Why you should not use regular rivets on mudflaps

[erikv11]

No reason to spend up for Volvo branded rivets IMO, the options in this thread have worked out well for me viewtopic.php?f=1&t=92044

Washers are fine if necessary, I agree with Neil.

[850oldschool]

Okay, so I'm preparing to go after the secret EVAP valve and it's hose which is hidden behind the liner in the left fender. I looked at the parts diagram and realized that there are different part numbers for the fender and mudflap rivets. The top picture is a fender liner rivet(PN 979878), the bottom picture is a mudflap rivet (PN 975607). I've been unable to identify a non-Volvo equivalent for the 975607. I have a dozen or so of the 979878 style non-Volvo rivets, which worked quite well on the bumper bracket job I did a few weeks ago.

Apparently the 979878 have been used successfully for mudflaps? The picture of 975607 looks like a black painted all metal rivet which does a similar kind of jack nut style expansion like the 979878.

[MrAl]

Hello there,

I've been reading about this and have a question and one idea may be good or not so good.

The question is, how much does the fender bend if you use very very strong 'regular' rivets that do not give out no matter how hard you kick?

The idea, as strange as this sounds, is to use stainless steel wire to connect the parts. You can get a LOT of different gauge wire to try from #36 (probably not strong enough) to who knows how thick. Obviously the thicker the wire the stronger it will be. As you go down in gauge number the wires get thicker and they get stronger so harder to break. Stainless steel is durable too under extremes of weather.
To use this idea you would have to have a minimum of either two holes to thread the wire through, or one hole and an 'edge' you can wrap the wire around and back through the hole. So the wire goes either hole to hole, or hole to edge. To tighten the wire you would twist it as you would with a twist tie used for closing plastic baggies. For the thicker wire you have to use pliers.
If you need two holes and only have one, you can drill a second hole but you only need about 1/16 inch diameter or something like that.

Steel wire, especially stainless steel wire, is very strong so you'd have to try a couple gauges and see what strength you need. It's one way of getting an 'adjustable' strength fastener. Although it is kind of unconventional i've used this idea in various places. Picture hanging is obvious but shelf hanging is not so obvious. With a few wire hangers the shelf will never come down. Also when repairing a screen i find that if you thread #36 gauge SS wire through the screen holes, you get the patch attached and it cant come off unless you really intend to rip it off, but then the other parts of the screen would rip too. So it ends up being as strong or stronger than the original screen which is often wire also. Again to tighten the wire you just twist the two ends like you would a twist tie for baggies.

The only catch is if you are intent on using the original parts only then you may not want to do this unless you install weak rivets and some very thin wire which you probably wont be able to see if it is thin enough.

Good luck with it and remember this is just an idea you may or may not like it

[850oldschool]

Al, I understand what you're saying, but baling wire comes up short aesthetically, even though it's long on functionality. I live in Minnesota and occasionally give the accumulated slush a light tap with my toe, and I have to agree with Erik that the factory setup is pretty darned good, I've never had any trouble. Even at -10 the mudflap usually gathers enough heat from the sun to loosen the ice. When the wind chill is -50 I've got a heated space I can bring the car into for an hour or two.

[scot850]

I only use the upper rivet for mud flaps and the fender liner. Never seen the lower one used on a P80, but that doesn't mean it hasn't.

As to how bad if you use regular rivets. Bad enough to bend the fender from the headlight to the rear edge. It is not easy to fix either as usually the fender lip gets kinked as well.

There are aftermarket suppliers of these rivets that work and look identical but not at the Volvo price!

Neil.

[850oldschool]

I dug out my box of rivets to see if I had enough and noticed there was an URL on it:

https://www.auveco.com/

They have a huge selection of specialty clips and rivets. No online ordering, but once you have part numbers it's easy to track things down. These things they're selling as "GM wheelhouse liner nuts" look identical to the Volvo ones:

https://www.auveco.com/hni-2/gm-wheelho ... -nut-25221

This is the kind of stuff we may have to 3D print if/when we can't get it anymore.

I also think I've tracked down the spring steel S-clips (panel clips) which hold the trim pieces under the headlights in place:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174848693353?h ... SwDHZeH3mu

[scot850]

Ouch, $24 for one clip!

Neil.

[MrAl]

Al, I understand what you're saying, but baling wire comes up short aesthetically, even though it's long on functionality. I live in Minnesota and occasionally give the accumulated slush a light tap with my toe, and I have to agree with Erik that the factory setup is pretty darned good, I've never had any trouble. Even at -10 the mudflap usually gathers enough heat from the sun to loosen the ice. When the wind chill is -50 I've got a heated space I can bring the car into for an hour or two.

Hi,

Oh ok i was under the impression you couldnt see it easily. No worries

[850oldschool]

Ouch, $24 for one clip!

Neil.

No, you get 75 for that price. I'd be willing to mail out the extras. The reason I started looking for these clips is that they are about 12 bucks each from Volvo.

[scot850]

There are a few parts like that out there like the clips for the wagon tailgate surround panels.

Glad I mis-read that ad you posted! 75 is a better price!

Neil.