Blind rivets are a very popular fastening solution in the truck and trailer industry. They are used in various parts of the manufacturing and repair process, including:
- Truck and trailer body: blind rivets are commonly used in the fastening process of the exhaust and pipe system
- Doors: when working on door assemblies, people often find themselves confronted with the problem of having single side access only. The right type of blind rivet can offer an optimal solution for this situation.
- Interior: specialty blind rivets are used for work on the interior of the cab, such as parts of the truck’s dashboard.
Essential Repairs
The biggest benefit of using blind rivets over other types of rivets is that you can fasten large panels and heavy materials together in instances when you do not have access to the other side. As you can imagine, this can come in handy when working on repairs for a highly complex, vehicle that weighs several tons. If you want to remove and replace a single panel without taking apart the entire truck, then blind rivets are your quick and simple solution.
Disassembling and Switching Panels
An example of these repairs would be securing a layer of sheet metal or even a slip-on panel over one of your vehicle’s panels. For smaller trucks and even smaller automotive vehicles, you could take care of these issues with some spot welding. That is not the case with substantially heavier trucks, such as buses, semis, and 18-wheelers. Their panels are much larger and would be much more difficult to remove. Blind rivets are excellent for making this large-scale project far more manageable.
Truck Constructing
There are many uses for blind rivets in trucks — including tractors and their trailers, as well as heavy-duty pickups. This is by necessity: while cars can be quite heavy and difficult to disassemble for a task like riveting, trucks are even more so. For instance, many semi-trucks need large metal panels to hold the truck exterior together. When you need to assemble them and the other side is inaccessible, blind riveting can do the trick, while also providing excellent durability. Furthermore, you can use these rivets for truck and trailer flooring on the interior.
Exhaust Systems
This applies to both trucks and automobiles. All motor vehicles, or at least those that run on internal combustion engines, have an exhaust system. Someday, you may need to replace certain parts, like the muffler or the pipes. Of course, being in the undercarriage of the heavy vehicle, it would not be easy to remove the whole system. This even goes for trucks, where the exhaust system is more visible and apart from the body than in cars. All you would need to do is get under the vehicle, insert the rivet body, and break off the mandrel. On that note, if you ever wish to replace a rivet, you must simply drill it out through the center and remove it.
Other Vital Components
Blind rivets can do a lot in the assembly process of a truck, but they are not the only parts required. Lockbolts are also vital as vibration-proof fasteners. Threaded inserts can accomplish a variety of manufacturing tasks, from creating threaded holes on thin materials to lending durability and strength for a softer material. All of them serve similar purposes: keeping separate parts together and creating a unified machine.
We offer various solutions for all applications and stock all our blind rivets in Houston, TX. In working with our partners to distribute them across the U.S. we do our best to cater to every industry.
