This morning I reattached the curbside latch pin bracket on my TM, which detached itself a week ago while returning home from our last trip. I enlarged the two existing holes in the underside of the upper shell with a round file and then a 3/8" drill bit. After inserting a "1/4"-20 nut insert" into each hole, I tightened each down with a $2 insert tool that I purchased along with the nut inserts. Fastening the latch pin bracket back in place with two 1/4"-20 hex-head machine screws completed the repair.
I really wanted to use "knurled rivet nuts" for the repair because these have a wider flange than the nut inserts do, but, was unable to find any of them in our local hardware and agricultural supply stores. Knurled rivet nuts should give much greater holding power than the nut inserts because of the wider flanges. Although they are available from McMaster-Carr, I didn't want to purchase a package of 50 and a special rivet setting tool - priced from $75 to $230 - just for this one job. Therefore, the nut inserts will have to do. Even using the nut inserts, however, I believe this fastening method is stronger than the TM factory's method of screwing sheet metal screws into the 1/16" thick aluminum sheet on the underside of the shell. For those of you who don't know what nut inserts and rivet nuts are, look up McMaster-Carr's website at:
http://www.mcmaster.com/
Thpe in "rivet nuts" in the search box on the left and click on "find" and you will be shown what they look like. :
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