Rivnut that holds spoiler bracket to the hatch is spinning

[Pyral]

I needed to remove a screw for one of the spoiler brackets so I could get a replacement. The spoiler brackets screws into a rivnut that was pressed into the trunk at the factory.

23 years go by and those rivnuts have rusted together with the screw (not enough to keep one from going missing though), and now when I try to remove the screw rather then the screw threading out the whole rivnut (screw and all) spins. It doesn't matter whether I am tightening it or loosening it, it will keep spinning.

The hatch is welded in such a way that I cant access the rivnuts from the other side to hold them in place, and the rivnut has a low profile that makes it difficult to grab and keep stationary. How should I remove this screw?

 

[Unner]

Do you need to remove the screw or can you leave it be and put it back together and no one is the wiser?

If you get the screw out you will probably have to replace the rivnut to get a new screw in as well.

If it absolutely has to be removed I'd soak it in PB Blaster or similar and try to get some sort of tool underneath the rivnut lip and the body of the hatch to attempt to hold the rivnut stationary. Maybe something like those plastic interior trim panel tools. Or if you don't care about the body use a screwdriver or similar. It would hold better probably. Then try to remove the screw, maybe hit it with an electric impact drive, if you have one, to give it a quick burst of torque.

 

[Pyral]

From Bad to F**ked

Now I've really done it, now I truly understand just how bad things just got. Its difficult to explain so I MS Painted over a photo to illustrate what is going on with the rivnuts.

When you try and remove the rivnut for your spoiler bracket one of three things can happen:
1. Your lucky and the bolt threads out of the rivnut with no issues

2. The rivnut fails to grip the panel it is compressed into, so it just spins with the screw as one piece. You might be able to glue it in place and on a prayer get in removed, or it will lead you to the third and worst fate

3. The your ****ed option. The rivnut is so fused together with the screw that as you twist on the screw you shear off the rivnut at the threads. The bolt is still threaded to the rivnut threads, but now it is completely free and detached from the front part of the rivnut. This means you can't remove the bolt from the hole because it has a giant washer fused on the other side of the sheet metal that prevents it from being pulled out.

If this is on the hatch there is no way to access it from the other side because the hatch is welded together and there is no easy way to reach it. The moral of the story is rivnuts are shitty and you shouldn't play with your spoiler brackets because they are likely impossible to remove non-destructively.

 

[Pyral]

Ladies and gentleman I got em.

Wasn't easy, but I didn't need any power tools, just some magnets and a plier and a saw.

 

[Brian.]

As is often the case here, you had to solve a weird issue yourself, great job on working through that!

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

good that you got it out.

didn't know that Toyota uses rivnuts. They usually weld a nut opposite the bolt hole.
perhaps it's an aftermarket spoiler?
​

 

[Pyral]

good that you got it out.

didn't know that Toyota uses rivnuts. They usually weld a nut opposite the bolt hole.
perhaps it's an aftermarket spoiler?
​

Maybe, there were some mysterious brackets tacked on the rear spoiler that didn't appear to do anything. I have no idea what they were used for but someone mucked around in the area so its possible. The spoiler itself is stock, and the spoiler brackets didn't look like they had been removed recently. I still doubt that they changed in the rivnuts, the rivnuts are all rusty and the quality of work doesn't match all the other half-assed mods they did on the 4runner.

Anyone know what size rivnut I can replace it with?

 

[phattyduck]

good that you got it out.

didn't know that Toyota uses rivnuts. They usually weld a nut opposite the bolt hole.
perhaps it's an aftermarket spoiler?
​

The spoilers were often port installed so rivnuts are the only way... (along with flares, roof rack, trailer hitch and wiring)

-Charlie

 

[ToyotaBrah]

Phattyduck is correct; they only came installed with rivnuts.

I got the short end of the stick and found out mine was held in with self tapping screws installed into the hatch, and misaligned in addition to that. Done under previous ownership by a bodyshop that I assume worked with the lights off.

I have been on the hunt for a clean IJM hatch since finding this out.

 

[5VZ-FE]

Ladies and gentleman I got em.

Wasn't easy, but I didn't need any power tools, just some magnets and a plier and a saw.

Do you have any more details on how you got it out? I just bought and painted a junkyard spoiler only to find that the bottom rivnuts on both sides are f'ed. Also did you end up going with another rivnut to reattach the spoiler? Thanks :ybrick:

 

[Pyral]

Do you have any more details on how you got it out? I just bought and painted a junkyard spoiler only to find that the bottom rivnuts on both sides are f'ed. Also did you end up going with another rivnut to reattach the spoiler? Thanks :ybrick:

I used rivnuts again, you can buy a tool set on amazon. I put red loctite around the base of the new rivnut to hopefully hold it in place.

If you want to remove the spoiler, your best bet is to remove the 4 Philips screws that hold the spoiler to the bracket. If you want to repaint the spoiler, leaving the bracket attached to the car is better anyways.

If you want to remove the bracket anyways, you'll have to deal with the rivnuts. I have 2 suggestions.

The first is to buy a rivnut tool, a rivnut pinches the body metal to hold itself in place. So you might get it to grip better if you use the tool on it again. This might not make sense, but if you get the tool you'll understand.

The worst case scenario is that you have to grind the front of the rivnut off. You might damage the paint, but it's the only sure way. Drilling it out might not be an option since the thing will just spin around.

 

[GhostRing]

The way we deal with removing spun/damaged rivnuts is using sharpened set of end/nipper pliers and carefully pinch cutting the flange head off and let the rivnut body fall into the chassis.
Sometimes retrievable, sometimes not - but a small price to pay for the headache saved...Just remember: "tighterer is not more betterer!" those bolts are 2-3 Nm at best.

 

[TooManyTYTs]

I just did this to mine...

Welp.. I have a riv nut spinning on one of my deflector bracket screw holes. Just went to remove my spoiler so I could repaint and figured I would clean out around the bracket from all the pollen and mildew build up and then this happens.

Pyral- can you please elaborate on how you used a magnet to remove?

 

[Pyral]

Welp.. I have a riv nut spinning on one of my deflector bracket screw holes. Just went to remove my spoiler so I could repaint and figured I would clean out around the bracket from all the pollen and mildew build up and then this happens.

Pyral- can you please elaborate on how you used a magnet to remove?

The magnet was used to catch the screw threads before it could fall further into the hatch.

After the bottom part of the rivnut sheered off I thought my best course of action was to remove the top part of the rivnut first then maybe remove the lower part. So I cut the screw head off so the rivnut + screw could fall inside the hatch. I had the magnet there to catch the screw threads, and I was able to get the screw threads sticking out the hole far enough to pull it out with needle nose pliers (this took a lot of force).

I can't remember how I got the top part of the rivnut out, or how I got the rivnut into 2 pieces in the first place. My best guess was I tried hammering the screw head to push it further in, which made the rivnut separate into 2 pieces like I described in post 3.


My best suggestion is to try breaking the rivnut into 2 like I did, then cut the screw head off and let the screw threads + rivnut fall into the hatch. You'll still have the part of the rivnut that clamps to the sheet metal, but without the screw head you'll have more options to deal with that. If you don't like the idea of the screw threads falling into the hatch, you can remove the plastic panel and retrieve it, or use a magnet like I did to catch it and maybe manage to pull it out with force. I cant remember if removing the 3rd brake light helped or not.

Personally though, this is a tough issue and I'd have a mechanic **** with it if you really care about the paint. I've gained a lot of experience doing difficult things since I made this thread, and I'd still don't think I could repeat this feat with any level of certainty.