Rivets or bolts?

[ThreeQuarter]

While I have the rear half of my pickup down to the bare frame, should I go ahead and grind off the rivets, and replace them all with grade 8 bolts? Is there anything to be gained in chassis stiffness? What are the pros and cons?

pros
1. Able to paint under/between the cross members and frame.
2. Chassis stiffness (?)

cons
1. That's a buncha rivets (~100).

Any others?

[crazy longhorn]

If the rivets are "tight", & the crossmembers are in good shape, I would leave them alone. you will hear different opinions on this, but anything removed/replaced on my truck that was riveted , i have used 7/16 x 1" grade 8 bolts, with pinchlock nuts & a flatwasher on ea side. You want the bolts to be a pretty snug fit in the holes, if you do use them. Good luck,crazyL

[jorgensensc]

Good Question!! I ws wondering te same thing!!! One of my rivets on the front crossmember is loose, so I need to replace it also.

[Longhorn Man]

The way I kinda look at it, if there is a chance of having to remove the rivits later....get them now when it is easy to get to.
However, if it is something stupid, like the bar in back by the spare tire area...leave it. You'll never be pulling that.

[VTKidder]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

My call is that unless you're going to have a show truck and try to make money with trophies and awards, painting individual frame rails and crossmembers isn't worth the hassle and risk of something coming loose later. If you leave your frame the way it is and paint it up real nice with some POR or equivalent, it's not going to look that much different than if you pulled all 100 rivets, broke the frame into pieces, painted it separately and reassembled agian. As said above, if you've got loose rivets, this is the time to get after them, but if the majority of them are still tight, leave it.

I'd trust a solid 30 year old rivet connection 10x more than a grade 8 bolt. Just my humble opinion.

[pierce]

I'd agree with leaving the rivets,
You could heat any loose rivets to a cherry red and tighten them up with hammer.

[Huck]

A tight rivet that is an exact fit with a frame that was built on a jig at the plant is something that I would not mess with. A grade 8 bolt will not fit the hole and tighten with the same exact fit as the factory rivet. If the frame is solid, it will probably not rust out in you lifetime unless you allow it to. My .02

[landon4421]

Before I had my frame powder coated all I did was replace the front cross member, everything else was still togeather. Well the tranny and engine cross members were out but that is it. I would say leave it togeather, leave the rivits alone save you time and $$$ IMO. Landon

[Kid]

I have to agree with Huck, the rivets,when installed expand filling the hole, creating a "solid" joint, while a bolt will never do that.

[ThreeQuarter]

Whew! I'm glad to hear that rivets are the way to go. I just ground off four rivets tonight that were in a tight space, and it took awhile. Now I have a deeper appreciation for the rivet as a fastener, too. Even though there are a few rivets that aren't textbook examples of a good, round, mushroomed head, overall the rivets on my pickup are still very tight. Looks like I can skip the tedium involved with taking the frame apart, and can move on to blasting and painting it sooner. Thanks!

[jorgensensc]

Thanks for the info on fixing rivets!!! I appreciate it.

[Scrub]

I wold think that paint between the frame pieces would eventually wear away and you would get a loose frame.

Just say no

[CUSTOM/10]

I did a ground up on my truck several yrs back and removed alot of the rivets that held cross members and shackles to the frame due to rust swelling up between the pieces. Sand blasted primed and painted every thing aplied seam sealer between the pieces and bolted them back together using wheel studs. Wheel studs are grade 8, have rounded heads, are knurled so they press tight into the frame. You may have to ream the whole slightly with the proper drill size for the proper fit. It's alot of work ( grinding, drilling and punching the rivets out ) but I didn't have too much of a choice, the frame would have been junk before long if I didn't.
My frame is a swb 4x4 and there get hard to come by.

The rounded head to the wheel studs looks like a rivet from the outside of the frame, so at a quick glance nobody knows the differance.

Just something to think about if you NEED to replace any rivets.
Gary

[HeavyK20]

I would not remove the rivets uless it is necessary. I think it would be very hard to match the strength of a rivet without welding the frame back together. However, when there is rust scaling up between the frame and spring hangers, cross members etc. your only option is to take it apart.

I recently learned of a simple way to remove rivets. Torch or grind the heads off and use an air chisle with a straigh punch, the rivevts will pop right out with no effort

[1971LT1SWBPOSI373]

The rivits are easy to remove and the metal used is not all that hard (compared to a grade 8 bolt). If your going to use bolts, I would use a fine thread bolt thats slightly oversize with a self locking nut and washers. Then I would tap (thread) the holes that the fastener was going through just to get a tight fit. With the fastener tightened down good with the nut on it it would be just as effective as a rivit. You could even take it a step further and dip your bolts in POR15 and assemble while the paint is wet.... it's messy, but very effective. Just my .02 worth. TJ