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Old 02-24-2018, 04:01 AM   #1
jeffba
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Dropping part of underbelly-- odd type of fasteners used

Hi,

Looking to do some mods that require dropping part of my under belly. teh folks at Montana seem to have gone away from normal self tapping screw to some type of screws with plastic covered heads.

Has anyone removed any of these yet?
if so how?

My Dealer when making repairs did the slice and tape route vs the drop the underbelly like they said they would.

Thanks
 
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Old 02-24-2018, 05:34 AM   #2
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Sighhhh. Keystone in their quest for a bigger financial bottom line went to a type of nail gun about 2015 or 6. You either drill those fasteners out or use a hammer and chisel. To replace that cortex correctly, you just use some self drilling screws which you can find at Home Depot for way too much money or McMaster-Carr. The size McMaster Carr that matches the screws on out '14 is 12x1 and comes in a box of 100 for about 7 bucks plus a few for shipping for the #12 https://www.mcmaster.com/#self-drill...crews/=1bpi9un
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Old 02-24-2018, 06:24 AM   #3
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I was able to just knock mine out with a hammer, some of them required a small center punch to finish the job. Not to hard to do. As Dave said replace with self drilling screws.
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Old 02-24-2018, 06:53 AM   #4
jeffba
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Thanks.

They looked like they may have been installed by a nail gun. similar to concrete ones. But I kept saying "No, they wouldn't do that." So insult to injury, the dealer does the slash and tape instead of dropping it.
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Old 02-24-2018, 08:51 AM   #5
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Yep I will have to have a very looonnnnnngggggggg talk with the dealer BEFORE I allow them to remove the belly of the beast!!! That slash and tape is how the mice managed to find their way into the belly of our last camper. They had quite the homestead before they chewed thru a bundle of about 20 wires and got found out........


I was under there to install underbelly lighting the other day and the entire time I was thinking. Wouldn't it be a good idea to replace that plastic underlining with Aluminum sheeting, perhaps with removable smaller access panels where there are utilities that might need to be occasionally accessed.....OH NO NOT ANOTHER HIGH DOLLAR MOD.......
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Old 02-24-2018, 09:26 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffba View Post
Hi,

Looking to do some mods that require dropping part of my under belly. teh folks at Montana seem to have gone away from normal self tapping screw to some type of screws with plastic covered heads.

Has anyone removed any of these yet?
if so how?

My Dealer when making repairs did the slice and tape route vs the drop the underbelly like they said they would.

Thanks
I used a nail pulling bar and removed probably 20, and used a hammer and re-installed them. No problems.

Mark
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Old 02-24-2018, 10:25 AM   #7
bowlesj
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They are powder driven (22Gage) fasteners, like Hilti.

I use a 1/4" 6 point socket and spin em out. (reversing drill, ratchet, whatever) Once out a bit, an old pair of diagonal cutters or small pry bar under the washer while still spinning out makes short work of it. They can be hammered back in if you wish. I suggest the stainless hex headed sheet metal screw replacement mentioned above. Replaced all of mine all the way around.

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Old 02-24-2018, 12:47 PM   #8
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x2; I checked this out at the factory; they use a power gun. I asked one of the maintenance techs how to take them out, he said use a claw hammer then replace them with regular self drilling screws. Spinning them out sounds like a good idea. When it warms up I'm getting rid of all of them. My underbelly has a mixture of these things and screws.
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Old 02-24-2018, 01:29 PM   #9
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I will take then for a "spin" either later today or tomorrow and report back
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Old 02-25-2018, 01:53 PM   #10
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Here is what the fasteners look like. Spinning them out while prying is easy. I had a couple that I needed to remove with hammer and chisel
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Old 02-25-2018, 06:01 PM   #11
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I will never cut my coroplast it cannot be taped or repaired.
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Old 02-26-2018, 09:32 AM   #12
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Coachgrowl, if you clean the bottom with isopropyl alcohol in the area to be taped and use gorilla tape, the tape stays put.
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Old 02-26-2018, 10:18 AM   #13
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I beg to differ I cleaned with every type of cleaner you can name. I used every type of tape under the sun. Many things hold for a while but as I said before there are only temporary fixes. At least on my previous trailer Keystone Laredo 2005.
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Old 02-26-2018, 10:34 AM   #14
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I am still dealing with the aftermath of a tech cutting the coroplast on my rig. He also cut a hydraulic line to the 6 point stabilization system. Lots of wires and hydraulic lines just lying on it. I will never let anyone do that again.
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Old 02-26-2018, 11:20 AM   #15
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They told me they were going to drop the underbelly only to slash and cut it.
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Old 01-01-2019, 09:02 PM   #16
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Thanks to all that contributed on this topic. Sounds like replacing the pins with self taping screws and washers will do the trick. The drill bit and pry bar sound like they the best procedure.

Thanks again!
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Old 01-02-2019, 12:39 AM   #17
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When reinstalling the under belly if you drop a large part of it as I did to the order of all of it then if you have a floor jack you can lay a 4x4 or larger piece of plywood on top of the cradle of the jack and lift the coroplast up. This makes this an easy one-man job.
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Old 01-05-2019, 08:00 PM   #18
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A friend of mine used these when he took all of the nail type fasteners out of his Montana. They fit great and easy to use. Got them from www.mcmaster.com
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Old 01-06-2019, 05:35 AM   #19
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A friend of mine used these when he took all of the nail type fasteners out of his Montana. They fit great and easy to use. Got them from www.mcmaster.com

...and are self drilling plus way less expensive then a Big Box store via McMaster-Carr even with their at cost UPS shipping and often arrive overnight. Order some fender washers at the same time as they too will cost a bunch less
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Old 01-06-2019, 10:18 AM   #20
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Thanks Golf and DaveW
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