Aah, the joys of being a shade tree mechainc!
Understand, for most ordinary wrenching, everything short of pulling an engine of a transmission, I'm comfortably competent. But, I've never drilled out rivets from suspension components mounted to the frame, and there's the rub that has me with aching shoulders and no little frustration!
Here's the job at hand - I have to replace the driver's side radius arm bushing on my '96 F150 4WD. I bought the SB 4.9l a little over a year ago, and it's been absolutely trouble free, until a few weeks ago, when the left wheel started sounding like the shock was going out. A visit to the undercarriage showed the radius arm bushing to have worn through, and vertical wheel movement was making the arm pound in the bracket.
I need to drill out three rivets that hold the bracket, and complete its removal, replacing the rivets with schedule 9 bolts. Sometime before I bought the truck, the right side had been done, and will be little trouble pulling it to keep both sides matched; but the driver's side had only one rivet replaced before someone decided to leave it alone.
I've managed to drill through one of the rivets, but am getting a little frustrated with figuring out how to remove the stubborn bits of heads on both sides as well as clean out the chassis holes without damaging them. A propane torch, to soften them up is out of the question, as inside the chassis channel, in the inside, are rigid brake lines that I cannot risk harming in any way (and the thought of even marginally annealing the metal is disconcerting).
So: Is anyone here experienced in this task?
I have to accomplish this myself, as the shop fees I've been quoted are prohibitive (and, unfortunately, the mechanics have been no little condesending). A narrow cold chisel and a singlejack sledge were my tools today, but they barely made a dent (but tomorrow's another day, and if necessary will simply persevere until completion). I worry that using a tapered blind drift will only become marvellously friction-fit, and only compound the problem. Using a hardened drill for steel the same diameter as the hole risks frame damage, so I've stopped short of that.
Drilling up, while on my back is loads of fun, and an inexpensive pair of shatterproof goggles has saved my eyes from metal splinters, and a dust mask has protected the rest of my face. Yes, the rear wheels are securely chocked, and each front I-beam is solidly on its own 6-ton jack stand, and a 3.5 ton service jack is the redundant support on the right side of the front diff - I am very, very careful.
Anyone?