1994 Chevy Suburban 1/2 ton 4X4:

Great Old truck, but when I close the rear door there's this crazy rattling that drives me nuts. I pulled off the door panel, and to my surprise the latch rods aren't the problem. Instead is seems that the two rivets that hold the door lock mechanism are loose.

Do I drill those out and re-rivet? How is that done?

Thanks for the help.

 

The rivets are just cheap weak metal that is easily drilled, so yes. However, in my experience, it's easiest to replace the actuator once you get the tops of the pre-existing rivets removed to the point that the actuator falls off. I can't really say how hard it would be to remove the entire rivet from the actuator without damaging the unit. So ... take it as you will, but if it were me, I'd get myself a new actuator and some rivets and fix 'er up that way.

Good luck

 

Thanks that was good advice. New actuator from "big retailer" was only $57, and it came with rivets and speed nuts. Trust me, the speed nuts were great. Big relief. I tried the rivets and they were way too small. Wouldn't cover the hole or tighten well enough.

Why does the factory use a rivet anyway? Is the concern that a nut, bolt and lock washer will loosen up, or is it a cost and ease of assembly issue?

I would've needed a special set up to use another rivet.

 

I'm not sure, but it's my guess that the factory uses rivets just because of ease of installation and cost. Speed nuts do work great though. I know I had to replace the driver's door lock actuator on my old 96 truck, and it was riveted. I drilled them out, and I also found that the rivets that came with the unit were too small. Thankfully I had leftover rivets from doing a window regulator job on a 98 camaro. I actually had to drill the holes in the door slightly larger to make the huge window regulator rivets work, but after that, she's held good and tight ever since.