Super Cheap RV Cabinet Door Repair With Pop Rivets

Way back when we started making videos, nearly 6 years ago, we used pop rivets to help friends install a central vacuum in their rig. Now we’re sharing one reason we keep a pop riveter around for repairs, too.

Full-timing limits the amount of space we have on board for just about everything. That includes tools. But our pop riveter has come in handy so many times, we’d never give it up. And of course we keep an assortment of various size aluminum rivets on hand. Some of our favorite DIY projects involve a fairly specialized tool saving the day in some unexpected way.

That said, certain repairs are to be expected, even before they happen. For example, we know that the cords in our day-night shades are bound to break sooner or later. So we try to keep a supply of replacement cord on hand. It’s just a known point of failure.

The same thing is true when it comes to overhead cabinets. It’s only a matter of time before opening a cabinet results in that tell-tale BANG, followed by a limp door. The rivets in the struts that hold those doors up are another known failure point, so we keep a special supply of rivets on board just for that purpose: 1/2″ long x 1/8″ diameter stainless steel, which is super strong.

These particular rivets suffer from metal fatigue over time, especially with full-time use. It’s inevitable that certain cabinets are used more often than others, and we’d guess that some of our most popular nooks and crannies are opened and closed a dozen or more times in a day. Tick tock, tick tock. Which time will we open one of those popular cabinets and be startled by the BANG!?

Now before you go reading the fine print on the box of stainless steel rivets we showed in the video (the part that says they’re “not for use with manually operated rivet tools”… damn HiDef!), please save your criticisms for a more egregious error. They work just fine.

When we first started using a pop riveter, we either failed to notice that note on the stainless steel packaging, or it wasn’t there back then. Either way, we’ve been successfully using them with our manual riveter for years with no problem. We’re guessing that the note is simply due to the additional hand strength required for spreading stainless steel compared to standard aluminum rivets. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, and we’ve continued to happily use them without a problem. But you should of course feel free to follow the official instructions if you prefer. ;-)

Besides, stainless steel is only required for very high-stress situations, like the regular opening and closing of RV cabinets, which puts a lot of metal-to-metal stress on the struts, slowly cutting through aluminum rivets over time. The vast majority of other uses for pop rivets will only require aluminum.

We’ve included links below for the rivet gun and rivets we use for cabinet repair, along with an assortment of standard aluminum rivets. Thanks for supporting our videos by using our Amazon Links!

Recent & Related Videos:

Featured & Related Products:

Swivel Head Pop Rivet Tool
Stainless Steel Pop Rivets (1/2″ Long x 1/8″ Diameter) (the toughest rivet material)
Aluminum Pop Rivet Assortment (perfect for general use)
Replacement Cabinet Struts (in case you decide to go with new ones instead)
Replacement Cord for Pleated RV Window Shades

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Shawn Sousa

Wednesday 5th of July 2017

I was thinking this might be an option for mounting a 11lb 32" TV to the outer wall of my RV using a TV mount designed for RVs. Do you think rivets would manage the weight?

TheRVgeeks

Whether using pop rivets or some other attachment mechanism, we'd be concerned about the ability of typical RV walls to handle something that size and weight, especially considering the vibration during driving. If you could find a stud in the wall, we'd suggest that that would be the best-case scenario, and then you could screw into it.

Brian Gasser

Friday 12th of May 2017

Are you going to be appearing at another function similar to your Quartzsite visit? I am interested in starting to RV, but am overwhelmed with where to begin the process. I am leaning toward a B+ size such as an LTV Unity. I would be interested if you could offer some direction to people whom have been motivated by your videos with where to start in order to minimize mistakes. Thank You!!!

Hi Brian! We're not planning any more appearances this year, but we do have a great lead for you. Our fellow full-time friends Brandon & Kerensa at DriverDiveDevour.com have a course to help people get started RVing. There are more details at http://www.rvtofreedom.com where they're accepting applications for a free beta version of the course. You should apply, and tell them The RVgeeks sent you! Please let know how you make out.

John Miller

If you ever have to temp repair something and the hole is elongated, you can add a washer to one or both sides of the rivet. Just be sure your rivet is long enough for the additional thickness. It is important that the washer is flat against the repair during the squeezing of the rivet. I keep 1/8 and 3/16 washers around just for such things. If you have a 1/8 inch hole that is elongated, you may have enough material to enlarge the hole to 3/16 and use a bigger rivet.

Thanks for the awesome additional tip, John!

Pat Parker

Just as impressed as the first time I saw you use a riveter...AAAH.

Great video, again

You made the whole video, Pat! Hope you and Rita are okay. Please drop us an e-mail and let us know how everything's going.

Liz

Now this looks like something I could use!

You want one for Mother's Day? ;) When we get there, it will make for some riveting conversation. :P