In this video I move the axle forward on this cab and chassis truck. Help Support the channel: Patreon - / gcfd Buy Me A Coffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/GCFD Paypal - www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... www.gatecityfoundationdrainag...
Shawn if you grind the head flat on one side, you dont have to grind it down to the frame. then use a 1/4" drill bit and dill most of the way through the rivet. You can use a pin punch in your air hammer and it will drive out. The reason they are so hard to get out is they are compressed during installation and they are actually wedged into the holes on all the parts. By drilling it out part way you will relieve the pressure and driving it from inside the rivet will make sure you are not wedging it further when driving it.
Shawn. For removing the rivots you can grind off one side and then use a torch to heat just the rivet to red hot and then with the air chisel and a flat end (not pointed) it will blow the rivot right out.
these are fantastic trucks. 8.1 has great power. not terrible on fuel. the Allison trans keeps it in the right rpm range for hp and torque. i would build my bed right on top of that bent steel uhaul uses for their low box floor. the rivets in the gm frames get swelled and wedge in between each layer. i torch off whichever side is easiest to get to. then heat up the center of the rivet. use the torch to blow a hole through the center of the rivet. between the heat and the hole, it helps to give the bulge a little relief. then the air hammer takes them out easier. i take the extra steel that uhaul added off. clean between the two. then swap them side to side for an overlay frame. gives extra strength for heavy and concentrated loads. i use a bottle jack with a short section of pipe to spread the frame a little. helps to get those crossmembers moving. if you get small shavings in the collar of the mag drill, or if you push the drill too hard into the material, the anullar cutter can get stuck. funny....your cutting off frame and im looking for frame to stretch one of mine.
Use a punch with your air hammer that is flat, the pointy one will expand the diameter of the bolt and tighten it about the hole... A plasma torch that can go through a one inch long bolt is not made for the common man, overall though a plasma torch works best after it has made a hole to 'expel' the metal about, not really meant for spots of metal like a bolt. I like the the flat air chisel that has a cutting divet in it, though Im only cutting 14g sheet metal with spot welds... Making the surrounding metal around the rivot red hot makes it bigger which should let the rivots just drop out (this essentially was what you were doing when you plasma torched the metal before hammering) . I really do enjoy the tenacity you showcase to get a job done.
Ive removed hundreds of rivets, my go to method is heat the head of the rivet on both sides, with oxygen/acetylene torch, then immediately cut the heads off with air hammer, then pry the different riveted layers apart with the air hammer, if its a big flange I would jam it full of wedges to separate it all apart, you will usually end up with the stud of the rivet stuck in one layer eventually, this time cut it with the torch flat against the metal and push it through with the air hammer... loud fast and effective!
The pointed tip on your air hammer was making the rivet expand in the hole a round punch would have not expanded the rivet. Your doing a great job. Working through a tough task.
This has been done before, cut the rear section in front of the axle assembly to the length you want and weld the two section together with major support plates, The whole rear section with shortened drive shaft, brake lines and wiring are just moves forward without any other major rework. It's so much easier this way and the way most manufactures would make this modification....
You need a sledge hammer and a flat tipped punch, that air hammer just taps away at anything you use it on, you need hard sharp blows with the hammer (easy with the that’s what she said jokes) to push those through, another set of hands or a short sledgehammer possibly do it yourself, I’m sure you’ve done the job already and gotten thousand comments but only way to see if this works is to do it, ain’t nothing to it but to do it All The Best Fabrizio
Thank you Jay! I just fixed a bunch of my crappy welds. I had a few friends over and all comments on the welds. I was dreading it, but I spent a few hours welding, grinding, welding, grinding...
This kind of content reminds me of the DIY days on the farm growing up. We did so much of this kind of stuff in the 80s and 90s. But it saved money and we built some fun machinery and other things that worked well.
While working on aircraft, we were instructed to use your second finger on the trigger, your pointer finger helps to steady and guide the tool, especially if variable drive .just my opinion, great job and awesome videos. Keep them coming!😊.
While completing my welding apprenticeship. I was given this advice. Even in the assembly line, I am trying to teach the new older men to do this as well.
I normally remove the rivet head with the most access, then I drill a 5mm (3/16") hole, next I heat the rivet red hot and after letting it cool, I drive them out with a flat tip air hammer. The hole allows the heated rivet to contract slightly as it cools. If this fails I just drill them out.
Great build! I been planning on a very similar kodiak build. All ya need is pin punch on the air hammer after doing exactly what you did with the heads. Those rivets will pop right out. No drilling, no hand hammer.
Kallstrom Sweet Corn here in Eastern , Washington . Funny thing we are adding to 2 feet to our 2005 GMC c5500 . We paid 5000$ for ours in 10-2023 at a RB Auction in Colorado but had another 5000$ into it by the time we had it back to Wash. [ all new tires , some mechanical work ] .
