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1930/31 Loose Ring gear Rivets

Posted: March 8th, 2020, 4:01 pm
by Devils Gulch Garage
I have a 1930 AA rear axle that I am restoring, I noticed during teardown the Ring Gear has loose rivets, the holes are not elongated but the rivets are loose to the point I can turn them by hand in their holes.

My question is:

Can the rivets be tightened?

This is a "parade" truck and will not see a lot of miles, most likely it will tour Estes Park Colorado 11 miles at a time and at speeds of 35 or less..should I be worried as I am seeing this is a common issue?

Re: 1930/31 Loose Ring gear Rivets

Posted: March 9th, 2020, 2:31 pm
by Farrell In Vancouver
While anything is possible, reforming those rivets will be difficult as the entire assembly is going to suck the heat away from the rivets while you try to re-peen them to a tight fit. I see a lot of oxy/acetelene in your future as well as a large rivet buck, and a really large rivet gun.
I would imagine a press could be employed but you would need to be very careful not to warp the ring gears hub while doing it.
How many of them are loose?

Re: 1930/31 Loose Ring gear Rivets

Posted: March 21st, 2020, 6:25 pm
by holdover
I do not have an open rear in front of me, but is there room to replace the rivets with grade 8 bolts/nuts?? Have done that for many years on other vehicles

Re: 1930/31 Loose Ring gear Rivets

Posted: March 21st, 2020, 7:38 pm
by KimVanOrder
Do the grade 8 bolt method.. AKA words of wisdom / experience..

Re: 1930/31 Loose Ring gear Rivets

Posted: March 22nd, 2020, 6:35 am
by tiredtruckrestorer
What you have to watch for is that rivet sizes are different than standard bolt sizes usually because the rivet was meant to be squashed to fit the hole tight (sometimes heated to achieve this). If you're going to try bolts, maybe a metric size would fit tighter in a rivet hole than a standard American size.

Keith

Re: 1930/31 Loose Ring gear Rivets

Posted: March 22nd, 2020, 7:03 am
by KimVanOrder
Good thoughts ! Or maybe drill and or ream to get a tight fit. Key is to get a good tight fit and firm clamping action from the bolts.