Rivnuts EXPLAINED (simply)

[@tinaforster]

Wish all videos were as clear as this one. Looking for to see others you've produced and found this one very helpful. Thank you🎉❤

[@FreedomStrider]

Glad it was helpful :)

[@asd67lkj]

Just reviewing some video on rivnuts, and yours popped up. This is the best video I have seen on how to change the mandrel...

[@FreedomStrider]

Thanks ☺️

[@georgeacenas-bx9bw]

Van building fan here, I learned something new. Thank you

[@FreedomStrider]

Glad to help, these things are great!

[@barry-cq4xg]

Really nice job. Rivetnuts are really usefull. You are becoming dab hands at your van conversion.

[@FreedomStrider]

Cheers 😀... and yeah, we are loving using rivnuts - they make things much easier to construct and deconstruct things.

[@geomigavanlife]

Excellent overview! You've helped me decide that this is the tool for the job I need to do. I enjoyed your demonstration and filming style too. Thank-you!!

[@FreedomStrider]

Glad it was helpful! 😊

[@nomadicbydesign0]

Thanks so much for sharing this. Answered so many of my questions!

[@FreedomStrider]

You're welcome glad that we made sense ☺️

[@jamescarroll0615]

Thanks! Easy to follow with practical application examples.

[@FreedomStrider]

Glad it helped 😊

[@paulinemiller4624]

Excellent video!!!!!

[@FreedomStrider]

Thanks ☺️

[@thebg7532]

Outstanding video!! Thank you for sharing.

[@FreedomStrider]

Our pleasure! 🙂

[@Hitchens-t5c]

Very good instruction thank you!

[@FreedomStrider]

Glad it was helpful! 👍

[@sgtipb]

Fantastic video.

[@FreedomStrider]

Thanks 😊

[@tanaarcher3258]

Thank you for this video xx

[@FreedomStrider]

Welcome 👍

[@KornKrlz2]

Ahh thanks for the concise info! Needed this

[@FreedomStrider]

You're welcome ☺️

[@barry-cq4xg]

good job well explained as usual.

[@FreedomStrider]

Thanks 👍🙂

[@rodolfoplasencia9739]

Thank you! If you need to remove a rivet nut there's a way to drill it out by drilling the head off of it & knock it in the remaining body of it yet, if you don't want it to rattle in the column or hidden, before you knock it into a hidden space like a column of a van or any space, either open a hole that allows you to insert a magnet to the bottom of where object may fall if you're trying to fish magnetic objects, or a rag that allows you to receive your trash onto it. Then try to use the same size of nut if the walls are as close as the initial diameter or bigger, this is why you always want to start smaller, just in case you'll need to go bigger.

[@FreedomStrider]

Will remember this next time we install them, rivnuts are great :)

[@ukjose1]

Thanks for your guidance..your videos are excellent. Could you tell me what size of rev nuts did you use in your ceiling van? . Thanks again

[@FreedomStrider]

The ceiling was an M6 rivnut (9mm hole to drill, and it fits M6 bolts) 👍

[@LeanneFox-q1e]

Just out of curosity, aluminum or stainless steel rivnuts for van conversion? A lot of the less expensive riveters seem to be incapable/don't have the strength for stainless steel and I'd like to save some £££'s

[@FreedomStrider]

For anything support alot of weight(bed frames, roof frame etc..) I would use stainless steel, aluminium might be okay for some lighter duty use aluminium might be okay. Frankly it also depends what you're attaching the rivets too - even attaching a strong rivnut to a thing piece of metal, the metal will give way before the rivnut

[@iluvmusic]

Do you know what size riv nuts you should use for a Ford transit build?

[@FreedomStrider]

The rivnut size is not van model specific, you can use any size depending on the thing you are building. The bigger the rivnut, the bigger the bolt, the stronger the joint. So the more weight your furniture needs to take the bigger the rivnut. 🙂

[@YouriDeKlusser]

Have you considerd plusnuts? They work much better for this type of application since they create a larger surface on the back of the rather thin sheet metal.

[@FreedomStrider]

Not really considered them, never actually heard of them before, I'll have a look into them and see where we could use them. 👍

[@makaveli7771]

Where in the UK can you find plusnuts/cross nuts?

[@theoteam4641]

I also broke my m4 rivnut head and i got it out using a small pin which rotates it out of the rivnut :-). Also just wanted to point out that you can tighten the rivnut really tight from M6+ as it needs to be tight or it would just spin in the hole when you put your bolt. Also i broke my rivnut M4 head because i think i was squeezing the rivnut tool at an angle which broke it. Great video guys, it looks like we are about the same place in our build. My next part is to start on the interior structures :-)

[@FreedomStrider]

Luckily we haven;t broken a head inside the van (yet) but it's good to know there is a way to get the head out! Yeah, we need to be careful with the tool in the van because there are so many kinky angles, it is easy to loose your line of sight, and with yours being an M4 the head would be thinner, so easier to break prehaps? Yeah sounds like we're nearly in the same place although our roof is not done yet( although we've just put the mounting rails on, and have the aluminium sitting in our garden ready to go) 😀

[@theoteam4641]

Freedom Strider I think it was because the head was thinner that’s why it broke, I haven’t broken any other head yet since then. Ah ok that’s good am glad it’s progressing. Would like to see the video once you installed it on your van roof ☺️

[@rosmutti]

won't the piece of timber also bend slightly? A piece of square metal would support more reliably?

