Bolt size ?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 193
Likes: 21
From: Pearland Tx.
Bolt size ?
The bolts under the rocker panels, that also can be used to bolt on the side skirts etc.??? Does anyone know the part number ? I have searched websites like GM parts direct etc. I think they are 6 or 8 mm heads.
E-Ray, 3LZ, ZER, LIFT
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 34,937
Likes: 12,351
From: NE South Carolina
^^
The body screws in the rear are 7 mm! Would not be surprised if the ones you are talking are not the same!
However only the ones at the end of the side skirts can be used to effectively hold the side skirts! The others are in too far. To hold the side skirts you don’t want screws or bolts you are attacking to the composite rocker panels. The rivets fit flat in the back (and front) when finished. That is why GM on the OEM side skirts use rivets and most quality vendors recommend them.
There are some vendors who will say tape and outer bolts are OK. That is to make those who are afraid to drill, happy IMO! After the 1st hole it’s easy. That one is only psychological! First time you or a passenger brushes against them when getting out you'll be happy you used rivets.
Your car your choice!
The body screws in the rear are 7 mm! Would not be surprised if the ones you are talking are not the same!
However only the ones at the end of the side skirts can be used to effectively hold the side skirts! The others are in too far. To hold the side skirts you don’t want screws or bolts you are attacking to the composite rocker panels. The rivets fit flat in the back (and front) when finished. That is why GM on the OEM side skirts use rivets and most quality vendors recommend them.
There are some vendors who will say tape and outer bolts are OK. That is to make those who are afraid to drill, happy IMO! After the 1st hole it’s easy. That one is only psychological! First time you or a passenger brushes against them when getting out you'll be happy you used rivets.
Your car your choice!
Last edited by JerryU; Sep 12, 2018 at 03:02 PM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 193
Likes: 21
From: Pearland Tx.
Thanks for the reply, just need the size. I have had the skirts for a while now. the screws and the 2 way tape works just fine. Replacing one because it got into a scuffle with a jack and lost
E-Ray, 3LZ, ZER, LIFT
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 34,937
Likes: 12,351
From: NE South Carolina
^^^
FWIW, when installing my rear diffuser I wanted to replace the 1 inch long 7mm Head body screws with 1 1/2 inch long body screws. That is what they are called NOT bolts. Found a sheet metal screw with the same shank diameter (or close) BUT the threads were coarser.
After exhausting Amazon, Napa and Lowe’s in town went to my local Ace Hardware and in the small box labeled body screws found what I needed but not with the 7mm hex head, it had a Torx head and needed a small washer to provide the surface area needed.
Maybe you’ll get lucky and someone will have the GM part number and you’ll be able to buy from a dealer at a reasonable price- doubt that! Or find a quality Ace Hardware as they stay in business despite Home Depot and Lowe’s because they have about everything!
SIDE BAR
I recall in my 1998 Vette the airpump for the lumbar support stoped working. Could hear the motor but no air. Took it apart and found the small rubber diaphanous had a split. Went to the Chevy dealer and was looking for that diaphragm. He found the whole assembly, motor and all and it was about $250 as I recall.
I said but how much is the diaphragm? He laughed and said we’ll look. He found the pump less motor and as I recall it was like $300! He said bet if we could they have the diaphragm if available it would be even more!
Turned out the manufacturer’s name was on the diaphragm. I called the company and the young lady jumped through hoops to find a way I could buy direct. Yep I could with a CC but they came in boxes of 50!
Never to be deterred, as we were in the welding regulator business I went to R&D and got a piece of some reinforced rubber diaphragm material and made my own! Worked fine!
MAKING A LONG POST LONGER IF NOT FOR YOU FOR ONE OF THE SILENT MAJORITY
When we sold our welding/cutting equipment and welding filler metals business to the largest company in the field from Sweden, I found interesting things about pricing! One was for spare parts, especially on old models you had to used a mark-up over cost of 15 or more! They had a graph they use in Europe that was a squared function. The older the part the higher by the square of the years old was the mark-up! The logic was sound. First you never keep costs up to date so what is in the system is old, based on the old volume Sure fit transformers as they were typically made in batches of 100 or so and the set-up cost etc spread over that volume. The IE’s (Industrial Engineers) did not have time to estimate the costs as the product was no longer used for a current product and only made as a spare part! Making one for a replacement was still in the system at the old cost! You will also have obsolescence as if you buy 50 diaphragms at some point you'll be throwing 25 or more out! Boy that was right we tossed a lot of old parts away every month! The inventory exceeded the max months of supply allowed by the beam\n counters!
