**** CLOSED **** Redline Tuning 20% off Hood QuickLIFT systems Group Buy! Ends May 31th!

Personally I would pilot with 1/8” and then upsize to 3/16”.
In steel you want higher feed and slower speed. Feed being the pressure your putting on the drill and speed being the rpm the drill is turning. However for thin sheet metal and holes under 1/4”, you don’t need to lean into the drill to get this done. Moderate hand pressure is plenty. You want chips with a few curls not just little blips of steel. And slow drill speed. If you rip into it your just dulling your drill bit and making a sloppy hole.

 

Thanks!

 

Pop rivets were developed by the United Shoe Machine company in early 1900s after acquiring the George Tucker Eyelet (as in shoe eyelets) Company in 1903. If you squint you can see that they are shoe eyelets with a built in anvil for crimping. My Grandfather worked for USM way back then.

3 billion were made during WWII and they became ubiquitous in the post war years...

 

Yeah, I read all that last night on Wiki, and now I can add that and what you are saying to the ol' data processor, some refer to as a brain.

 

I'd be in, but I can't justify a $40 USD shipping charge ($52 CAD) shipping on a $80 USD ($104 CAD) part.

A great product, I'll just have to figure out how to get it to Canada without the crazy shipping cost.

 

before


After





Easy install.

 

Do these require drilling?

 

Yes, you have to drill 8 holes. 2 for each bracket.

 

I used a spring loaded center punch to stop drill bit travel. I keep one in the truck- EMT trick to smash a car window- used a new bit and did not need to step up after using the punch. Worked great.

 

Well.....I ordered my Redline struts and the HF heavy duty rivet gun on the same day.......Redline showed up quickly.....the gun arrived a week later.....made it to me sometime yesterday while at work.


I've got a long weekend off work and plan on getting these one in between breaks in the rain.


Gonna head by the hardware store and grab some Gorilla tape and fresh drill bits......and as many bags of Kingsford charcoal as they will sell me, lol.

Bigtime beer run, too.

 

Do you have to use that robot tool? Already have one not wanting to buy a straight one.

 

This is the one I used.... $10, worked like a champ

 

Man, I have no idea.

This is a first for me.

Was gonna get a 90 degree model I saw in Home Depot, but was cautioned that these rivets would give you a workout. Up until a 18 months ago I had killer strength in arms & hands. An accident and following disc surgery still has me trying to recover. I used to hit the gym multiple times a week...I've become fat and lazy on my days off work....sedentary life is crap on the body. Trying to reverse that now.

I went with these, but after looking at the size of them....I'm hoping I have clearance under the hood to properly utilize them.

We will see....rain is holding me back temporarily !!!!!

 

The one I have us a 90 degree ratcheting one. Used it on the race care alot.

 

@RedlineTuning, excellent product, love the results! Here's the story.

Finally installed my Stainless Steel Redline Tuning Hood Struts I bought on the group buy. Install was straight forward but as usual, not as easy for me as most.......Overall I have solid strut mounts and didn't put any dimples or holes in the hood. Now the hood lifts on it's own. Two hands on the hood help to secure it closed.

Obviously before with the OEM Hood support in place.



I bought the Harbor Freight Heavy Duty, two hand Lever action rivet gun for this job and for anyone that uses less, I have mad respect. Those 3/16" steel rivets were the meanest I have ever used. They were no match for the gun I bought though ($20 ).

Because this is a seriously long rivet gun The hood with the OEM support might have been a little tight. I didn't take any chances. I used a cargo bar to raise the hood to the limit. Yes, there is a limit.





Here's a shot of where I braced the bar inside the engine bay. This was very secure and no way was anything slipping the way I had it positioned.



This will give you an idea of how much extra height I attained by lifting the hood to the max open position. As a reference, with the OEM support the struts would be nearly in position at the fender locations. Here you can see it is more that 6" away. I removed the cargo bar and put the OEM hood support in place to make the final connection of the hood struts.



Once the new hood struts were in place there was no more need for this thing which can get in the way so out with it!



The finished project.



Is it a frivolous mod? Not for me. To me these things should be standard on the Tacoma. I paid $109.91 shipped to my door for the Elite version of the struts. Black was less and would have worked too but it was a group buy discount so.... Add the tool $20.00, add some new drill bits (yes, I have drill bits but I wanted to be sure I had new, sharp bits) $4.00, so all in all, $135. which is what the struts cost regular price, but I also now have some extra tools I can use for other projects.

 

Glad it went well for you @RobP62

 

Yea, and just like the rebel I am, no drill stops. I have a nice brushless Dewalt 20a 2 speed drill I used on the lower speed. It did pull the bit in the hole a bit but I was able to stop it. I just went slow and applied just enough pressure to cut the steel. I added some OEM touch up paint to all the holes before attaching the hardware. I tell ya, even with the gun I had, and I am not a small guy, those steel rivets are a beast! Like I said, mad mad respect for anyone that cranks them in with a regular hand operated gun.

 

Installed my QuickLift Plus shocks and the sheer joy it brought to watch the hood rise on its own was well worth the cost and that was only the first time! I ordered the Tekton 6555 rivet gun and it worked well on the first rivet. The pin got hung on the second one after breaking and wouldn't release so that was all for that one. Luckily (or maybe unluckily) my dad had an older one so we just used that on the rest and boy was that an adventure but the job is done. As for jammed gun, the little rod that has a hole in it to allow the pin to fall through the backside was turned. Straightened it out and it released with a quick tap.

 

Nice! Yea, I know for a fact I could not have done this with my smaller rivet gun. No way in hell!

It really is nice to see the hood raise on it's own. Can't wait to hear the remarks from the guys at the dealer service department. They always comment on my mods LOL. Although now the tech with the dirty hands will be pushing down on my clean hood

 

Hand rivet gun for this guy! I did ease the pain with a couple cold ones on my hands (and in my belly) afterwards though. Got the kit on Saturday, and installed today. Borrowed an old school hand rivet gun and got the job done. A nice sharp drill bit, a little touch up paint (and some sore hands after) and it all came together nicely! Thanks @RedlineTuning for the GB discount and great instructions.