the pattern lug. The use of standard sheet gauges allows the metal to move into place to create the lug, but does not add weight to the piece. In a comparison to the standard stainless steel, carbon steel or aluminum "flat-back" tread plate products of the same thickness, the Rigidized® Tread Plate product is consistently 15 to 20% lighter than its competitors.

Rigidized® Tread Plate is easily formable using a press-break due to its smooth back side and can be sheared, notched, cut with a laser, water-jet or plasma arc, just the same as plain sheet steel. The Rigidizing process produces a very flat sheet product that can be attached by welding, screws or laminated and glued to another surface.

Rigidized® Metals produces tread plate in many finishes, including:

• Stainless steel 2B
• Satin and Bright Annealed
• Aluminum in mill finish and bright finish
• Zinc-coated carbon steel in Galvanized G-60 and G-90
• Paintable Galvannneal A-40 and A-60