Quote Originally Posted by 1money View Post
I am permanently installing 2 pieces of tubing on the ceiling with a traveling one between. Thank you for the replies.
I would find it hard to say without a simple sketch of what you want.Then there is a question of how far apart are the two tubes you intend to permanently attach to the ceiling? How far apart do you see as your max distance and how close together do you see as your min distance.What size and wall thickness are your tubes(pipe?) and how will they be secured to the ceiling? and at what spacing along the length of tubing will your attachments to the ceiling be? AND!!! What IS the ceiling? rafters?steel? cement? I can only assume that the data you want is for the deflection of the 2X4X(?wall thickness) rectangle steel tubing with your 500 LBS centered.All I can suggest is that there is a lot of data specific to materials such as pipe ,tube,rectangular steel tubing etc,available searchable online on Google etc.with tables for various material specifications In my garage I keep it cheap and simple! My rafters are 2X8s on 16" centers with a 12 foot span to the garage center beam and there is an attic floor above. I laid 10' of 1 1/2 sch.40 pipe on that attic floor,,cut a round hole about 3-4 inches through the floor and hung a loop of chain on the pipe.Below I hang a simple chain block on the chain. Voila! simple fast and STRONG because any weight gets distributed over several rafters.Is it strong? Yes ! have used it for many engine (with trans)installs and removals. Hope you can find some assistance in all this and good luck,stay safe.hope we see your finished project.