What I'm goin do?
 

Well for some reason, the guy who painted my truck broke the door striker plastic. Don't know how, other than he was dumb. :lol: So the other day I went to replace it, and you can see the results in the pics. The nut that it goes into has fallen down inside the cab. I took the speaker out looking for it, but I couldn't find it. I guess maybe it got down there too far. I may try again to find it, but what if I can't?

How should I go about completing this repair, if I can't find that original nut? It somehow fits into that square hole perfectly. So another random nut from the hardware store won't cut it.


http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/...rman/ohno2.jpg


http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/...rman/ohno1.jpg

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

Junkyard part.
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Re: What I'm goin do?
 

Step 1: Magnet on a long flexible stick (coat hanger comes to mind.)

Step 2: Go fishing!

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

Harbor Freight sells a long flexible magnetic retrieval tool with a light on the end. It only costs a few dollars. I keep one handy in my tool box and use it all the time. It has quite a strong magnet. The light went out long ago, but the replacement battery costs more than a new tool.:lol:

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

It's in there. Keep looking and you will find it.

If you don't find it, like someone else said, head to the wrecking yard.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

The only reason any self respecting American has for walking into Harbor freight is to spill gas and toss around lit matches. Buy American.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

I have this "rare earth" neodymium type magnet that I use from the outside. I glued a piece of felt to it so it won't scratch the paint and then just run it around the area where you think the bolt is and roll it back up to the hole. Have done this several times on motorcycles and cars. Work good to find ball bearings etc in the dirt too. Hate when I drop stuff!

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

Leave it in there and use a nutsert to finish the job.If it rattles add silicon.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

When the plastic breaks a good quick fix is electrical tape on the striker wrapped around a bunch. Works like a charm
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Re: What I'm goin do?
 

:lol::lol: Perfect.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

I'm sure the Americans working there would appreciate that. Did you type that statement on an American computer?

This is a truck forum, political comments are best left to other forums.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

Is there a way to do a nutsert without some kind of special tool? Found this, but I'd like to avoid spending a lot of money on this fix.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

Long bolt with the plastic on it and a nut couple washers?
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Re: What I'm goin do?
 

http://www.fjr1300.info/howto/rivnut-tool.html

I've installed them without the tool, but the tool is handy. I've installed a bunch of them over the years for all sorts of brackets, makes for a very clean install.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

you can buy sqare nut's at Lowe's or most any hardware store.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

what about LMC for this problem?

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

On the NutSert you don't need a $160 tool to do just one or even 10.

I use a bolt that isn't threaded all the way a second nut and 5-6 washers for the spacer.I will be doing some this week for grille brackets and will try and post you some pictures.

You can get a couple from McMaster-Carr for a lot less money than many other places.I bought mine on e-bay and 5 Nutserts were $10 with shipping so look elsewhere.

http://www.wranglerforum.com/f19/cre...ze-202021.html

If you scroll down on the above link you will see a Nutsert on a homemade tool that works just fine.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

Ok I guess I'm not really visualizing what you guys are saying. The nutserts are round, that hole is square...

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

For this application, hardware store nuts or nutserts are not the right thing to use. Fish the big square nut out of the b pillar behind that speaker. It's like 1 1/2" square, it can't be that hard to find.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

You can get square Nutserts but remember the Nutsert is bigger than the bolt and it has its own threads.
This means you need to order a Nutsert with the correct threads then drill the hole to the correct size.

I am using 5/16 coarse Nutserts and drilling the holes to 0.500 then inserting the Nutsert and crimping it into place so it won't spin.

In your case you can get a square Nutsert use a round Nutsert and ignore the small void area or you could use a J-Bolt or U-Bolt but the last two may require you to enlarge the hole.

They sell all kinds of stuff that will work even molly bolts made just for steel.The advantage to the Nutsert is it doesn't stick out a lot in the front and move your striker to much.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

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If your going to use the nutzert idea it needs to go on a big washer or piece of metal behind the square hole. The striker need to be adjustable. But I would just run to the junkyard and get the right part.
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Re: What I'm goin do?
 

Yeah I did this for a while on my old suburban, the new strikers cost $20 bucks at napa and the ones I pulled from the scrapyard don't quite cut it. It's only stupid if it doesn't work! :hh:

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

"Like"

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

I used a piece of PVC on the other side. But I wanted a new part this time that looked like it was supposed to go there. Also I got mine from Orielly's for $8. Napa is a ripoff, but we all probably already knew that.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

Pex tubing works great..Don't look bad either.

Re: What I'm goin do?
 

There are some in the "HELP" section at the box parts stores that work too. They are grey plastic. There are two sizes in the package (4 pieces), and 2 will be perfect, 2 will be a little long.