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My old seat mounted with shoulder bolts in shear thru two 1/4 steel plates with a welded nut on the inside.
I'm not comfortable doing that with aluminum threads on the new seat, so I ordered some PEM nuts to press into the aluminum.
I have experience with them from work but never tried them on a hand press into hand drilled holes. The tolerances are pretty tight. Typically -.000 / +.003 for the drilled hole.
If it fails, I have a backup involving a custom bushing but I'd rather not...
Anyway...1/4-20 threads in tin plated stainless for use with aluminum panels...
Oh, I also figured a way to find my sitting bones a little better. I was jist doing trial and error with some **** throwaway foam and just wasn't quite satisfied.
I considered getting some clay but that's a messy pain...then I remembered the foam my Grandma used for her silk flowers being really soft and easy to carve up...
So I picked up a plank at walmart for $7 amd plunked my *** down on it real hard a few times.
Bingo. Sittin' bones. Now I have a rough shape and location, as well as depth to relieve in my good foam. (1/4" High Quality Neoprene from www.Foamforyou.com)
That's my bony ***! Fairly close to the trial part (which also includes relief for tailbone.
The PEM nuts aren't gonna cut it. They're OK in tensile, but the aluminum won't hold in shear. Maybe if I had the exact size reamer. My hole is a few thousandths over. Thought about buying a reamer and then pressing it with with a dab of structual epoxy but I just don't get a warm-n-fuzzy. Not willing to risk it.
Figured I check the pilot dimensions on rivet nuts before I spend a bunch of time designing and machining a special insert.
Turned out to be a good hunch. The pilot of a 1/4-20 rivnut is a bit over 5/16 and will work good with my shoulder bolts. I'll have to machine a shallow counterbore to get the rivnut flange flush with the mounting tab but that's easy.
Ordered the nuts and a setting tool today.
Inswet pressed in. Looks good...but... (Disregard the blown out hole on the left. Had to sharpen my drill bit.) Fail. Insert came out with a few mild taps to the side of a fastener with a 6oz plastic mallet.
Unfortunately, that type of insert doesn't suit my application. I need (OK, want) a smooth counterbore to bear my weight on the shoulder portion of the stripper bolt. I know a threaded hole, properly torqued, could easily carry the load but I like the shoulder bolt better.
Here's the original steel sample of what I'm recreating in aluminum. I believe the rivnut will do nicely.
Here's the original steel sample of what I'm recreating in aluminum. I believe the rivnut will do nicely.
Based on an earlier recommendation of yours, I'm planning on using a rivnut in my rear fender for the seat screw. I love your attention to tiny details... The kind of stuff that only the creator notices when there's just a little bit of it... But all together, the impact on your bike will be incredible!
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