Installing nutserts

[71BRONCO71]

When it comes to cheap, I am the king.
The nutsert tool was $50 at the store and I couldn't bring myself to buy it.

After looking online and trying different ways to get these things to work I figured out the best and only way to get the nutserts to work 100% of the time and a million times easier.

Instead of threading a bolt and nut from the top, I threaded a bolt from the bottom and used a washer/nut ontop. This way compresses the nutsert evenly and without the nutsert spinning.
I held the bolt from the bottom so it did not spin with an allen socket and spun the nut to compress the nutsert.

[curtsellers]

How durable are the nutserts? Any concerns of them pulling through from over tightening or ripping out in an accident?

[PhantomEB]

I don’t got much experience with them but I say they are a great idea. Will be using them more in the future

[CityHick]

Nice. My nutsert tool is a POS and I think I am going to borrow this idea the next time I am installing them.
As for how durable they are - installing them in sheet metal I would recommend a washer underneath; most nutserts have a minimum thickness to compress against an EB sheet metal might not be thick enough to achieve optimal strength. A set of calipers might be of good use in figuring this out...

[904Bronco]

There was a Thread on this on Classic a while back, same kind of round and round about how strong they were... Some said they ran their hardtops like for years, other said they wouldn't.
It depends on the nut-zert for one, there are lightweight and heavy duty. >(Like what Ryan installed)

For day to day use, they probably work ok... Back in the Day - We used a lot of them on Fire engines when mounting shelves and such in the compartments, and they worked fine. I have a kit made by Stanley that did pop-rivots or Nut-zerts that I bought from OSH 20 years ago.

But for a catastrophic event (rollover), those Nut-zerts are not going to hold that top on to the side rail sheet metal. That's why I have made my own mounts that go under the rail, I also bought a product locally called "Steve's Nutz that does the same thing. They are on the 67, which I have yet to put the hardtop on. But it was a introductory 1st production run price, which I couldn't pass up.

Those where aluminum flat stock with the nut-zerts that Ryan used in the sections, the ones I made were metal flat stock with weld-nuts attached.

[crawlin68]

Necessity is the mother of invention. Nice work there Bud!

[curtsellers]

I welded nuts to heavy duty large washers and then epoxyd the washers to the underside of the bedrail. One fell off, but others seem to be holding pretty strong.
I do like the finished look of the nutzerts.

[71BRONCO71]

How durable are the nutserts? Any concerns of them pulling through from over tightening or ripping out in an accident?

I like them a lot. Have some for my transmission tunnel too.

I wouldn't use these on anything structual and I would not overtighten them.
these are for my upper tree hugger armor

[Izzy_Britton]

There was a Thread on this on Classic a while back, same kind of round and round about how strong they were... Some said they ran their hardtops like for years, other said they wouldn't.
It depends on the nut-zert for one, there are lightweight and heavy duty. >(Like what Ryan installed)

For day to day use, they probably work ok... Back in the Day - We used a lot of them on Fire engines when mounting shelves and such in the compartments, and they worked fine. I have a kit made by Stanley that did pop-rivots or Nut-zerts that I bought from OSH 20 years ago.

But for a catastrophic event (rollover), those Nut-zerts are not going to hold that top on to the side rail sheet metal. That's why I have made my own mounts that go under the rail, I also bought a product locally called "Steve's Nutz that does the same thing. They are on the 67, which I have yet to put the hardtop on. But it was a introductory 1st production run price, which I couldn't pass up.

Those where aluminum flat stock with the nut-zerts that Ryan used in the sections, the ones I made were metal flat stock with weld-nuts attached.

You got pictures of your setup somewhere?

[71BRONCO71]

Heres the final product

[904Bronco]

You got pictures of your setup somewhere?

Sorry for the late reply, I don't sign in often, unless I see something I need to respond to... But I look at the site everyday!

[slow poke]

904Bronco and I both have used the Steve's Nutz. They look much like the welded ones above, but are aluminum plate with zinc plated nuts. I have the side rail set as well as the windshield header set which allows me to remove the hard top much quicker and without removing the rear interior panels. I think there are about 2-3 set remaining from a pilot run of 10 sets. All have gone to friends and family so far.

I don't remember the cost, but think it was something like $150+/- including the windshield set. Let me know if you want any and i'll connect you with Steve. He would love to have his Nutz on your Bronco.

[slow poke]

Steve made 20 sets of the Nutz. Has about 5 sets left. He wants $100/set plus shipping. I personally have a set and love them. Quality is excellent. Cant be duplicated for the same price. Nutz Flyer 2020.pdf