[Keith Armstrong]

So I've pulled off the SG rock sliders - don't start with me there - to grind off the crap rust powder coat....they're only seven years old, can't imagine why the magic powder coat crap doesn't hold up to Iowa winters.

Several of the bolts under the vehicle (the Disco) were either (a) siezed in the riv-nuts and broke off, or (b) spin the riv-nut and have had their heads gound off.

So, I need to have some method for re-attaching the sliders to the vehicle.

I'm thinking that for the broken bolts I can drill them out and just re-tap the holes.

Any ideas regarding the spinning riv-nuts? Remember that the inside of the sill is not accessible and I'd rather not have a loose nut rolling around in there.

 

[PTSchram]

Aluminum solder? TIG weld?

 

[Keith Armstrong]

Yeah, kinda what I thought......no welder at my house ....yet

Another excuse for new tools!

 

[RedRhinoProducts]

Keith,

When we installed the RTE sliders on Project Big Ass the damn sills were so fawked we couldn't use any of the Riv-nuts. I ended up making a new backup plate behind the sill. [The one from RTE wasn't tall or thick enough] and I just drilled the additional holes through the sill. Then I laid a bead from the backing plate to the bottom of the slider. Now if I want to take it off it comes in one big piece and is IMO much stronger.

My .02

, Jason

 

[Keith Armstrong]

Appreciate it Jason, but where the RTE sliders use a "u" shaped piece to attach to the sill, the SG sliders are only "L" shaped.

KAA

 

[JSBriggs]

Yeah, kinda what I thought......no welder at my house ....yet

Another excuse for new tools!

JB Weld??? :flipoff2:

-Jeff

 

[pm]

Keith, don't bother - drill the riv nuts out, and use through bolts with a backing plate (at least those that go into the sides of the door sills).

 

[RedRhinoProducts]

Actually Keith the RTE sliders are also use the L shaped backup plate. At least the set we just installed did. By making a new backup plate and welding that to the bottom of the slider it created the U shaped once piece unit. If you look at the RTE site the photo is kind of missleading they look like U's but it's the slider and one L shaped backup plate.

Regards,

 

[UPOVR]

is this mysterious "L" piece perhaps a piece of angle iron?

 

[wilsby]

Why not just drill out the rivnuts and put new ones? Bigger and badder steel ones if you don't trust the ones you have.

 

[pm]

.. because the door sills are paper thin.

 

[wilsby]

.. because the door sills are paper thin.

Are they deformed? If not, a good contact to the entire surface with a number of rivnuts and some bonding stuff seem sufficient.

 

[pm]

Christer,

the LR (at least, D1) door sills can be bent by simply bumping a knee into them. I don't remember exactly, but, from the top of my head, SafariGard sliders use about 8 rivnuts on the side, and a few more - on the bottom of the door sill. One hard knock on mine rendered the doors shut - so I had to take the slider off, bang back the sheetmetal, and be veeery careful until I had a chance to use long bolts all the way through the sills.

 

[tobbjo]

I welded a box square tube 60x40x4mm underneath the sill.
Stabilises the whole thing. Finished of with a water pipe 37mm dia as nerf bar.
Tested it out rather abusively last outing and the water pipe took some damage, but no problem with doors or sill. There was a fair bit of rust especially on inside of sill that I repaired at the same time. This on a '89 rrc, but sills are the same.

I can take pics if you like.

T