I had to remove a belly pan, front section of bulk head and a bunch of other parts which are mostly held together with rivets from a few sleds. I am now needing to replace these rivets.. most seem to be 3/16 from what I can tell, but some have big heads, some smaller.. What kind of rivets are they?? Steel or aluminum?? I am thinking aluminum because they drill out fairly easy, but I think the posts are steel.. Anyone know for sure?? Also where do I buy them?? Purchasing from Polaris is just too expensive.. I know buying bulk would be much cheaper, but I dont know where.. I have went to hardware stores and home improvement stores and all they have are the little packages with cheap aluminum rivets.. Can anyone help me on this?? What kind are they and where would I buy some in bulk? Thanks
Where do you buy your rivets and what kind??
- Thread starter yz400ex
- Start date
S
I think most of those rivets are aluminum. I would use steel ones, they are alot stronger, and dont seem to ever loosen up, unlike some aluminum ones will loosen up after awhile. You can get stainless steel rivets at ace hardware in a pack of 25 for around $4. I dont know were you can buy rivets in bulk for sure.
S
When in doubt, Fastenal.
I use all sorts of rivits..as far as pop rivits..normally I pick them up at our local fastners and fire equipment store..I also buy solid rivits from airplane supply house..I use solid aluminum rivits for anything dealing with strength such as a tunnel extension, suspension mnt or bulkhead..these rivits get bucked down with a backer block and a air rivit hammer..they are the most dependable rivit out there..if...and I mean if they ever loosen..you just rebuck them up tight..for the rest of a sled I will normally use a aluminum rivit with a steel shank..they suck down tighter and stay tighter longer...for cosmetic non load stuff I use an aluminum rivir with aluminum shank...
fastners and fire equipment link......http://www.fastenersfire.com/catego...ategory=Rivets ¦ Thread Repair&categorylist=0
fastners and fire equipment link......http://www.fastenersfire.com/catego...ategory=Rivets ¦ Thread Repair&categorylist=0
i buy mine on Ebay.
When in doubt get rivets certified for use for NASCAR.
When in doubt get rivets certified for use for NASCAR.
http://www.hansonrivet.com/
Here is a good link for descriptions of different rivets.
http://www.hansonrivet.com/w12.htm
Here is a good link for descriptions of different rivets.
http://www.hansonrivet.com/w12.htm
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Rivets.
http://vanamburgonline.com/catalog/...id=60&osCsid=4da881a3379a96c86cb78940c019381c
Here are some i found on Van Amburgs home page, i doubt they sell crappy rivets.
http://vanamburgonline.com/catalog/...id=60&osCsid=4da881a3379a96c86cb78940c019381c
Here are some i found on Van Amburgs home page, i doubt they sell crappy rivets.
I buy a "FEW" rivets 
....for you guys going retail in small quanities and mixed sizes go fastenal (they'll normally pick through there 500 counts for you). Aluminum rivets are cheap steel like we use are NOT. We use about 150,000 a season!
....for you guys going retail in small quanities and mixed sizes go fastenal (they'll normally pick through there 500 counts for you). Aluminum rivets are cheap steel like we use are NOT. We use about 150,000 a season!
I'm kind of a fastener "nerd".... part of my focus in engineering studies.
There are very few aluminum rivets on Polaris snowmobiles... the 3/16" shaft, large O.D. head, black rivets that hold the body work on are made of steel... they have a fairly thick head and a steel shaft with a pretty durable coating. They put a good squeeze on the bodywork when installed. These are difficult to install with the normal "plyers style" rivet tools unless you have a robo-cop grip.
The 3/16" small diameter head rivets used in tunnel extensions etc are high-strenght rivets and have a VERY specific grip range (the thickness of the layers of metal you are riveting together). This is critical to get the correct rivets for these applications if you want good strength from them.
As pointed out above, aluminum "crush" rivets (AKA: Aircraft rivets) are an excellent choice and take a bit of practice to get them done right... they have to be installed where you have acess to the backside to for the bucking bar to smash them against with the airtool and special mandril to do this.
As Rob pointed out... Fastenall is a good place to go for these, McMaster Carr and Hanson rivet supply.
Harbor Freight Tools has a good deal on Hobby grade Rivet guns (both pneumatic/hyd and lever action) unless you are riveting as a career these should be OK for use, otherwise you can find good ones with Snap On or thru Aircraft tool outlets.
Good luck.
There are very few aluminum rivets on Polaris snowmobiles... the 3/16" shaft, large O.D. head, black rivets that hold the body work on are made of steel... they have a fairly thick head and a steel shaft with a pretty durable coating. They put a good squeeze on the bodywork when installed. These are difficult to install with the normal "plyers style" rivet tools unless you have a robo-cop grip.
The 3/16" small diameter head rivets used in tunnel extensions etc are high-strenght rivets and have a VERY specific grip range (the thickness of the layers of metal you are riveting together). This is critical to get the correct rivets for these applications if you want good strength from them.
As pointed out above, aluminum "crush" rivets (AKA: Aircraft rivets) are an excellent choice and take a bit of practice to get them done right... they have to be installed where you have acess to the backside to for the bucking bar to smash them against with the airtool and special mandril to do this.
