VW bike rack disassembly

[Lexlogie]

I need some help!! I’ve disassembled my vw bike rack ready for anodising and struggling with these parts as they don’t unscrew. I’ve heard they need drilling out and replacing with new black rivets. I’ve looked on forums but can’t find the right size replacements and how to do it!!!
Any help / tips would be greatly appreciated

also has anybody the assembly diagram for the bike rack(I’ve lost mine) or electronic copy as I got carried away dismantling and didn’t take pics to reassemble ‍

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Yes you will have to drill them out and to replace you will need to buy yourself a pop riveter. As far as black rivets I’ve not seen any so they may be unique to the manufacturer. However it could be possible to give them a coat of paint before you fit them with a rattle can. You would need to practice first to see if it would work. Alternatively with a steady hand and small brush you coat them that way.
Try a rivet supplier to see if they stock black pop rivets.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Yes you will have to drill them out and to replace you will need to buy yourself a pop riveter. As far as black rivets I’ve not seen any so they may be unique to the manufacturer. However it could be possible to give them a coat of paint before you fit them with a rattle can. You would need to practice first to see if it would work. Alternatively with a steady hand and small brush you coat them that way.
Try a rivet supplier to see if they stock black pop rivets.

I’ve just looked on ebay and they do all sizes of black pop rivets on there...

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Just as matter of interest how much have you been quoted to have the rack anodised.

 

[Camperfamily]

You could potentially get ‘raw’ pop rivets anodised in the same colour as the rack at the same time?

 

[Lexlogie]

Just as matter of interest how much have you been quoted to have the rack anodised.

£90 all in

 

[Ozzy Pete]

£90 all in

That sounds pretty good price. Is yours the VW 4 bike rack?
Love to see it when you get it back.
Make sure you get a decent pop riveter. Or maybe you can hire one from a tool hire company. The only way you will know what size the rivets are is by carefully taking out a rivet an measuring the hole.
Don’t worry it’s hardly rocket science......

 

[Wildcamper]

I expect the manufacturer of the bike rack specified a tensile strength for the rivets so that they could offer a guarantee that the rack was fit for purpose. If you take out the rivets as supplied and replace them do the new ones have the same tensile properties? If they are inferior then the chances of the rack failing will be increased. If this leads to an accident and a police investigation identify that the rack was tampered with I wonder what comeback there might be on yourself and what your insurance company might have to say. We live in a very litigious time.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

I expect the manufacturer of the bike rack specified a tensile strength for the rivets so that they could offer a guarantee that the rack was fit for purpose. If you take out the rivets as supplied and replace them do the new ones have the same tensile properties? If they are inferior then the chances of the rack failing will be increased. If this leads to an accident and a police investigation identify that the rack was tampered with I wonder what comeback there might be on yourself and what your insurance company might have to say. We live in a very litigious time.

That’s an easy fix. If in doubt use stainless steel rivets and just paint the heads when they are in. Stainless Steel rivets are many times stronger than Aluminium ones. I would imagine the rivets in the rack at the moment are Aluminium.

 

[Lexlogie]

That sounds pretty good price. Is yours the VW 4 bike rack?
Love to see it when you get it back.
Make sure you get a decent pop riveter. Or maybe you can hire one from a tool hire company. The only way you will know what size the rivets are is by carefully taking out a rivet an measuring the hole.
Don’t worry it’s hardly rocket science......

Yes it’s the 4 bike version for 6.0/6.1. There is a fabrication place near me so might take it to them to see if they can remove and re rivet when I get it back. It’s cheaper than powder coating and won’t chip or flake as it is basically dying the alloy.

 

[Lexlogie]

That’s an easy fix. If in doubt use stainless steel rivets and just paint the heads when they are in. Stainless Steel rivets are many times stronger than Aluminium ones. I would imagine the rivets in the rack at the moment are Aluminium.

Yea I’ll be upgrading the rivets to black steel

 

[Lexlogie]

I expect the manufacturer of the bike rack specified a tensile strength for the rivets so that they could offer a guarantee that the rack was fit for purpose. If you take out the rivets as supplied and replace them do the new ones have the same tensile properties? If they are inferior then the chances of the rack failing will be increased. If this leads to an accident and a police investigation identify that the rack was tampered with I wonder what comeback there might be on yourself and what your insurance company might have to say. We live in a very litigious time.

Good shout! I’ll be upgrading the rivets to steel which is an upgrade on the alloy.

 

[Wildcamper]

Good shout! I’ll be upgrading the rivets to steel which is an upgrade on the alloy.

If you do that watch out for increased corrosion rate between dissimilar metals. This is what causes the roof corrosion on California's that is often mentioned here.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

If you do that watch out for increased corrosion rate between dissimilar metals. This is what causes the roof corrosion on California's that is often mentioned here.

