Need Help with Aileron Pushrod Riveting

I'm having a devil of a time with riveting the rod end bearings to the W818 aileron pushrod (the 0.5" steel tube). For starters, the AN470AD4-12 rivets seem too long to me, but that's what the plans call for. Everytime I try to drive the rivet the shop end keeps rolling over on me cause I can't keep the bucking bar exactly square on the rivet. I've got everything secured in a vice so not sure what else I can do. The rivet is too long to try and squeeze. Any ideas?

This was a hard one for me too as it kept bending. I used a bench vise to set them and that gave me a much better control and was able to do all of them without much issue. I think some folks weld them on. Hope this helps.

IMHO go ahead and try one size smaller. This rivet is 100% in shear so overdriving a slightly short rivet is okay. Just be sure it swells to completely fill the holes.

Weld them

After trying to rivet them and finding myself in the same spot I took them to a local welding shop. They welded the rod ends in place, they look much better and there are no clearance issues with the rivets where it exits the rear spar.

mill2978 said:

After trying to rivet them and finding myself in the same spot I took them to a local welding shop. They welded the rod ends in place, they look much better and there are no clearance issues with the rivets where it exits the rear spar.

Click to expand...

+1 IMHO

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm having them welded.

I welded mine as well. Keep in mind that the tube should be oiled inside for rust prevention after welding. This is what I did. Drill a 1/8 inch hole and use a rivet to fill the hole after oiling. Do not get to anal about what kind of oil to use, most anything will work. Sqwirt in a tablespoon, slosh it around and let the extra drain out of the hole overnight, then plug the hole with the rivet. If you want to get technical Spruce sells tube oil but I think it is just linseed oil.

This is a common issue and there are a number of posts on the forum addressing it. The standard fix is to grind the rivets down to 11.5 length, then they will set perfectly. Some even finish the squeeze using AN470 shop head die on the factory head to give both ended a rounded finish. The easiest way to grind the rivets down is to drill a #30 hole through a piece of 1/8" material so you can hold it nice and square, put the rivet in and hold it against your disc sander, then finish it on the scotchbrite wheel. Only takes a second. If you use your rivet gauge 12 is just too long, so they should be expected to bend over. You will find that throughout the build sometimes the rivet callouts are not exactly on the money, so be prepared to have your rivet gauge handy. Just grinding some rivets down a bit is a heap easier that setting up for welding, at least from my experience.
Tom.

Rivets

Saw a post on FB / RV Nation , the builder used pulled rivets . When I pointed out he might want to check the plans he said " I've built 4 RV's this way ,it's ok "
Not a place for for the wrong /substandard hardware !

Aileron pushrods riveting

Mark
If the rod end is hollow ,fill it with micro/epoxy. After cure drill hole. Rivet will not bend. This is what Lancair does. Bob

I just finished mine a few weeks ago. I found the -12 rivets a tad long, so I used the rivet cutter and got them down to about -11.5. Then clamping in a vice I used the rivet gun and a bucking bar. Had to drill out two and redo, but being you working with steel, they are more forgiving to drill/punch out.

After going through the process. It is not easy to use the gun and bucking bar as it is difficult to tell if you are exactly perpendicular with the rivet as the rod is a curved surface. I was thinking later about trying to back rivet them instead. Set up some blocks on the other end and let it act like a fulcrum. Rest the other end on the back rivet plate. Once you are happy with straight and level....use the gun and back rivet it. I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect it would get a better result than the gun/bucking bar method that I did.


Problem I found is that Van's does not provide many extra -12 rivets (maybe one or two) so you may want to order a few more just in case.

I like the bench vice idea to partially set them. I have a friend who likes to set some of his tricky rivets with a large flat punch and a hammer.