Broken pin/bolt on Jayco fold-out latch

Shep Huntwood wrote:

mike-s wrote:
Short carriage bolt (head in back, doesn't look like much room there), a nylon washer between the parts, and a nylock nut on the outside. Trial assembly to make sure it fits/works, then JB Weld the bolt into the rear piece prior to final assembly

What about just using JB Weld on the existing rivet

Mostly, because that requires the whole thing to be assembled while it sets, which means there's a danger of it squishing out between the pieces and interfering with their operation. And, it would also be difficult to fill the small space with thick epoxy.

But also because I don't trust epoxy that much - better to have a solid mechanical fix first. The JB Weld is not for strength per se, just to help hold the bolt in place and keep it from moving around so there's less slop. I'm guessing it's unlikely that a hardware store carriage bolt would be a tight fit.

If the arm which the rivet goes into can be easily removed, it might be possible to re-expand the rivet with a hammer and centerpunch. Or cross drill and pin it in place. Or drill and tap the end of the rivet in 3 places around the circumference (between the rivet and the plate it attaches to) and then use set screws to lock it in place. Or slit the rivet and drive a wedge in. Or many other things if a machine shop is available, which I'm guessing not since the OP asked the question.

Hard to say what's best/easiest without hands-on to see how loose the current fit is, whether there's a shoulder on the rivet, and how much clearance there is to work with behind the installed piece.

Or just see how much a replacement costs from a Jayco dealer.

fj12ryder wrote:
Thread the hole where the rivet was, and use a shoulder bolt like was mentioned. A little Loktite should help hold things together.

The problem with that is finding a bolt of the right size, with the right length shoulder. Likely to require making one with a lathe, etc. Plus, the hole in the outer piece would need to be enlarged to be bigger than the threads (if there's a shoulder on the rivet, it's not much of one). So, expensive (large) taps and drills, and a hard to find or custom bolt. There are easier, cheaper, and better ways.

My suggestion was based on workable solution with what could be easily done with a $10 trip to the local hardware store. What I'm not sure of is how much clearance there is behind, and whether there's room for the head of a carriage bolt.