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Old 06-14-2015, 10:17 PM   #1
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Outside grab handle loose -fix?

Reaching for the exterior grab handle to help get myself into the trailer, I noticed it was a bit loose. Popped open the plastic covers to see if it was a Robertson screw there. Nope. Something completely different.. Any fix?
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Old 06-14-2015, 11:01 PM   #2
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Popped open the plastic covers to see if it was a Robertson screw there. Nope. Something completely different...
That's a little mysterious.

Any description (or photo) of the completely different something? Is it just another fasterner drive (e.g. Torx)? If not, Is the interior side visible (where there might be the other end of a fastener)?
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Old 06-15-2015, 12:56 PM   #3
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Yep.

Its directly in front of the "door frame" so it looks like it ultimately could be accessed from behind... With effort.

This is the nut/bolt
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Old 06-15-2015, 03:35 PM   #4
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Wow - bizarre. I was hoping for an unusual fastener that I could help with, but I've never seen anything like that, although I can imagine a tool engaging it.

This may be one of those times that it is worth bugging Reace for information.
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Old 06-15-2015, 04:03 PM   #5
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It's a rivet. At least on my Escape handle. I just checked.
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Old 06-15-2015, 05:28 PM   #6
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I believe it's called a blind hole rivet.
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Old 06-15-2015, 06:10 PM   #7
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If that's a rivet, it's unlike any I've seen before because of the three slots. That's okay - I just get to learn another new thing. It's also quite large, unless I have the scale of the handle wrong, but that makes sense for the purpose.

Bad news: a rivet cannot reasonably be tightened
Good news: ... but you can drill it out and replace it
Bad news: ... but the use of any kind of rivet suggests that the inside is not accessible, so replacement with a bolt may not be practical, and a large blind rivet is hard to install.

I did a Google search for like images and found nothing like it. That doesn't mean much - this type of Google search doesn't seem to work very well.
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Old 06-15-2015, 06:13 PM   #8
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I believe it's called a blind hole rivet.
Just a "blind rivet", meaning you can't (don't need to) see the other side. A blind hole is different - it doesn't go all the way through. In this case the hole would be right through the trailer shell, with (apparently) a blind rivet installed in it. All of the rivets on an Escape and similar trailers are blind rivets.
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Old 06-15-2015, 06:14 PM   #9
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If I'm interpreting the photo correctly, that's one rivet in one hole, and nothing in another mounting hole. Is there a fastener (rivet) missing?
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Old 06-15-2015, 06:48 PM   #10
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Believe me...it's a rivet. Mine doesn't have the slots the posters rivet has. There is only one rivet on the top of the handle and one rivet on the bottom. Both are under a protective cap.
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Old 06-15-2015, 10:51 PM   #11
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Hey, no problem, I believe you... the photo was just a strange-looking rivet head.

Is that a hole where a second rivet (on each end) could be used to hold the handle more firmly?
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Old 06-15-2015, 11:20 PM   #12
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You could probably drill the existing rivet out and replace it, but you may not need to if you drill a hole in the unused recesses and pop rivet those. Might secure the handle enough not to worry about it.
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Old 06-20-2015, 11:47 PM   #13
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Checked our 2015 19' and it's firmly mounted with 2 of the strange looking rivets (?) in the top and in the bottom (4 total).
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Old 06-21-2015, 07:37 AM   #14
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It looks like one rivet is missing,perhaps they forgot to install the second one?
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Old 06-21-2015, 09:38 AM   #15
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ETI says they will rerivet when in shop again.

Apparently its from pulling self up sideways to trailer. Yup.
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Old 06-21-2015, 02:31 PM   #16
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Checked our 2015 19' and it's firmly mounted with 2 of the strange looking rivets (?) in the top and in the bottom (4 total).
Thanks. Using all four available holes seems like a good idea.
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