In the past, parts pricing was run by my product managers for their business segment and a product administrator. They had enough to do pricing main assemblies to do any more than, if I asked for an average 5% increase, they just marked (on average) their product line up 5% looking carefully at competitive product pricing etc.) But that was not useful for spare parts. But with over 100,000 finished goods parts number what else could they have had time to do.
Gave parts control and parts pricing to the manager of customer and tech support services. He managed those with logic. he also didn't use a crazy mark-up for a 1/4x20 bolt as it reflected poorly on our overall product pricing! With no attention we were inadvertently pricing similar things you could buy at a hardware store with high mark-ups. He lowered those. Overall we doubled our spare parts profit and it became a signifiant overall contributor to the business.
FWIW, when installing my rear diffuser I wanted to replace the 1 inch long 7mm Head body screws with 1 1/2 inch long body screws. That is what they are called NOT bolts. Found a sheet metal screw with the same shank diameter (or close) BUT the threads were coarser.
After exhausting Amazon, Napa and Lowe’s in town went to my local Ace Hardware and in the small box labeled body screws found what I needed but not with the 7mm hex head, it had a Torx head and needed a small washer to provide the surface area needed.
Maybe you’ll get lucky and someone will have the GM part number and you’ll be able to buy from a dealer at a reasonable price- doubt that! Or find a quality Ace Hardware as they stay in business despite Home Depot and Lowe’s because they have about everything!
SIDE BAR
I recall in my 1998 Vette the airpump for the lumbar support stoped working. Could hear the motor but no air. Took it apart and found the small rubber diaphanous had a split. Went to the Chevy dealer and was looking for that diaphragm. He found the whole assembly, motor and all and it was about $250 as I recall.
I said but how much is the diaphragm? He laughed and said we’ll look. He found the pump less motor and as I recall it was like $300! He said bet if we could they have the diaphragm if available it would be even more!
Turned out the manufacturer’s name was on the diaphragm. I called the company and the young lady jumped through hoops to find a way I could buy direct. Yep I could with a CC but they came in boxes of 50!
Never to be deterred, as we were in the welding regulator business I went to R&D and got a piece of some reinforced rubber diaphragm material and made my own! Worked fine!
MAKING A LONG POST LONGER IF NOT FOR YOU FOR ONE OF THE SILENT MAJORITY
When we sold our welding/cutting equipment and welding filler metals business to the largest company in the field from Sweden, I found interesting things about pricing! One was for spare parts, especially on old models you had to used a mark-up over cost of 15 or more! They had a graph they use in Europe that was a squared function. The older the part the higher by the square of the years old was the mark-up! The logic was sound. First you never keep costs up to date so what is in the system is old, based on the old volume Sure fit transformers as they were typically made in batches of 100 or so and the set-up cost etc spread over that volume. The IE’s (Industrial Engineers) did not have time to estimate the costs as the product was no longer used for a current product and only made as a spare part! Making one for a replacement was still in the system at the old cost! You will also have obsolescence as if you buy 50 diaphragms at some point you'll be throwing 25 or more out! Boy that was right we tossed a lot of old parts away every month! The inventory exceeded the max months of supply allowed by the beam\n counters!
In the past, parts pricing was run by my product managers for their business segment and a product administrator. They had enough to do pricing main assemblies to do any more than, if I asked for an average 5% increase, they just marked (on average) their product line up 5% looking carefully at competitive product pricing etc.) But that was not useful for spare parts. But with over 100,000 finished goods parts number what else could they have had time to do.
Gave parts control and parts pricing to the manager of customer and tech support services. He managed those with logic. he also didn't use a crazy mark-up for a 1/4x20 bolt as it reflected poorly on our overall product pricing! With no attention we were inadvertently pricing similar things you could buy at a hardware store with high mark-ups. He lowered those. Overall we doubled our spare parts profit and it became a signifiant overall contributor to the business.
Last edited by JerryU; Sep 20, 2018 at 02:02 PM.
