2020 RT side panel plastic rivet find (Joe I'm talking to you ;-)

[KX5062]

I was recently in Utah for the Spyder ride in. During which time I had Joe and Ann doing some things to my 2020 RTL. In the conversation/work the subject of the new side panels came up and their design. It appears that BRP has made the side panels in a far more economical way, making work more difficult. However, that's for another discussion. What BRP has done is to use some really weird looking plastic rivets when assembling the side case panels. They are super fragile and honestly look like a one time use only type of part. Joe and Ann really struggle with them when doing their jobs and often times have to resort to a field expediency.

What I've found that these weird push pin rivets are actually originally manufactured for and used by Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth from the late 1990's. (REALLY BRP????) The OEM C/D/P stock number is : #6503163. They run about $4 each at the dealer. I have no idea what BRP charges, nor do I care for the sake of this posting. That's because the good part is they are available as an aftermarket part at your local Auto Zone and on Amazon, and likely other auto part retailers too.

https://www.autozone.com/gaskets-and...550/551966_0_0

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWMBZPE...lig_dp_it&th=1

The Auto Zone one is a 2 pack running about $4. The Amazon one is a little over $10 for 20, so this seems to be the way to go. I have purchased the Auto Zone product and can confirm they are identical, but have not directly confirmed the Amazon part yet.

So for those DIY'ers, like me, this is a small but good piece of information that I thought I'd share.

[MONK]

What I've found that these weird push pin rivets are actually originally manufactured for and used by Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth from the late 1990's. (REALLY BRP????)

If it ain't broke, don't fix it? Or, why reinvent the wheel?

[RICZ]

Those push pin/rivets are still used by the car manufacturers to hold trunk liner panels in place.

[Navydad]

My Triumph Trophy Se had a pound of those critters holding it together. Pain to deal with, but held like crazy.

[samewok]

You can get the same one’s at orielly’s in a two or 10 pack

[BeRight]

Great info - thank you for sharing

[eddieshep999]

For some reason BRP used this type of push pin (Screw in) to secure the rear mud guard to the back of my 2018 F3T
All other push pins were the normal ones (Push in only)
When trying to get them out the screw head would strip and this made it difficult to get the push pins out
I decided to drill out the hole to 8mm and use the normal BRP push pins
I have to use a small screwdriver just to ease the pin out then it is easy to remove the rest out
The push pins hold the mud guard just as secure
I’m not sure if this could be done on the New 2020/21 RT’s

[KX5062]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it? Or, why reinvent the wheel?

Ah, but they did "reinvent the wheel" with their new design. The older design body panels were clearly better in terms of build quality. The old BRP push pins/plastic rivet were superior to these particular ones.

In redesigning the 2020 RT models, they clearly had an eye toward economy in their manufacture and build quality/longevity suffered. My gripe about these particular rivets is they are an older design and from all I can see they are not currently used by auto manufacturers. Oh, and they aren't metric rivets, they are American standard 1/4", so BRP is mixing Imperial and metric, which is super annoying.

(For the record, the center plastic screw portion of the rivet is an American #8 screw with a 20/inch thread pattern.)

I don't mind plastic rivets. The old ones used by BRP were actually not bad, so why not stick with them? Why use plastic rivets that were used in obscure American car models from the 1990's?

Anyway, I didn't really want to turn this into a gripe about the newer model. I wanted to pass along information that is useful to newer Spyder owners and doesn't apply to older models or F3's.

[cptjam]

Thanks! We have been replacing the 8/20 plastic screw with a stainless steel screw, 1.25” long. The base part is ok, the plastic screw part is the problem. I’ll buy some complete ones from amazon, too. Great find. Several posters on this thread don’t know that there is a difference with the new models. The new push rivets are terrible, and naturally, deeply countersunk! Joe

[YumaGary]

I bought my push-in/screw-out type rivets from NAPA. I don't recall price but they were reasonable for a pack of 10.