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Help with my screwed up JCR sider intall

splitz

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Nola
Ok, so I messed up my pinch seam bolts on my JCR sliders. I can get 3 of the 5 in, but they are not in straight. They'll do the job ok, but they are all up front. The two missing ones are in the rear. The problem is the holes for the rear are just offset enough for me to not be able to re-drill them.

Any ideas? I'm thinking of drilling the rock slider and pinch seam down from the factory holes to match. The only thing is I tightened down the self tappers. If I back them out, will that reduce the integrity?
 
Try using a step drill / multi-bit. The ones made by Erwin that Home Depo or Lows sell are good quality. They're made for thin sheet metal. The bits have a straight-cut flute design, and they will not "grab". These little gems are expensive, but worth it. I bought one 'couple years ago, now I use it all over. Use the Small/long bit, and you can probably ream the holes into allignment without oversizing more then one step. Put a grade 8 washer on each side, you're done

Go for broke and buy the 3-pack. If you buy a single bit, pay attention, the #3 and #4 bits look the same but one of them has one more step on it(don't remember which). one stops at 3/4" other goes up to 7/8" These babies are addictive on sheet metal.
 
tbburg said:
Try using a step drill / multi-bit. The ones made by Erwin that Home Depo or Lows sell are good quality. They're made for thin sheet metal. The bits have a straight-cut flute design, and they will not "grab". These little gems are expensive, but worth it. I bought one 'couple years ago, now I use it all over. Use the Small/long bit, and you can probably ream the holes into allignment without oversizing more then one step. Put a grade 8 washer on each side, you're done

Go for broke and buy the 3-pack. If you buy a single bit, pay attention, the #3 and #4 bits look the same but one of them has one more step on it(don't remember which). one stops at 3/4" other goes up to 7/8" These babies are addictive on sheet metal.
i second this. i use mine every chance i get..
 
If you access to air tools then, a die grinder can be used to enlarge a predrilled hole in one direction. A step drill/unibit is going to enlarge it in every direction and there is not a whole bunch of room there before you enlarge to the point where the hole is through the bottom of the pinch seam. A dremel with a grinding bit works too.

BTW, I botched my pinch seam holes with my JCR slider install:shhh:
 
Well its good to know I'm not the only one!

Hmm, step drill or die grinder. Good options. The only problem with the step drill is some of the holes are off set a little too much, like by an entire bolt width.

I wonder if a dremel will work as well as a die grinder.
 
Yes, a Dremel tool will work for your situation. A die grinder is just a bigger version of a Dremel and some are air powered instead of electric but the concept is the same. Use a carbide burr if you have one. The small round stones will wear our very quickly on something like this. You also need to hold on tight and guide it carefully as the bit will tend to dig in and then bounce around violently inside the hole.
 
Pull the hole with a metal die grinder bit and sandwich washer the bolt. These guys are right, it's all you can do at this point.
 
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