I...hate...RIVETS

[Jagged]

So, I went to 76BlazerGuy's place to help him with his lift+shackle flip. All we had to get those rivets off was a grinder, a small (like 1/8") punch, a 2-lb hammer, and a big crowbar.

Lots of cussing and beating the **** outta those brackets

Still have two stubborn rivets that won't let go of the bracket, but progress has been made. 76BlazerGuy's got a decent looking K5 now. 4" TC lift in the front, shackle flip rear, new shocks, and 33x12.50 Khumo MT's. Now he just needs to let me liven his engine up with a rebuild

 

[wafer brian]

rivets

burn them with a welding machine crank her wide open watch out for your gas tank

 

[Jagged]

burn them with a welding machine crank her wide open watch out for your gas tank

Would have been nice... but we had a grinder, big hammer, small punch, and a crowbar to work with

 

[cbbr]

Rivets suck. An air hammer and an air grinder make them easier, but they suck either way.

 

[Cornfield creations]

What about a cutting torch if you are swapping out the mounts?

 

[dremu]

So, I went to 76BlazerGuy's place to help him with his lift+shackle flip. All we had to get those rivets off was a grinder, a small (like 1/8") punch, a 2-lb hammer, and a big crowbar.

Lots of cussing and beating the **** outta those brackets

Still have two stubborn rivets that won't let go of the bracket, but progress has been made. 76BlazerGuy's got a decent looking K5 now. 4" TC lift in the front, shackle flip rear, new shocks, and 33x12.50 Khumo MT's. Now he just needs to let me liven his engine up with a rebuild

Hey, this sounds familiar

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155220

Getting rid of those rivets makes it ALL soooo much easier for the future ... unbolting that flip to do 56"s will be sweet.

Of course, undoing the rivets in the FRONT sucks...

-- A

 

[dleroy43]

I didnt think my rivits were too bad.
Grind the head off.
Drill a hole through the rest of the rivit like a 1/8 or somthing.
Then pound out the rivit with a sledge
rince and repeat

 

[Jagged]

Ehh, all the rivets are out... I was just whining about not having any good tools to really beat them out with.

Like I said... we had a grinder, BFH, 1/8" punch, 1" chisel, and a BF Crowbar... no, these rivets don't punch out with a 1/8" punch. Had to grind the heads off, then use the BFH to whack the chisel between the bracket and frame to pop the bracket off the rivets. For the stubborn ones, it was a combination of the BF Crowbar and severe beating with the BFH.

 

[drofdar]

When I did my fullsize flip, I just took the bed off first. Sounds like more work, but in the long run, the access I had made it soooo much easier! Gave me the opportunity to clean and paint the underside anyway.

 

[1-ton]

I plan on removing some rivits for some future projects on my truck, and I am going to use oxy/accetalyne with a cutting head torch to get the heads off, and then an air hammer to drive them the rest of the way out. This way I will not break a huge sweat trying to get those SOB's off.

 

[redneckdude]

thats the ideal way but i don't hae the money for that sorta stuff rt now...

first time i removed my rivits (for the shackle flip) i grinded them all the way down and beat them out...when i did it for the front hanger i grinded the head down some then chisled the rest off...i was tryin to keep the hanger in good shape and it worked for me. Having all those old rivits out is so nice tho, just unbolt the stuff if i ever need to move them (shouldn't after i get the 63" swap all done).