Coil Protection Rams

Superior Protection for Your Metal Coils

UUP urethane coil protection rams are engineered for the realities of coil handling—where multi-ton coils of steel or aluminum must be moved, aligned, or loaded without leaving surface damage. The ram is often the only physical point of contact between the equipment and the coil, which makes its design critical.

Bare steel rams gouge, dent, or scratch valuable coils. Rubber alternatives compress unevenly, wear quickly, and chunk out under repeated edge impact. UUP polyurethane rams solve both problems: they absorb impact without permanent deformation, maintain geometry over thousands of cycles, and provide non-marking surfaces that protect everything from hot band steel to painted or coated aluminum. The result is fewer rejected coils, lower scrap rates, and longer service life for both coils and equipment.

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Yellow urethane coil protection rams manufactured by Universal Urethane Products for preventing coil surface damage during handling and transport.

Polyurethane Performance Range

Coil protection rams demand a unique balance of grip, compliance, and wear life. UUP leverages polyurethane’s broad hardness spectrum—Shore A 40 to Shore A 95—to tune each ram to the application:

  • Softer durometers (40–60A): Ideal for coated, anodized, or pre-painted coils. The compliant surface cushions contact and prevents cosmetic defects.
  • Medium durometers (70–85A): Balanced traction and resilience for general service in service centers and coil cars.
  • Harder durometers (90–95A): High load capacity and abrasion resistance for heavy hot-rolled or mill coils.

Softer compounds prevent marring, harder compounds prevent premature ram wear. By adjusting durometer within this window, UUP ensures the ram face grips securely without scuffing and survives thousands of heavy-load contacts.

Geometry and Tolerances

For rams, geometry is not cosmetic—it directly determines whether a coil is loaded straight, centered, and undamaged. UUP manufactures coil protection rams with precise tolerances to ensure repeatable, stable coil placement:

  • Face Geometry: Correct diameter and chamfer distribute load evenly, preventing line contact that can crease a coil edge.
  • Mounting Interfaces: Bolt-on puck systems machined to OEM specs ensure the urethane face doesn’t shift under force, avoiding misalignment.
  • Surface Profiles: Smooth for high-finish coils, ribbed or micro-grooved when extra traction is needed under oily conditions.
  • Dynamic Balance: Verified to operating speeds to prevent vibration that could destabilize coil handling.

Dimensional control means every ram contact is predictable. Misaligned or uneven ram faces don’t just wear faster—they damage coils worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Lifecycle and Operating Performance

Rams take the brunt of coil handling abuse: sharp edges, rolling oils, and repeated impact from coils weighing 10–40 tons. UUP designs rams to maintain protection under those conditions:

  • Abrasion resistance up to 4× greater than rubber prevents chunking and tearing at coil edges.
  • Elastic memory ensures the ram face rebounds after compression, maintaining fit and load distribution.
  • Non-marking surface prevents coil staining or scuffing, critical for aluminum and coated steel.
  • Temperature stability from  up to +70 °C allows the same ram to perform in mill yards, cold storage, and hot rolling environments.
  • Resistance to oils, solvents, and greases means coolants and shop contaminants don’t degrade performance.

Coils don’t just sit still—they shift, edge, and press into rams under tremendous weight. If the ram face deforms, coils slip or mark. UUP rams keep their geometry and surface finish intact, preserving coil integrity across thousands of moves.

Maintenance and Serviceability

Downtime in coil handling is expensive, so UUP designs rams for quick service:

  • Replaceable Pucks: Worn urethane faces can be swapped in minutes, restoring protection without pulling equipment offline for long stretches.
  • Recoverable Sleeves: Instead of scrapping a ram, spent coverings can be stripped and re-cast, delivering like-new performance at lower cost.
  • Wear Indicators: Color-coded or layered urethane shows when to change a puck before it risks coil damage.
  • Lightweight Modular Systems: Improve safety for technicians handling large ram assemblies.

Every hour a coil car or forklift is down reduces throughput. Serviceable designs keep protection high while minimizing downtime and labor.

Quality Control

Because rams make direct contact with high-value material, quality cannot be left to chance. Every UUP ram undergoes:

  • Surface Preparation: Bond surfaces grit-blasted to prevent delamination under shear forces.
  • Controlled Casting and Cure: Ensures predictable hardness and chemical resistance.
  • Post-Cure Machining: Guarantees dimensional accuracy and finish.
  • Hardness, concentricity, and TIR inspections on every batch to verify consistency.
  • Traceable documentation (certifications, cure records, inspection data) available for compliance and audits.

A defective ram face doesn’t just fail—it risks damaging every coil it touches. Quality control ensures every unit protects as designed.

Ordering and Availability

UUP coil protection rams are supplied as:

  • New Assemblies: Manufactured to OEM dimensions with replaceable urethane faces.
  • Recovered Units: Existing rams re-covered with fresh polyurethane for cost-efficient reuse.
  • Custom Solutions: reinforced compounds, or specialized geometries for unique coil handling challenges.

Engineering consultation is included with every order to ensure correct hardness, geometry, and surface finish are matched to the coil types and duty cycle. Standard and expedited lead times are available.