As Rob pointed out... Fastenall is a good place to go for these, McMaster Carr and Hanson rivet supply.
Harbor Freight Tools has a good deal on Hobby grade Rivet guns (both pneumatic/hyd and lever action) unless you are riveting as a career these should be OK for use, otherwise you can find good ones with Snap On or thru Aircraft tool outlets.
Good luck.
C
Just did about 75 rivets on a tunnel for snow-evac modification purposes. I just bought mine from Polaris dealer. The 3/16" structural rivets I needed from them are part number 7661637, they come in packs of 50 but I'm sure the dealer will sell them one at a time if you want, they are indeed steel, NOT aluminum, are a pretty gold color (not sure, but I believe they are gold because they are plated to prevent the corrosion that typically occurs when you mate dissimilar metals...like using steel rivets on aluminum tunnels), they list for exactly 27 cents each from Polaris, and are MUCH, MUCH stronger and MUCH, MUCH more difficult to pull than the typical junk you find in stock at a hardware store.
I'm not sure how many you actually need to buy for your single project, but I bought 100 for mine, and it obviously cost me $27 plus tax...without doing any negotiating. I have about 25-ish left over for the future. And based on the high quality of these rivets, I don't consider that to be horribly expensive. I probably could have saved $5 or $10 by wasting a bunch of time and effort shopping around, but would have ended up still not knowing for certain that I found the proper size, strength, or corrosion protection in whatever I found.
So my recommendation for someone doing just a single project? Just get them from the dealer. Of course you need to pay attention to the lengths and different sizes you'll need...may be different from what I purchased.
And as a side note, this pneumatic/hydraulic puller I bought on sale for this project at Harbor Freight for $35 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93458 works OUTSTANDING. Has a one year warranty to boot. I could not imagine trying to do this project without that thing. It jambed up once in a while and needed to be disassembled to get a stuck pin out, but it worked great for the price I paid. I tried pulling one of these rivets with a cheap hand rivet tool I've used in the past just for fun, and one of the jaws snapped in half on the first attempt...
I'm not sure how many you actually need to buy for your single project, but I bought 100 for mine, and it obviously cost me $27 plus tax...without doing any negotiating. I have about 25-ish left over for the future. And based on the high quality of these rivets, I don't consider that to be horribly expensive. I probably could have saved $5 or $10 by wasting a bunch of time and effort shopping around, but would have ended up still not knowing for certain that I found the proper size, strength, or corrosion protection in whatever I found.
So my recommendation for someone doing just a single project? Just get them from the dealer. Of course you need to pay attention to the lengths and different sizes you'll need...may be different from what I purchased.
And as a side note, this pneumatic/hydraulic puller I bought on sale for this project at Harbor Freight for $35 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93458 works OUTSTANDING. Has a one year warranty to boot. I could not imagine trying to do this project without that thing. It jambed up once in a while and needed to be disassembled to get a stuck pin out, but it worked great for the price I paid. I tried pulling one of these rivets with a cheap hand rivet tool I've used in the past just for fun, and one of the jaws snapped in half on the first attempt...
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A
I use aluminum for most things keeps the corrosion away and stainless is pretty tuff to dill out. You have a cal ranch down there don't you? they have most kinds of rivets and some in bulk.
I use a lot of interlock z rivets. Just make sure you have a air riveter, they suck to use by hand(I felt like a pus when I got real tired and had to have my buddy finish installing the rivet. haven't had em come loose with the abuse I throw at em yet. And pretty cheap.
Lots of good ones out there. I can't remember off the top of my head which ones I use with the real big oversized heads on them at the moment
Lots of good ones out there. I can't remember off the top of my head which ones I use with the real big oversized heads on them at the moment
T
I buy a lot of rivets through Hanson Rivet also. Measure an old rivet, click on aluminum body steel mandrel for a stronger pull.
I actually use aluminum body and aluminum mandrels when installing plastic now. If you can manually close the gap between the plastic and metal and not rely on the rivet mandrel to close that gap it works really well. Your fasteners never need to be stronger than the material they are fastening.
Your looking at a 3/16" rivet, large flange, with a grip range around .250"-.500". I'd order up 100 of PASL606 and PASL608's... grip range isn't the length of the rivet it's the sum of the thickness to the two things you plan to fasten to each other. I know that the plastic is consistant thickness but sometimes you are riveting to thin aluminum then the thicker bulkhead portions. I'd double check my #'s (guesses) vs. what you have on the Hanson website.
I actually use aluminum body and aluminum mandrels when installing plastic now. If you can manually close the gap between the plastic and metal and not rely on the rivet mandrel to close that gap it works really well. Your fasteners never need to be stronger than the material they are fastening.
Your looking at a 3/16" rivet, large flange, with a grip range around .250"-.500". I'd order up 100 of PASL606 and PASL608's... grip range isn't the length of the rivet it's the sum of the thickness to the two things you plan to fasten to each other. I know that the plastic is consistant thickness but sometimes you are riveting to thin aluminum then the thicker bulkhead portions. I'd double check my #'s (guesses) vs. what you have on the Hanson website.