Fitting rear mud flats to a 90

So after having my rear cross member replaced a few years ago, I have decided to refit the rear mud flaps - this is mainly because we are moving the business up market a bit more and I'm trying to spruce up the landy a bit - new cylinder head to stop the smoke, outside quick respray, alloy wheels, new bumper etc etc (I know that's not the way a 1980's 90 should be but it needs to look the part unfortunately with the customers!)

Anyway there are 3 8mm holes per side in the rear cross member and 3 hols in each mudflap bracket. You obviously cant get to the back of the holes in the cross member to get nuts in, so I was advised by the independent dealer I got the genuine LR flaps from to use encapsulated nuts. I have got hold of a set of M6 (8mm external) Rivinuts in A4SS (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-OFF-M1...857951?hash=item56844d7bdf:g:wIEAAOxy2CZTa07c) but they are next to useless as there is no way they will ever grip enough to all me to get them to swash down.

What do other people use to fix these? I may just revert to using a long gripper and my flexi scope to just put some M8 nuts inside the cross member, but that's going to be very fiddly if not impossible. I'm told that LR use some sort of stud insrt to do it, but I can't find anybody that sells them (and I'm not paying whatever Sturgess will want for them!)

I made my own holes painted the holes. Then used stainless bolts to hold the bracket in the right place. Looks exactly as it should and much easier

"but they are next to useless as there is no way they will ever grip enough to all me to get them to swash down"
Not quite sure what you are getting at here? you need to use the proper tool or a clever combination of nuts and bolts to insert rivnuts properly. Have a look at this vid to see what I mean.



Hope this helps, cos I think the advice you received from the dealer was probably correct.

I bought a £11 rivnut tool and a few rivnuts off ebay, did the job a treat. Others use a nut and bolt method to fit the `rivnuts` but I wasnt happy with results. Its easy with the tool, both will be fitted in 10 mins.

I just used stainless nuts and bolts and "normal" holes in the chassis. The nuts inside the chassis are hard to get to, but not impossible.

Cheers guys didnt realise there was a tool to do it - moden technology! I'd have just welded a set of nuts on the outside if it had been upto me!

I tired the nut and bolt methods but they are so hard being made of SS that it just stripped the threads on the nut before it compressed.

Ive ordered the tool of ebay as suggested - although I may have to put a bar on the handles to apply enough force!

Thats why I had to do get the tool! agree with the extending the handles, its a lot of pressure needed to pull them up. If you bought the cheap tool that I did, the pin it pivots on is held in with a small circlip thing. I found this kept popping off and the metal splayed out slightly, simple to fix by replacing this pin for a nut and bolt. worked fine after that. I will probably never use it again so didnt want to spend much on a tool.

I don't want to rain on your parade but if you've ordered one of those cheapy nut setters off ebay it won't be man enough to set stainless rivnuts. They are only really any good for the aluminium ones. I would just use some aluminium rivnuts, they are more than good enough to fasten mudflaps on with.

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/rivnut-tool.297772/page-2#post-3713563
I put a post on page 2 in this link with a (massive!) picture with the slight mod i done to the tool to make stronger for purpose.