Think the convex on the washer goes to the rubber bushing to help prevent extrusion of the rubber bushing. Also use anti seize and if you ever have to undo them they might com off without having to cut them. Got er done . Good enough !
When I was a up fitter, we would take a torch and melt the heads off the huckbolts off carefully with out fitting the frame and then the rivets you can drill a 1/8’ pilot hole in them and get your torch or plasma started in the center and work out word in a swirl. jC smith projects uploads a ton of videos he has a great trick for marking the holes by measuring out the distance on a steel rod and center points on each end and transfers hole for hole
My vote is to make it into a hook truck. Then you can put whatever youd like on the back, flat bed, dump bed, tree transplant, water tank, utility. Great vid
Great video Shawn - great skills and precision for a tough job. (Lincoln Electric- time to redeem yourselves with your flagship Plasma cutter for Shawn - so he can put it to good use). Great new series - although I do really like the drainage projects too.
Those rivets are put in there and they are swelled to fit the holes tight from the factory. Only way I’ve gotten them out before by just drilling through them. That makes it a lot easier.
Not sure if it's on your to do list. I've worked for 2 companies that did chassis rebuilds/replacements for rigs. Make sure you fill all your frame rail holes. Just put bolts in them but make sure they aren't undersized. Apparently this is important for hardened steel frame rails. It will help the frame rail and help stop your double rail from splitting. Good work bud.
If you shorten the frame what about the emergency cable do you get a shorter one or just use the same one and stuff it in the iner frame I'm about to buy the same chassis truck. Thank you
I found that the point drifts only spread the rivets outwards, so I cut the point off of one & used basically the shaft to drive the body out. Works well friend
I'm not sure if you noticed it or not but when you put those bushings on for those shocks you put the washer that is on the nut side of them on upside down every time I've installed them the paperwork always says have the rounded side facing nut in the side that has the dip in it needs to be facing the bushing
Hello from the Netherlands. I'm pretty sure JC Smith showed how he did that with those rivets in one or more videos. nice new project truck thanks for the video Shawn . Sincerely Hollandduck
Done a lot of chassis work on concrete agitator trucks replacing rusted chassis rails and cross members, easiest way of removing rivets was using a mag drill and the correct size annular cutter. Hope this helps cheers
By using a point instead of a drift you are actually riveting the plugs rivet like those a red hot when put in so they spread along the length of their shaft hence the difficulty of removing same.
You get a cold chisle and a sledgehammer one person holds the chisle the other wacks it hard then take a hydralic press, use the frame to brace it and force the rivit out from the inside. There is a Pakastanni truck repair video series that will show you how to use the basic hand tools and muscle to get the job done
Also with those cross members maybe if you used a bottle jack on its side to spread those rails, the cross members could have slid out much easier, just a thought.
Another Build...Great Video (1st time ive ever seen your camera(s) glitching for whatever reason) Nice truck looks clean, After you said it A Week of Tough labor, Didnt know magnetic drill's were a thing Unfort they didnt hold up, cant believe the new one had a faulty chuck assembly - Cant wait to see more.
@@GCFD I saw at least 3 times when working on the rivets at different times on the ground it would freeze and then skip a few frames. if you want exact points i will rewatch it for reference - otherwise not a big deal.
i have seen vids where they take the rivits out it was on smaller sized pickups though they use an airchissel where they first cut the head off one side then drive the rivit through using a drift tool in the airchissel think they used a bigger airchissel might help heating them up , another option is using a magdrill to drill the rivits out and dont use the grinders and aircissel , might be the cleanest solution
Shawn if you watch the Pakistani truck repair videos you see the guys using chisels and sledge hammers mate, one holds the drift the other whacks it, heat is also your friend gas torch the rivets up :) great job
Shawn the easiest way to get rid of the rivets is grind the mushroom head off then use a magnetic drill from the outside with a cobalt drill bit and drill through the whole rivet thats the easiest way cheers from down under
Usually metal expand with heat. So with you heating it up it allows the the hole to slightly open enough to release to the rivets. Still watch if you said it later in the video.
Heavy heat set rivets hold all along the rivet includes the shank they mushroom into the hole then as the rivets cool they contract clamping even tighter... Usually have to burn them out...
J.C. SMITH's youtube channel is where you would get the best advise about building a flatbed . He does great work and his video's are really good and he explains everything extremely well . BTW Nice truck you there sir .
Drill out rivets. You can easily drill out truck frame rivets. Center punch the mushroomed cap of the rivet, use 3/8inch drill bit to get just beyond the cap, then use 1/2inch drill bit and cap easily chisels off smooth but recessed beyond the hold of the now gone mushroomed cap. Then punch the rivet through with hammer and punch and it just pops out cleanly. Takes just a few minutes per rivet, sir. No plasma, no torch. Clean.😇
An oxyacetylene torch certainly would help blowing those rivet heads off with minimal damage to the frame, love your channel bummer the tommahawk is junk maybe trade it in? Hypertherm is really the bees knees when it comes to plasma cutting
