How the F*ck Do You Get the Stock Tunnel Stiffeners Off

JustChilling19 · Dec 5, 2017

I am posting this up here hoping it will get more traction then in the Polaris section. Have spent more then a few hours trying to drill out the grey rivets on the stock stiffener plate. I believe they are called press rivets? Did some research and they are super hard and a absolute bitch.

Have broken several normal, and now titanium, drill bits on this. Got one side done but gave up after today’s three hours shift.

Does anybody have any tips to do this? In the Polaris section someone suggested a grinder but that is a bit past my comfort level...

Was two seconds away from taking out the impact air tools but thought better of that to haha going to go buy cutting fluid tomorrow and try with my remaining titanium bits lol

Any help is appreciated!

007sevens · Dec 5, 2017

JustChilling19 said:
I am posting this up here hoping it will get more traction then in the Polaris section. Have spent more then a few hours trying to drill out the grey rivets on the stock stiffener plate. I believe they are called press rivets? Did some research and they are super hard and a absolute bitch.

Have broken several normal, and now titanium, drill bits on this. Got one side done but gave up after today’s three hours shift.

Does anybody have any tips to do this? In the Polaris section someone suggested a grinder but that is a bit past my comfort level...

Was two seconds away from taking out the impact air tools but thought better of that to haha going to go buy cutting fluid tomorrow and try with my remaining titanium bits lol

Any help is appreciated!

View attachment 207577

Drop the rear bolts in the skid lift the tunnel up so you have room. On the raised part of the rivet take a GRINDER and grind it off. stop when you get to the tunnel itself. Take a pry bar and pry it off.

This is the only way you will succeed. Once you do it you will find why somebody told you to do it in the first place.

SnowJunkie82 · Dec 5, 2017

Use a grinder on the rivets inside the tunnel. Go slow and be careful. Good luck!

ABMax24 · Dec 5, 2017

Grind them off. If you don't feel comfortable doing it buy a case of beer and trade that to a buddy who will. Give them the beer after completing the work.

d8grandpa · Dec 6, 2017

X2 on grinding, and I have used a pointed carbide burr with a die grinder to get closer to the tunnel.

LUCKY 7 · Dec 6, 2017

I was wondering why would you take them off unless the tunnel is damaged? I usually keep my new sleds almost stock so just wondering is all.....

007sevens · Dec 6, 2017

LUCKY 7 said:
I was wondering why would you take them off unless the tunnel is damaged? I usually keep my new sleds almost stock so just wondering is all.....

To put a better stiffener on. A coupled skid for instance needs more beef to run off of.

PS94 · Dec 7, 2017

don't use a grinder with a grinding wheel If you're not comfortable...buy a blending disc, and be cautious, and lay it flat. it's basically sandpaper at a high rate of speed and can remove pretty much anything, and won't eat the aluminum as fast if you do get to target depth quicker than anticipated.

JustChilling19 · Dec 7, 2017

Got the second one off tonight. Drilled it, it is possible. Will probably attempt to grind if I ever have to do this again. What a pain in the ass process. Whatever those rivets are made of is HARD. If anyone wants to know what I did let me know and I’ll give you what worked for me.

To to answer the other question the reason I am taking them off is to stiffen the tunnel. I’ll post pics after she’s done.

Cheers,
Tyler

docloh · Dec 8, 2017

I’ve removed these from two sleds now. Put the drill bits away. I ground the rivet heads off from the inside of the tunnel with a dremmel tool. Then they just pop off easy.

JustChilling19 · Dec 8, 2017

docloh said:
I’ve removed these from two sleds now. Put the drill bits away. I ground the rivet heads off from the inside of the tunnel with a dremmel tool. Then they just pop off easy.

Yes, what I ended up doing was piercing it from the front with a diamond bit dremel then with a 1/4 inch bit went through. The bit would grab the rivet out before going through the tunnel or anything leaving the hole size about the same. Did a few from behind previously with a a 1/8th bit followed by a 3/16th but this was much less efficient. Next time I will try grinding with a dremel or a grinder.

Drilling the holes for the rivets into the aluminum should be easy now hahahah (I hope).

busted2x · Dec 8, 2017

You will be hard pressed to find a drill bit better than these without moving into things like Blair boron bits, very fast cutting on hss and uhss, and cut flat, so it takes the head off a rivet or spot weld without drilling right thru.

pfi572 · Dec 9, 2017

A lot of different drill bit’s out there.
Spend $18 on the size you need and they drill out . Lol
Doo have the same **** I believe and they suck getting out.
Once I read the race manual and it said what drill bit to use.
I bought it and drilled them out without a problem.

JustChilling19 · Dec 19, 2017

Thought I would let everyone know how this concluded as I’m sure there will be others who will want to do the same to their Pro or Axys.

Ended up buying tunnel stiffeners from Mountain Magic, thanks Ken!, Arctic Cat bumper, and a whole lot of rivets.

First we drilled out the cocksucking factory stiffening plates. This was quite the task. Next year when I get my new sled I’m going to drop the skid and take a dremel to the backside. I think this would do the trick without as much risk as a grinder. If that doesn’t work start a small pilot hole then go with a 1/4 inch bit (titanium or carbide) and drill fluid. She’ll go. It’ll grab the rivet from the back eventually and pull it through leaving you roughly a 3/16th hole. This was the hardest part.

Next we drew out templates for the tunnel stiffeners. I wanted to make sure the rivets had a pattern and were the same on other side. This took some time but was well worth it. Pics below:

We used the template to drill into the stiffeners (3/16th hole):

Then we clamped then in place and drilled into the sled tunnel. I recommend doing this since the holes in the stiffener act as a pilot:

After this we applied the wrap. Albeit not necessary I wanted to wrap the sled so it went on. We then riveted the stiffening plates to the side of the sled. Approximately 25 rivets a side and I used 3/16th sized aluminum rivets with a 1/2inch long extension. Princess auto air riveter did a fantastic job!

Next we cut the bumper down to size. The AC bumper was a little long for my liking so we probably took 3-4 inches off each side. Bent the bumper out by hand and then used a 16 and 5/8ths inch board to slightly indent and straighten accordingly. Clamped her on and drilled from the side and underneath for the rivets. Used some 3/16ths and some 1/8ths size for underneath on the lip:

And finally, the finished product:

Frankenytro · Dec 19, 2017

I just have to add that for anyone else who is dealing with this same scenario that in most cases the rivets used for structural components would be stainless rather than aluminum. Every tunnel or tunnel stiffener kit I have ever bought or installed has always come with 3/16 stainless rivets. When changing any structural components on the machine where the rivets need to be replaced acufast fasteners has always been able to supply the correct rivets for the job. I am not saying that the aluminum rivets are certain to fail by any means but if the stiffeners were to need to be there to stiffen the tunnel the rivets would likely fail before the stiffener plates would.

The sled looks great and it is good to see you got threw it.

007sevens · Dec 20, 2017

Frankenytro said:
I just have to add that for anyone else who is dealing with this same scenario that in most cases the rivets used for structural components would be stainless rather than aluminum. Every tunnel or tunnel stiffener kit I have ever bought or installed has always come with 3/16 stainless rivets. When changing any structural components on the machine where the rivets need to be replaced acufast fasteners has always been able to supply the correct rivets for the job. I am not saying that the aluminum rivets are certain to fail by any means but if the stiffeners were to need to be there to stiffen the tunnel the rivets would likely fail before the stiffener plates would.

The sled looks great and it is good to see you got threw it.

I second a Stainless Structural Riviet. However they are not made by Accufast but rather sold by them them. The rivet you require is the Avinox Rivet.

Too Many Toys · Dec 20, 2017

Nice job Tyler. I hope your girlfriend/wife realizes how much work was involved in working on her sled.

Chrisco · Dec 20, 2017

DONT use a grinding disc, just use a cleaning disc in a small 90 degree grinder.

Frankenytro · Dec 20, 2017

007sevens said:
I second a Stainless Structural Riviet. However they are not made by Accufast but rather sold by them them. The rivet you require is the Avinox Rivet.

Correct, I should have stated that the rivets can be supplied by accufast fasteners not manufactured by them.

Chrisco · Dec 20, 2017

What Frank and 007 said is the best way..

How the F*ck Do You Get the Stock Tunnel Stiffeners Off

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