Help!

[toddtheodd]

HELP!
Easy (easy my a$$!!! ) sway bar install has become nightmare.
I have succeeding in taking the head off of the bottom of the rivet but cannot get rivet out of hole.
I have tried;
drilling, hammering, and even jumping up and down on bumper while a car jack held a screwdriver up to the rivet. All I have succeeded in doing is shifting the crossmember so that I can now not get to the rivet . And the worse part is that the top of the rivet has not come out one bit. I am having better luck getting my woman to agree to an orgy (will never happen she assures me) than I am of getting this rivet out.
And this is just the first one. I still have the other side.
This d*mn thing has me more aggrivated than I have ever been in my life, and I have been pretty aggrivated before.

Help.
Either tell me what to do........ or come over here and help me. I don't have much money or else I would've paid the shop the $80 to remove the rivets for me (seems like that may have been the better way to go after all )

Todd

[Tx Firefighter]

Did you grind the head COMPLETELY off the rivet?

[toddtheodd]

Oh yes... the head is completely off of it. The crossmember has shifted. And between the frame and the crossmember I can still see that the rivet's length has not changed.
ie.. rivet has come out of frame but not out of crossmember. It is like the bolt is seized into the crossmember.

I am willing to bet that they would've charged me more than $80 due to the added labor of a rivet that has become one with the force... err... crossmember.

Todd

[Tx Firefighter]

Tap the crossmember around till the rivet and the hole line up again. Then squeeze the frame and crossmember together real tight with vice grips.

The frame and crossmember clamped together will be stiffer and won't flex, so your hammer blows will transfer to the rivet rather than the springy crossmember.

Do not freak out here man. I'll help get you through this, I promise.

[toddtheodd]

it's not shifting... the rivet is holding it place sort of like a...... wedge or something.
Todd

p.s.
it's is massively difficult to type through a papertowel so as not to transfer oil to the keyboard... not complaining... just thought I'd point that out in case anybody was wondering.

[matt67350]

Use a punch. Willisms Tools on Belknap has them. Get one that is just under the size of the rivit. Oh and a BFH. Watch thoes fingers.

Matthew

[toddtheodd]

I don't have a second vehicle to drive to get any other tools. Besides that I have to figure out how to get to the rivet again before I even worry about a punch.

[toddtheodd]

ok, I have now been messing with this crossmember for an hour. I don't think even God could get this thing to move.
How important is this crossmember anyway?

[Orange70chevy]

Use a punch on a air hammer it will knock that rivet right out.

[Tx Firefighter]

You can drive the truck like that.

Go get a big punch and at least a 2 lb hammer.

[toddtheodd]

No air tools and no punch. Only vehicle so I can't go and get them now. Also, broke.

Also, I should've known that this would happen. There is NO easy thing on this truck... Everytime I go to do something on this truck, be it an upgrade or just replacing something, it becomes a total nightmare. Can't things go wrong one at a fricken time. It always looks, seems, sounds easy. But if I so much as touch a wrench to the bolt on the altenator, the transmission will drop and hit the driveway, the tires will deflate, and the q gfjkls;qrewjiok;fresaji op;gfresa windshield will shatter.

32Q FR EWSAJKL GFQT43 70943Q T4#!^t%$#@!2Q1U9J9EW,.GH@@@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tx Firefighter]

Dude, get in your truck and drive to Northeast mall and go to Sears. Buy a big mother punch there, and a serious hammer. I mean a serious hammer, a little hand sledge.

Your truck is fine to drive, nothing crazy is going to happen just because you have a screwed up rivet on that little crossmember.

[Primered_69]

What part of Fort Worth do you live in.

[Longhorn Man]

But if I so much as touch a wrench to the bolt on the altenator, the transmission will drop and hit the driveway, the tires will deflate, and the q gfjkls;qrewjiok;fresaji op;gfresa windshield will shatter.

I am sorry...I have no advice...but I had to say LOL! I feel your pain on the snow ball effect. I treated my truck to a new set of shocks a few months ago...and the friggen shock mount on 3 of the 4 shocks broke within a month. I had to learn how to weld...and also how to fab a washer into a shock mount on the lower A-arm. (you can't even tell!)

As Huck said one time...remember to disconnect the battery before emptying the ash tray.

[john]

Drill at least a 5/16 hole all the way through the head of the rivet, or 3/8 if your drill is centered good. That should relieve the pressure to come out easy. If you beat on it too long the rivet will mushroom and get even tighter. Good Luck John

[stllookn]

Todd...ROFLMAO...I know what you mean! I have heard others say they take rivets off with a chisel and hand sledge! I use a torch, hand sledge and BMF's drift punch!!!!! When they put those rivets in they mushroom out to fill the hole. They go in hot and are forged over to keep from coming out. They are a compression fit into that hole! Drilling them out might work best if you don't have an oxy-acet torch.

[toddtheodd]

Well, I can't really do the "heating of the rivet" thing since I have a leaker. I am guaranteed to set the truck on fire.

I am in North Richland Hills.

I bought a mini sledge hammer, a 3/8 x 4 1/2inch prick punch, and a 9/32 drill bit that "drills on contact" and is meant "for hard metals"

Todd

[68w/sbc406]

now all you have to do is get the crossmember where you can get at it (i am sure it is easier to type than do) when i did my sway bar i didnt have a front clip or motor in so i could get at it at every angle and it was still a B!+c#. the thing that worked out the best for me was drilling. i started with a smaller bit right down the middle. then a big one till the head of the rivit broke off and stuck to the bit. then looked at how well my hole was centered and went with the biggest bit i could with out messing up the original hole. remember safety glasses and long sleves cause hot metal hurts. Best of luck to you.
Ben

[franko72]

I know this sounds different but try freezing it with CO2 and it may shrink ,then try to knock it out while still cold

[hotrodtroy]

Don't know if this will help but, I changed a set of shackels on an old f@rd. I used a pickle fork to seperate the shackle from the frame, after grinding the heads off. Then I cut the rivit off at the frame then knocked the rest of the rivet out with a pin.

As far as typing through a towel cover the keyboard with plastic wrap.

Good luck dude.