[@FreedomStrider]

If you're talking about the headliner shelf timber, then yes, metal would indeed be stronger and would flex less. We chose the timber because we needed something we could then mount things easily to; we didn't need that much extra support. As the cladding and roofing go on there might be some additional support going on but if you are relying completely on that beam to stop the flex, you would need a taller beam (in timber) or about the size we installed in aluminum/steel. 👍

[@susiehernandez6652]

Maybe its because I'm tired right now but what exactly is the advantage and function of these rivnuts versus just regular bolts or screws?

[@FreedomStrider]

Rivnuts are much stronger anchoring point than screws, especially when attaching to sheet metal... plus you can't insert a bolt without a rivinut (with a thread). Also, rivnuts are useful when you have something that you'll be taking on and off a bunch of times, as screws will ware their hole out much faster. So if you are planning to mount something to the van metal wall, without legs to the floor, then rivnuts will be the stronger way to do it. 🙂👍

[@MrVGN]

Thanks for the video. Have you tried attaching Rivnuts to the existing holes in the panel beams (the 8mm holes that usually take panel lining kits)? I’ve used rubber Rawlnuts in mine for attaching wooden cladding, but I think those rivnuts look like a better/stronger solution 👍

[@FreedomStrider]

Never tried it for existing holes but as long as the hole is the right size it would work the same, saves you drilling out extra holes too 😉

[@tmspete7354]

Nice setup you've got there. I've seen other videos and read instructions where you should pump it more than once. Any particular reason why you only pump once?

[@FreedomStrider]

With these tools, the single pump seems to provide a strong enough compression for the rivnut, and from our experience, pumping it more and more is likely going to break the bit on the rivnut tool (don't ask how we know that....). Though of course, it depends on the type of tool you buy - our instructions say to only pump it once. 👍

[@davidlynnphoto4447]

Great video - What product did you spray on the rivnut holes - paint or rust protectant?

[@FreedomStrider]

Rust protectant 😊👍

[@pavel9652]

Wrap magnet with cellophane or thin plastic bag, so it is easier to get rid of shavings ;)

[@FreedomStrider]

Aye the learnt this trick after the fact but it works well 👍 :)

[@vovachkanikolsky3092]

Since vans vibrate a lot when driving, I would use thread sealer and a lock washer on all bolts.

[@FreedomStrider]

Yeah threadlocker has been useful for us, we haven't used it everywhere but in the critical places, it's key 🙂

[@H2Dwoat]

Hi, just for reference how tall are you both?

[@FreedomStrider]

I (Sam) am 1.76m (5' 10) Polly is 1.64m (5' 6) The van from floor to the lower parts of the ceiling ribs is about 1.9m and that's with 25mm insulation, 18mm of raising beams and 9mm ply flooring 👍

[@H2Dwoat]

@@FreedomStrider Cheers, that gives me some perspective 👍.

[@tine8849]

I'm going to be using rivnuts too but on my budget I decided not to get the tool. Gonna take me a fair bit longer to do but that's the story of my life. I'm also gonna use a bit of weak threadlock too based on a KZbin comment I read. Not sure it's necessary but I already have the stuff and just seems like a good idea.

[@FreedomStrider]

We have seen the videos of people installing rivnuts without a tool, although it can be done, we are installing ALOT (like, over 100 so far and counting), and if we're spending all that time, we want to make sure they are well installed, and they don;t damage the metalwork. If you determined to try it without a tool, best to practise on a piece of metal outside the van since those methods can damage everything from the rivnut, to the metalwork of the van itself, so practise makes perfect. You can also find cheaper tools online, we can;t vouch for how good they actually are, but this is one I saw for £15 with decent reviews: amzn.to/3a7V8m9 - So if you have a lot of rivnuts to do, might be worth giving it a go, but let us know how your method goes :)

[@tine8849]

@@FreedomStrider I'll probably only be using Rivnuts for the bed and a small amount of cabinetry. I saw the cheaper tools and after reading the reviews thought I'd probably be better off trying it without but yeah I'll be practising first

[@johnbarclay88]

Dumb question - apols: you would only be using the rivnuts on the beams, right (not the skin of the van)?

[@FreedomStrider]

Well, we are using them on any internal surface that is suitable for rivnuts, so the ribs and some will be installed on the walls of the van. No rivnuts will be used externally, if that is what you mean by 'the skin if the van'. 🙂 Although, on our unistrut roof rack vid, some good rivnut ideas were shared in the comments about mounting stuff on the roof.

[@kathryntokarska6062]

Wondering how much strength is required to use that tool, looked like a lot of effort and I'm pretty sure my hands are not as strong as yours.

[@FreedomStrider]

I usually ask Sam to operate the rivnut tool, but I (Polly) can still squeeze it... and I'm no muscular specimen. There is a fair amount of resistance but at the beginning, our lack of confidence and fear of breaking something was making a lot harder to squeeze than it actually was. So, you could probably do it. 😀👍

[@kathryntokarska6062]

@@FreedomStrider Thank you for your fast response. I will order the tool. Today I cut aluminum square tubing for the first time. I am using these in lieu of pressure treated lumber as joists in the floor, covering with something (forget name) to break the conduit. Some people don't like that I'm using this but I'm going with it. There will be 1 inch foam board in between the joists, a vapor barrier, then original factory floor (assume it can go back) which I'm thinking to connect to the original bolts, then cork flooring, I'm thinking something like using heavy duty cork underlayment and adding poly on top or something like that, saw some fairly thick natural cork sold in rolls. Anyway, I'm very much enjoying watching your van build as I'm working on my own with the help of some youtubers like yourself, people in van group facebook groups and sometimes clueless people at local home improvement stores. I'm sure I'll mess up something real bad.

[@David_11111]

yay

[@FreedomStrider]

😀👍