On Aug 26, 2004, at 09:17, Pindell, Timothy wrote:
>>>> Simply grind the head off the rivets and then use
>>>> something like an air hammer, or a regular hammer
>>>> and a good punch, to drive the rivet back through the frame.
>>>
>>>
>>> Good luck beating them out. I've had no luck whatsoever, and will
>>> probably resort to drilling them out.
>>
>
> Will a drill fit in there? Should I lift the bed?
Well I can now tell you what worked for me. My dad was over today
working on cleaning off the rear while I was fabbing coil buckets, and
he ground the heads off the rivets with a 4" angle grinder, then
pounded the brackets off, and then we were able to beat the rivets out.
The stubborn ones would mushroom with the beating, and so would have
to be re-ground flush once they started moving before being popped
through with a punch.
The front hangars were able to be ground pretty easily from the outside
of the frame, the rears not so much: too much of the original bracket
was still around, sticking out and blocking the rivets. He ground off
the upper rear from outside, and the other 3 from inside the frame
(tight clearance but more doable than from outside the frame). Then
those brackets were beaten off, taking the three inside-ground rivets
with.
It was time consuming, and ate up quite a few grinding wheels, but
definitely doable. I'd personally also be careful not to take out all
four fasteners from the forward hangars at once since they are the
major fasteners between the sections of the frame.
They're also a VERY tight fit for a 1/2" bolt - on the driver's side
they needed to be drilled out. The long bit barely cleared along with
a very short air drill. The insanely high RPM of the air drill made
short work of the bit, but it did enlarge those four holes without
sharpening. I was sure to use a piece of 1/4" plate between the drill
bit and the fuel tank - I'd recomend the same if you're drilling there.
You've only got about 3" of air and 3/16" of plastic to stop the bit
before you take an unleaded shower.
Good luck with your dropping!
-- Mike Maskalans <http://mike.tepidcola.com/dodge/> '84 RamCharger Daily Driver '98 Dakota under the knife mobile.612.618.4652 home.585.935.7129
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