Then probably best to stick to Aluminium which is what the original rack came with.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Yes it’s the 4 bike version for 6.0/6.1. There is a fabrication place near me so might take it to them to see if they can remove and re rivet when I get it back. It’s cheaper than powder coating and won’t chip or flake as it is basically dying the alloy.

I’ve had a look at my bike rack, it’s for a 5.1 and there isn’t any rivets on it at all. Everything is bolted together with stainless screws. Is yours a genuine VW rack or another make?

 

[Lexlogie]

I’ve had a look at my bike rack, it’s for a 5.1 and there isn’t any rivets on it at all. Everything is bolted together with stainless screws. Is yours a genuine VW rack or another make?

Genuine. This is the latest model for T6.0/T6.1

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Genuine. This is the latest model for T6.0/T6.1

View attachment 86749

They must have changed them a lot as I don’t have a single pop rivet.

 

[Camperfamily]

@Ozzy Pete it sounds you’ve got a so-called Kylie rack and the above is a Quasimodo. I’m not sure where these names originally came from, but lots of threads on here use these names for the two different racks

 

[paul_f]

They must have changed them a lot as I don’t have a single pop rivet.

You will at the top - the hooks and plastic bits are pop riveted on

 

[Perfectos]

Using Black aluminium Aerospace pop rivets should be fine

the shear and tensile strength of aerospace pop rivets is huge. ( look at the wind out awning brackets for an example)

using sealed / blind rivets will ensure there are no open holes in the river to allow water ingress via the hole once the rivet is fitted.

here’s a website for details of various options

Sealed Type Blind Rivets

Fully sealed fastener which provides the weather resistance fastener.

www.world-rivet.com

 

[Ozzy Pete]

@Ozzy Pete it sounds you’ve got a so-called Kylie rack and the above is a Quasimodo. I’m not sure where these names originally came from, but lots of threads on here use these names for the two different racks

Never even realised there was a difference until you mentioned it.

 

[Lexlogie]

Using Black aluminium Aerospace pop rivets should be fine

the shear and tensile strength of aerospace pop rivets is huge. ( look at the wind out awning brackets for an example)

using sealed / blind rivets will ensure there are no open holes in the river to allow water ingress via the hole once the rivet is fitted.

here’s a website for details of various options

Sealed Type Blind Rivets

Fully sealed fastener which provides the weather resistance fastener.

www.world-rivet.com

Thank you.You don’t know what size I’ll need for the bike rack. I’ve heard they are 6.4

 

[Perfectos]

Thank you.You don’t know what size I’ll need for the bike rack. I’ve heard they are 6.4

If you measure the head that is visible on the existing rivet,
it should give you a good idea of the size needed (rivets tend to be industry standard)
the head size should correlate to the shank size, (e.g 6.4mm which will require a 6.5mm hole for the rivet to go through)
then refer to the chart I posted in the link,
now Look at the “grip range” which will be the Min / Max that the rivet can clamp together :
i.e the thickness of both pieces of material to be clamped will need to be within the “grip range“ specified for a particular rivet.

I hope that makes sense, post here if not


Edit: note when drilling the existing rivet out do not drill the through hole, in the frame, larger than the specified through hole for the particular rivet spec or the rivet will simply pull through the hole when you fit the new rivet.

alternatively
you can Drill the head off the rivet carefully, best to use a pillar drill so you do not have to drill through the hole in both parts, drilling only the head (not going through the whole rivet) with an appropriate size drill (slightly bigger than the shank) will effectively cut the rivet head off and release the shank which will fall into the frame

 

[Lexlogie]

If you measure the head that is visible on the existing rivet,
it should give you a good idea of the size needed (rivets tend to be industry standard)
the head size should correlate to the shank size, (e.g 6.4mm which will require a 6.5mm hole for the rivet to go through)
then refer to the chart I posted in the link,
now Look at the “grip range” which will be the Min / Max that the rivet can clamp together :
i.e the thickness of both pieces of material to be clamped will need to be within the “grip range“ specified for a particular rivet.

I hope that makes sense, post here if not


Edit: note when drilling the existing rivet out do not drill the through hole, in the frame, larger than the specified through hole for the particular rivet spec or the rivet will simply pull through the hole when you fit the new rivet.

alternatively
you can Drill the head off the rivet carefully, best to use a pillar drill so you do not have to drill through the hole in both parts, drilling only the head (not going through the whole rivet) with an appropriate size drill (slightly bigger than the shank) will effectively cut the rivet head off and release the shank which will fall into the frame

Thank you.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Don’t forget this is a bike rack and not a vehicle about to be launched into space. If you could find them the right size anything to do with aerospace or aircraft is going to probably cost more than the rack. How do I know? I worked on jet engines at Roll Royce. Everything has to be coded so it can be traced back to the person that made it.
You could always contact the manufacturer and ask then what they use. You could say that a couple of the rivets have come loose.