One of the reasons I installed the OEM subtank is the truck was designed to fit it. Per George's write-up you will see his process on installing the Rivnuts. Of everything I had to do, this was the hardest step for me.
You drill the two holes George shows so that you have to push hard to get the two rivnuts in.
The Rivnuts are like molly screws. You put them in the hole and tighten the Rivnut down to compress the backside bringing the threads all the way down to the hole. The compressed material will hold the Rivnut in place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clownmidget
Installing the front two and having the straps in place allows you to test fit the tank and determine where the rear ones should be drilled. However, it ends up being pretty much dead center on those two channels. The size of rivnut/nutsert you use would determine the drill size. Typically 3/8" or 5/16" bolts and matching rivnuts are used so depending on which you choose it should indicate the drill size.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big_Moose
I used a dial caliper to determine the drill bit size. It is critical to get the drill size as close as possible to the OD of the nutzert/rivnut.
To install the nutzerts / rivnuts....I used bolt, washer, tool, Star washer, & nutzert / rivnut. The Star washer grips the surface of the nutzerts/rivnuts & the tool, allowing for an easy installation. I used a ratcheting wrench & the tool to install.
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I talked with Cdan and he provided me the following method.
Get bolt washer and a nut. Thread the bolt into the Rivnut in the following order: Rivnut, washer, nut, bolt. Tighten the assembly together get some spares because you will scuff this up.
using two wrenches, hold the bottom nut in place while backing off the nut. This did not always work for me so I alternated between this and holding the bolt while tightening the bottom nut. This took me a long time per bolt and was very frustrating.
This was much harder for the two rivnuts above the crossmember. The one that is tighter (Clearance) I was not able to get. Due to the angle I was approaching it from, I kept making the hole bigger.
Note: there is a hole just under the front pass side rivnut in the crossmember, I dropped a rivnut and took a while to fish it out. I ended up covering this hole with tape until I was done.
The subtank brackets have a hinge on one side. The hinge is on the side under the crossmember. I elected to have the one bracket welded on at the crossmember. The hinge still allows you to remove the tank.
Be very careful and choose the correct bracket. The hinge assemblies are not the same and I welded the wrong bracket on. I pent 5 hours getting it back off and then welded the correct one. The longer hinge bracket goes on the drivers side.
Put the tank in to test fit it after you get the brackets in. This makes sure you are setup correctly. Now remove the tank as it will get in the way.