Has anyone come up with an alternative to the factory fasteners for the inner fender skirts on a 96 RAM 1500 (or similar)?
The fasteners appear to be "one use only". I am trying to do some work around my truck and it would be simpler if I could remove the fender skirts. I can push the centers of the factory fasteners out but then I cannot re-use them. I am looking for something that I can re-use.
Any ideas?
Are these the fasteners that you poke the center in a bit to unlock it, then pull out whole fastener? If it is what I think it is, position the center part so it is poking out from the fastener's top, insert the fastener, then push the center till it is flush with the rest of the fastener. That should relock it.
FMB (N Mexico)
Sure - go down to your auto parts store, and find the proper-diameter plastic fastener. There's a type that expands when the center pin is pushed in, but the head of the pin has a phillips slot in it, and can be backed off with a screwdriver, then pulled out, and re-used. Measure the diameter of the hole (use a set of drill bits, and find the bit the just fits through the hole - that's your diameter), so you get the correct size of fastener.
Something like this:
To unlock these fasteners, you poke the center pin all the way out thorugh the back. You cannot re-use these. You would need to push the pin from the back through to the front to re-lock it. I think that the center pin was longer when installed for the first time and then cut flush.
Yep - it's essentially a plastic pop-rivet
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