rivnut roblem

[petera]

Hi
Possibly trading in the bike but have a problem with 2 rivnuts on the rear subframe. I have the sw motech pannier rack system on the bike. On trying to remove the left hand carrier mount plate ,that bolts into the underside of the rear subframe' are spinning when I try to remove them.
Seems like I have a few options. Leave the rack fitted and say nothing.
Dremel the heads of the bolts off. This will leave about 6mm of threads sticking out which I could leave or cut flush.
Or do the right thing and remove the nuts and fit new ones. Anyone done this.
I'm assuming I would probably need to remove the subframe. How big a job is this and what am I letting myself in for.
Any pointers gratefully received
Thanks
Peter

 

[NeverRodeBefore]

never had to remove one myself (I fitted plenty to my old Landy and my Ginetta) but this website has people who've been there already..

http://ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=299055&highlight=rivnut

Hope it's of some use, and best of luck..

Oh, and if you can, try and fit a stainless steel rivnut, so at least the bolt won't rust into it..

 

[ymfb]

Can you get a bolt right the way through ? If so get a long bolt right through and with two nuts and two spanners tighten it up as much as possible. We fitted a stack of them on a conveyor in Belgium after we forgot the special tool.

 

[Fanum]

You cam dremel out the rim of a rivnut, or drill it out carefully (just don't make the hole any bigger ) and stick a new one in, assuming you have a rivnut tool.

You can also use something like JB weld for a semi-bodge to make the rivnuts captive again...

Taking off the subframe isn't really going to get you anywhere, as you still have to get 'inside' it to make the captive nut secure......(unless I've mis-read that)

If you are GOOD with a welder and you can get a nut in there, it is possible to replace a rivnut with a standard nut, tacked in place through a hole just next to the bolt hole, but you're opening yourself up for a world of grief on something like a bike subframe.....that's better done on a chassis member on a landy or something



Best advice- for a cheap but good fix, go see your local Landrover indie garage......they will have a rivnut gun and a selection of rivnuts, they will be able to take out the old (you may end up with a few jinglies left in the tube but that's minor and can be dealt with if you really need to) and squeeze in a pair of new rivnuts securely.

For a cheaper but more 'bodgy' fix, get some JB weld or similar and make those puppies captive again......a thin walled aluminium rivnut was never a great fixing device anyway and a drop of JBweld will probably be stronger, so even though it's a bodger's approach, I suspect it will be just as strong as a new rivnut anyway

 

[ymfb]

As I said, you can fix them with two spanners, a bolt and two nuts