Hey Scott, it's Chad, I ordered 2 sets about a week ago, I'm just wondering how your hunt for nutserts is progressing (and if my locks are coming along :) )

Thanks.

Chad

Yup, they'll be outta here tomorrow. I found a consistent source for the nut-serts, but they have to be ordered in from somewhere (they won't tell me where, it's either Seattle or Boston). But I ordered about a bazillion last time.

Cool man, waiting for the phone call with the trace number. Not to be anal about it, but without a trace number and some phone calls things seem to go missing a lot where I am, or go via China. Thanks for the update.

Chad

Originally posted by Scott@Rockstomper
....But I ordered about a bazillion last time.


How many zeros is that? :D :D :D

What would you charge for just some nutserts for other projects?

themaddhatter

Originally posted by themaddhatter
What would you charge for just some nutserts for other projects?

How many do you need? You can buy them in relatively small quantities (they're kinda spendy, though) from McMaster-Carr http://www.mcmaster.com directly, if you happen to want the ones we use, they run about 75 cents apiece. That's a steel 3/8-16 nutsert, takes a 9/16 hole, and will seat itself into any thickness of material (including blind holes).

Just FYI, there's about six or eight styles of nutserts, most of which won't crimp into anything thicker than sheetmetal, but most of which are cheaper than these, too... what are you trying to do?

Scott, I want to replace the cardboard/naugahyde door/cargo panels in my '76 FJ55 with something like 1/8" diamond-plate. Want to put nut-serts in the original holes (5/16") in the door/body sheetmetal. The new panels would have tie-downs on them, and I want to attach the panels as securely as I can and be able to remove them again.

mcmaster.com shows these "Nut Inserts, Rivet Nuts, and Rivet-Type Studs":

jack nuts
nut inserts
rivet nuts
knurled rivet nuts
knurled rivet nuts with seal
rubber-insulated rivet nuts
closed-end rivet nuts
rivet-type studs

Which kind should I use?

Morgan

Originally posted by morgan
Scott, I want to replace the cardboard/naugahyde door/cargo panels in my '76 FJ55 with something like 1/8" diamond-plate. Want to put nut-serts in the original holes (5/16") in the door/body sheetmetal. The new panels would have tie-downs on them, and I want to attach the panels as securely as I can and be able to remove them again.

Which kind should I use?


There's a few criteria to take into account here... so I'm not going to answer your question directly (sorry, but you'll see why in a sec).

I will go straight to it (sorta) and say, you probably want rivet nuts or knurled rivet nuts.

1. How big a bolt do you want to use in them? Bigger = stronger.
2. How big a hole do you have now? Are you willing to drill it bigger?
3. How thick is the material you're putting the insert into?

So... with that out of the way, if you're putting these into sheetmetal, just about any will work. It's when you need 'em to fit something thicker (like we had to, with our beadlocks) that it gets tough.

You said 5/16" holes--is that for a 5/16" bolt (I know, Toy, metric... but I doubt you're wanting to put metric bolts back in) or something else? McMaster lists hole sizes for each of their rivet style nut inserts, along with bolt thread sizes and all.

And if you're willing to drill the holes bigger, you can use bigger bolts (stronger, but keep in mind that you can't have an assembly stronger than the weakest part).... if you're not willing to drill the holes bigger, then you'd need to find a rivet nut that fits your existing holes (it has to be dead-on; a 1/32 over is big enough that it won't work right) and then go with the bolt size that fits that rivet nut.

Thanks for the reply, Scott. The size issue can be figured out. The sheet metal is very thin, I doubt I'd drill the holes (5/16") bigger because the sheet metal is probably the week link. I'm thinking I'll keep the holes as-is, put some sort of rivet nut in the holes, put the pre-cut 1/8" diamond plate in place, then bolt it on with socket-head bolts and those countersunk-looking washers.

My main concern was the type of rivet nut. McMaster-Carr is not the place for bargains, but their rivet nut guns don't seem too pricey. (Nice lever-type is $58.)

I appreciate it!

Morgan

i feel lucky, i got nut-serts and other "hard to find" fastners at my local fastner store. i have only had to order a couple times, and it was like next day service.

Aren't there other brands besides nutserts that achieve the same goal, or are nutserts just the best priced of them all? :question: :question: