Undercover rivets popped....anyone fixed?

I have an Undercover that has the hinge mount rivets popped. I have shot new rivets once already. Have any of you guys had this issue and have a permanent fix? I'll take pics in the morning.

 

I bought a used '08 DC that had the undercover bed cover installed from previous owner. I had to have the RR fender and bumper replaced at a body shop, from an accident, and they had to remove the cover to complete repairs. I noticed the cover didn't seem to sit like it did before repairs, and the hinges seemed a bit stiffer. I finally had a chance to check the hinges, and found that several of the original riveted pivot pins had been replaced by bolts and nuts. Upon closer inspection, I found out that the original riveted pins appear to loosen over time, and broke loose, hence the bolt/nut repair. One of the replacement bolt/nut repairs had loosened. When I tried to tighten it, I found that because it was loose, the threads on the bolt were damaged and the nut would no longer tighten up. I found a replacement bolt, and a Nyloc nut to replace it. With the right sized bolt, and the Nyloc nut tightened just enough to allow movement, but not too much side to side slop, it worked well. Hinge is much easier to use now. As more of the pins break loose, I will replace them all with the same nut/bolt repair.

I also have the oem Toyota bed liner, and when the cover was originally installed, they just bent the edges near the hinges away from the side of the bed to accomodate the cover hinge install. The lock down knobs were very difficult to operate because of the bed liner interference. I used a rotary type trim cutter to remove enough of the bel liner plastic to allow the knobs to work correctly. Now it all fits much better.

 

I assume that holes were drilled.in the cover to get the nuts onto the back side?

 

On my cover, when you lift it up, you can see the original pins, and the nut/bolt sets used to replace the broken pins on the hinges. They are a bit difficult to get to, but with short open end wrenches, I was able to remove the damaged one, and install the new set. If necessary, you can undo the lock down knob and slide the hinge to remove it from the locating pins. Once the hinge is loose, I used a couple of 2x4 chunks to hold the back of the cover up off the bed, so it was a bit easier to work on. Once I fixed one side, I reattached that hinge and went to the other side.

When a pin breaks loose from the hinge base plate, the hole it was pressed into is still there. I used that existing hole to mount the bolt/nut replacement fastener. There is enough room to slide the bolt in from the inside, slide the movable arm over the bolt, and then attach a Nyloc nut. I used a fender washer as a shim between the movable arm and the hinge base, so the joint would pivot easier. Basically, all I did was replace the broken pivot pin with a bolt/nut, and using a Nylock nut lets you tighten the nut/bolt set just enough to move, but not flop around.

 

Please post some pics of yours when you get a chance. I think I will have to drill into mine for access holes. Thanks.

 

I will try to get some pics later today. If your hinge is like mine, once you disconnect the hinge from the fixed mounting plate, the holes that the pins are riveted into are easy to see and access. On my cover, it can be removed from the vehicle by undoing the two lift cylinders, un locking the two hinges, and with two people, the cover will lift off the vehicle.

 

I have the UnderCover Classic model. It has two key locks, one on each corner near the tailgate. Model UC4070

https://undercoverinfo.com/images/Install_guide/Quick_Start_HH_printable_Version.pdf

The above link is is to the installation manual/instructions with the parts breakdown. It has pics of the hinges, and how they install.

 

It just occurred to me that you might be talking about the rivets that mounts the end of the two pivot arms to the actual cover. I was referring to the pivot pins on the base of the hinge. I will have to look at my truck and see how the top of the arms are attached to the cover frame and get back to you.

 

Yes I did have a pivot pin break as well. I have rivets that have popped where the cover attaches to the hinges.

 

After taking a look at mine, I thought those might be the rivets you were talking about. Mine look to be the original fasteners. I now understand what you meant about having to drill a hole to use a bolt/nut repair. What I would look into is a nutsert type of repair. A nutsert is bascially a way to install a threaded socket into a flat sheet of steel/aluminum/plastic, which can be used to thread a bolt/machine screw into without having to hold it like a loose nut. It is a little hard to explain, but is is a threaded sleeve with a compressable collar which when inserted into a hole in the material, can be compressed to grip both sides of the material. You then use the nutsert just like a nut, to attach something to the base material. What I don't know is if there is a metal stiffener behind the plastic rib that the angle bracket is attached to. If so, that would make installing a nutsert more difficult, but not impossible.

 

Contact Undercover and request repair advise, they may have come across this issue before.

 

They just said put more rivets in it. Those popped too.

 

From your pic, it looks like the pop rivets only went into the plastic frame. If so, that would explain why they didn't hold. For those type of rivets to hold in plastic, you would need to use a fender washer on the other side of the plastic, to give the pop rivet something to grab onto. Since you can't get behind the plastic, that idea won't work. From looking at my cover, they use a metal rivet that is anchored on the other side of the plastic, and the end is expanded to fit the hole in the angle bracket. If I am right, there is only two ways to do that, either use a rivet with a wide head so it won't pull through the plastic, or a metal backing plate to achieve the same result. In either case, the angle bracket mount and hinge assembly was probably fastened to the inside ribbed plastic panel, before it was bonded to the outer cover. If I am right, then the only possible ways to replace the fasteners are using some type of nutsert as I suggested, cut an opening into the side of the rib so you can insert a regular nut/bolt fastener, or drill a hole into the top cover (which would have to be sealed once the repair was made). What ever way you decide to go, I would recommend removing the cover from the truck so it can be worked on easier. Oh, and that was a lame suggestion from the UnderCover support staff. IMHO

 

I just drilled all the way through and did it that way before I sold it (fully disclosed to buyer; they didn’t care). Only thing is you get two problems: the cover is hollow so will collapse if over tightened and you’ll have a bolt on the top of your cover. Could use an elevator bolt or something that would be much more discrete on the top.
Your best bet would be to make an access hold on to get to the metal plate that the rivets go into (99% there is a plate on the inside of the cover. So essentially it’s plastic sandwiched between 2 plates) and put an elevator bolt coming towards the bottom on your cover and put the nut on the bedside. Going to be a major PITA trying to get enough room in there but I bet it’s possible.

edit: don’t do what I just said. buy a rivnut tool and put a thread in there. Still drill an access hole so that you can apply pressure from the plate within the bed cover and throw a thread in there. either that or get a cheap tap and die set but that plate is pretty thin so good luck tapping it. Rivnut is the better option in my option.

