How to buck rivet semi trailer roof?

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1232121

2026-08-05 05:15

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Well, this is an open question. Before you buck a aluminum or fiberglass roof I'm assuming you have no idea the process that it takes to remove the old roof and install the new.

To answer your question, you have to pre-drill holes in the new roof. You can make a hole finder to line up the old holes in the rail or just sight drill the holes.

Make sure you use the old holes in the rails. If you just start drilling holes in the top rail, then you'll have doubled the holes you need and it will cause the rail to lose it's strength and in time will become weak and break.

After you drilled your holes 3/16 drill bit or a #10 drill bit. Insert the 3/16 alum rivets and take your air hammer with the right bucking head (3/16 head) and a hammer. Consult supply company to get the right bucking head before going forward. Put the hammer under the rivet and push down the rivet with you air hammer and pull trigger. I use what i call a bucking bar. I take a solid steel bar about 1/2 thick by 3"wide x 6" long and use that to put under the rivet. Once the bottom of the rivet mushrooms out enough, the process is complete. I use soft rivet because it makes the bucking process very easy. Plus, if you use hard rivets it will make the removal of the roof and rivets harder the next time you have to repair the roof.

Hope that helps.

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