Replacing mudflap

[smanitou]

Half of one mudflap disintegrated when one of the back tires on my Escape 21C blew. Escape sent me a replacement mudflap but now the challenge is to install it. What size drill bit should I use to remove the existing pop rivets and what size pop rivets are needed to replace it? Could I use self tapping screws instead of pop rivets? Thanks for some guidance on this.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by smanitou

Half of one mudflap disintegrated when one of the back tires on my Escape 21C blew. Escape sent me a replacement mudflap but now the challenge is to install it. What size drill bit should I use to remove the existing pop rivets and what size pop rivets are needed to replace it? Could I use self tapping screws instead of pop rivets? Thanks for some guidance on this.

Depends if you can get inside and behind where the screws enter the trailer?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by smanitou

What size drill bit should I use to remove the existing pop rivets...

The typical method of removing a blind rivet like this from the head side is to use a drill to take off just the head - that means using a bit roughly the size of the head (much bigger than the hidden body of the rivet) and only drilling until the head is gone or breaks off of the rest of the rivet. Then you push the rest of the rivet through (and it ends up as debris somewhere inside).

Originally Posted by smanitou

... and what size pop rivets are needed to replace it?

If you remove the rivet by taking off just the head, you won't drill into the fiberglass at all. That means that you will then be able to see the original hole, and choose a rivet diameter that fits the hole.

Originally Posted by smanitou

Could I use self tapping screws instead of pop rivets?

Yes, but they probably won't hold very well in the thin fiberglass wall.