 

I just took a closer look at the hinges on my UnderCover Classic. It looks like the outer shell and the ribbed underneath cover are bonded together as one piece during the construction of the cover. The hinges look to be installed on the underneath ribbed cover prior to the top and bottom pieces are bonded together. At this point, I can only guess what might have to be done to replace any damaged rivets on my cover, so I can't offer any sure method of replacing yours. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I would suggest removing the cover from the vehicle, so that you can put it upside down on a big bench or a set of saw horses to work on it. Once you have it upside down, and can look at the situation closer, a repair option might be figured out.

PS: After taking a closer look at mine, it looks like there is a steel backing plate in between the two plastic shells that the rivets are supposed to hold onto. There looks to be about 5 rivets originally used to fasten the hinge plate to the cover. If you have at least one or more rivets still attached, you can use them to help align the backing plate with the holes in the cover and the hinge mounting plate while installing new rivets. I would strongly suggest removing the cover from the vehicle so you can turn it upside down to work on it. I would try using a thin hook to try to pull the backing plate as close to the plastic shell as possible before trying to insert a pop rivet. I also would try to find stainless pop rivets at least 3/4" long, so that the pop rivet will go all the way thru the backing plate. If you do not grab the other side of the backing plate, and only grab the plastic shell, the rivet will not hold.

 

Tundra234,

Just had this happen to mine tonight, of course a day before we’re taking it on vacation

Did you come up with a fix?

 

Honestly I haven't messed with it yet...its on my to do list. You can drill a couple of new holes and shoot some rivets in it until you get back. Just don't drill all the way through and come out through the top.

 

Thanks, gonna try something like that in the morning once I can see better.

 

A follow up to my Undercover hinge issue. The other day, I finally had the Pop rivets that mount the hinge plate to the cover shear off on one side. I removed the cover and upon closer inspection, the base plate between the two halves of the shell, is still in place, so I just ordered a threaded rivet kit so I can install threaded Rivet nuts in the base plates without cutting into or drilling holes into the plastic cover. I feel pretty certain that I will be able to drill out the old rivets and install new threaded riv-nuts in their place. Once the riv-nut are in place, I will re-attach the hinge with bolts, and problem should be solved permanently. Once done, I will follow up with the results.

PS: The Riv-Nut kit arrived, but once I actually tried to install the threaded inserts, it became apparent there wasn't enough room between the inner and outer shells for the Riv-nuts to fit. I finally decided to go back to standard pop rivets, like what was originally used. Once I carefully drilled out the remains of the old rivets, I used a big C-clamp to hold the base of the hinge and the interior backing plate together so the pop rivets would get a good hold. I used a long 3/16 in punch to get all the holes to line up. Once the first pop rivet was in place, it was easy to align the other three holes and install the rest of the pop rivets. The hinge is now secure again. The original pop rivets held about 10 years, so I am hoping for the same with the new ones. I used one of those long handle pop rivet tools instead of the small, right angle model, which worked better to get around the hinge bars.

 

SOLUTION FOUND - This thread was extremely helpful to me and led me down a path that fixed the issue. I wanted to share the solution and a few pictures along the way.

First, I had the same problem as everyone else. Pop rivets just failed after 7 years on one side. I think the real root cause is the seal is good at keeping water out of the bed, but it can get trapped by the rivets and cause rust and corrosion. The rivets were just the first to fail around the rust. Other than a little surface rust on the hinge everything else looks good.

Some on the thread were not sure if there was any metal support inside the body. There is. Probably a bottom piece of plastic shell, metal frame and then the top piece added before they are plastic welded together. This creates the main issue which is the fact that you can't just drill it out and put a nut and bolt on or you will have pierced the top shell. If you don't care about how it looks just drill straight through the rivets and pop a fat washer on the nut and bolt and you will be good to go.

If you care about how it looks check out the pics below.

You need a Rivnut set - Amazon for $35. Grab some washers and a pack of 10-24x3/4 stainless steel Pan Phillips Machine screws (HD)

First you have to remove the hinge arm from the cover. Lay down a blanket first and then put the cover on it up side down. From there you can drill out all the rivets.

Next, take a really big drill bit to drill out a larger opening in the plastic. Doing this gives you some space to get the rivnut down closer to the metal. I did not do this on the first hole and I'm not sure it got a great grip. It felt much more secure on the holes where I carved out some of the plastic.

I did have to drill out the hole ever so slightly to get the Rivnut in, but be careful to not penetrate the top of the shell (bottom) if you are drilling it while up side down.

Insert the rivnuts and then reattach the bracket arm. It will be as good as new.

Good luck and thanks for the advice that got me to the solution.

$41 AIUITIO 8" Rivet Nut Tool, Rivnut Tool Kit with 9 Metric and SAE Mandrels, Nutsert Rivet Tool Set with 90Pcs Rivnuts, Sturdy Case Packed, Designed for Tight Space

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09W216HZS?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details - This is what I purchased.