Exterior rivets?

[Rodger]

I upgraded to a 1975 avion la grande from a 1973 Taurus travel trailer. New to the world of rivets as im doing floor repair and am removing the sides of the belly pan. What size rivets are recommended, anyone gone with olympic rivets?

[Razorback]

Welcome to the forum, Rodger! We are glad to have you here!

I don’t have the info about rivets, but I know it’s here somewhere... pasted not too long ago. What I DO remember is that Olympic rivets are good but not the best solution.

I’m sure others will add info here soon.

[Razorback]

Check this thread: https://www.aviontrailers.net/viewtopi ... lit=Rivets

[silverloaf]

I'm not sure about the fuss over the Olympic rivets. I used them in several areas as part of replacing the water heater. The shaver worked great.

If I were a purist, I might lean toward buck rivets. But this is a travel trailer, not a 747 jumbo jet.

[Salty]

The Issue in my opinion regarding rivets is Bucked rivet vs. other styles. There is a belief that when replacing a bucked rivet where you cannot for practical reasons access the rear of the riveted area, that an aircraft rivet is the strongest option (Ok, you could TIG weld it).
Having compared Olympic, standard POP and Aircraft rivets it is my opinion that an aircraft rivet is the hands down winner for strength.
Additionally, if the degree of difficulty in removing a rivet is any indication of their strength, then there is no question an aircraft rivet is the winner.
I'm not saying that your properly installed Olympic rivet is going to fail. I am saying that an aircraft rivet is superior.
Don't take my word for it. Check them out - shear strength - whatever. I think that after you look at the specs and install one or two, you'll agree. Emphasis on install. You won't truly appreciate one of these until you do. Grab a couple pieces of scrap metal and put a correctly sized aircraft in and I believe you'll agree.

[silverloaf]

I'm not questioning the superior strength of bucket rivets. But is this strength required to hold an Avion skin to its frame, especially in a repair situation? Are there torsional stresses of the trailer that might compromise the integrity of the fastening system?

[Salty]

@silverloaf Those are good questions. I don't have the answer. In my mind, a bucked rivet is superior to any of the pop style rivets, so the use of a pop style rivet in place of a bucked rivet, be it a Cherrymax or an Olympic is a compromise. To me, a cherrymax is the lesser of two evils.

[RISK]

When I pulled out the inner skin of my airstream above a rotted out section of floor I discovered a fairly significant repair that had been done sometime in the trailers past. It looked like the whole quarter panel and maybe the wing window was replaced. They used Olympic rivets and every one leaked causing the floor to rot out. The rivets look to have been installed correctly without the grommets and were snug against the exterior skin.

Since that discovery, if I’m using O R’s, I go overboard using TremPro on install then Capt Tolly’s after the TremPro has cured. Even then I’m concerned about the integrity.
By contrast, there are a couple badges that were put on at the factory during its build (1977) using standard pop rivets and none of those show any sign of leaking.

Buck when you can, even when it’s inconvenient, but still take the precaution of coating the tail with sealant prior to install.
Any rivet should be installed this way in my opinion.

I need to try cherry max rivets. Learned about them here.

Ian

[Rodger]

Thanks for the input, i think i will be going the way of cherrymax rivets. Really didn't get too crazy with removing the underbelly. Just removed the rivets i needed to to reach inside. It looks as though i can get away with a regular pop rivet on the interior skin