tlend

Those look good.

Mjkrakow

wicked job!! those look awesome!!

bobbyspaghetti

Thanks for the compliments, I thought this was a good oportunity to give a little back to the forum. Next write-up coming soon, maybe 2 actually.

silversurfer575

Just FYI, this is not as easy as it looks. After working thru some issues with doing the passenger side, the drivers side went on without a hitch.

The following are some tips i learned the hard way.

BEFORE beginning: Do yourself a favor. Get 2-4 spare bolts and spare washers, in the event you bend the bolts or waste the washers. The bolt size is a grade 8, course thread, 1/4 inch x 2". Take the tool with you to the hardware store, so you can make sure to get the right size bolts and washers.

1. Most of you have access to an impact driver. Most come with a socket adapter, or you can pick one up at the hardware store. This is key, as you dont want to be setting nutserts with the tool with just a ratchet and an open end. Trust me, its not fun, and the nutserts may not seat right. Do a test run on a scrap of sheet metal, so you get the feel for how tight to synch the nutsert up. Be aware, you can overtighten with an impact driver, and deform and or strip the nutsert out, so get a feel for this before you start synching up nutserts.

2. Make sure to grease the washers on the nutsert tool frequently, so the bolt head and the washers dont dig into each other. I doubled up on the washers at each end of the tool. Flip the one on the nutsert side after each nutsert you seat.

3. After getting the armor up, center punch a hole at each end, then drill your holes with a pilot hole, then go up to the 1/4 inch bit. Take the armor off, then take the hole up to 25/64. Set your nutserts on each end. Put the armor back up. Then run the bolt thru each end to hold the armor in place so you can center punch and drill pilot and 1/4 inch holes thru the armor holes. DO NOT drill thru the armor holes with the 25/64th bit.

4. Center punch your holes. Make sure to hold the armor snug to the body. Then do your pilot holes, then the 1/4 inch holes with the armor still on. That way, the armor is your hole guide.

5. Take the armor down, enlarge holes to 25/64, then set your nutserts.

When your all done setting nutserts, test fit the armor up, and put the bolts in, to make sure everything lines up, and the bolts go in smoothly. If the bolts hang up, DONT force them. I test fitted the armor up, then the ones that didnt thread right, I put blue tape near, so I coulld chase the threads with the nutsert bolt from the tool. Also, if the holes are a bit off, you can drill out the armor a tad to enable you to make that adjustment. If I had a hole off, I would also put blue tape by the hole, so I knew which holes to adjust in the body armor when I took it off to drill them out bigger.

Be patient. I was extremely pleased with the way the drivers side turned out. No mistakes other than rechasing the threads and doing a bit of bigger hole drilling on the armor. Not much, just a tad bigger.

I hope this helps. I wish I had this detail before I did the passenger side, as it was a bit challenging on the first run on that side. After doing the drivers side with no issues, Im not afraid of nutserts any longer.

Remember, if you run into ANY problems, the techs at PSC are the best and will be able to give you some valuable tips. After I sweated it out on the passenger side with a ratchet and open end on the tool, and called them, they told me about the impact driver tip, and that saved my bacon on the drivers side.

Result: Great product, looks awesome, and PSC's techs are the best out there. Outstanding Customer service! Thanks PSC and thanks to this forum being a great resource vehicle on project tips!

bobbyspaghetti

I had zero problems with mine. All my nutserts went in great. I tested them out before hand on something that I could see both sides of to see how they work. I did enlarge a hole or 2 in the rockers by about an 1/8" but you would never know. As far as the screwed up nut sert I would not have drilled it out. I would have took a grinder to the exposed outside lip and then pushed the rest into the body panel. Don't get me wrong I feel for ya bro and it's a good idea to let people know what could happen. Sorry to hear your install did not go so well.

DTS

dojohnso, did you give our tech folks a call for assistance with your install? Sure its not a Fisher-Price set, but its not rocket science either, and most people have been able to install them with very little issues (other than everyone's universal hatred for nut-serts). Please give us a call at 951-849-5911, ask for Shad, and see if he has any tips or remedies for you.

bobbyspaghetti

How is that for customer service.

silversurfer575

PSC, thanks. Ill call now. And that IS Customer Service like Ive NEVER experienced. Ill update my post shortly.

silversurfer575

OK, just got off the phone with PSC tecs. Those guys know their stuff and helped me with a work around. Again, this level of support is phenomenal. My biggest fear was being stuck with no solution. My experience with mfgs would have resulted in me figuring it out on my own.

Thanks PSC for your help and for this forum, which is a good venue for us folks being able to get issues like this figured out. Ive got a lot more PSC stuff to buy, and this experience leaves me with full confidence in them and their products.


Best,
doug

silversurfer575

updated original post