What size rivet nuts??

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rotus623

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Hey guys I am getting ready to mount my center console on my tracker grizzly down to the floor. The floor has a very shallow deadrise, maybe 3 degrees.

I was wondering what size rivet nuts would be ample to hold the console firmly in place?

Would you just go through the aluminum floor or try to catch ribs with the rivets?

Aluminum or SS for the rivets? I will be using stainless screws. Thanks!!
 
If you're on fresh water only the alumium/stainless contact isn't much of an issue so I'd go stainless. I'm using the same on my 16' restoration so I can have a removable tackle storage/ front deck extension that can be taken out and replaced with bow rider style side seats if I want to cruise around with the family.
 
The aluminum ones seem to get loose easier, because the metal bends easier and gets loose. The aluminum ones also gall/seize easier especially when older/slightly corroded. Between getting loose and seizing they can be very difficult to remove the bolt in the future. I'd recommend stainless with stainless bolts.

The worse thing in the world is trying to remove a bolt from a loose/seizing rivet nut. Sometime's you're lucky and can get some needle nose pliers under them, but most times you have to hold the bolt with vice grips while drilling out a stainless steal bolt. Or spin it at high speed until it melts from friction and falls out.
 
Thank you guys.

Chuck, I agree completely. I have been there before!! I think stainless into stainless is the way to go. If you had to use dissimilar metals I would suggest anti-sieze and removing bolts once a season to re-apply.

My rod holders are 1/2" stainless steel mounted into aluminum bases. Once or twice a year I spin them off, clean them up and re-apply anti-seize. They have held up great!
 
If you can get the SS parts that's what I'd use, with antiseize. Those things can be a real booger to remove if seized up.
 
If you're going stainless then 1/4-20 is fine - I would have gone larger with aluminum. Apply some 5200 to the area before you set the rivnut in place in case it gives you a barrier between the direct contact of the stainless and the aluminum. If it doesn't you're no worse off.

The stainless rivnuts set much more reliably than the aluminum ones - more often than you'd like the pressure required to set the aluminum rivnut is close to the pressure needed for the threaded steel setting mandrel to tear the threads out of it, so it can be very wasteful to do a lot of them.
 

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