Swapping kifaru bikini stays ?

[uteranga]

Hi everyone

My son is currently taking his claim on my kifaru bikini frame, but the stays are still a little bit too high for him at the moment.
Does anyone here tried to change the rivets for a nut-screw system ?
I know I'll probably have to find another one as I use it for hiking all year long and so does he, but still I'm curious
It shouldn't be complicated and would allow a lot of versatility changing the stays for aluminum ones, lighter ones, longer ones, shorter ones etc... depending on the load and the one carrying it.
If it doesn't work I can always rivet it again, but I was curious to know if someone already tried

 

[camping1601]

I've done it. I drilled the head of the rivets and knocked them out with a punch and hammer.
I reassembled it with stainless screws, flat washers, and cap nuts. The hardest part is sourcing the hardware and cutting the screws to length to make a clean finished job with no sharp edges or pressure points. Overall not a big deal if your any kind of handy.

 

[uteranga]

Thanks a lot for your answer !
Doing it shouldn't be a problem at all and I've got all the tools needed, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't gonna make a big mistake.
Strangely, when I spend quite a lot of money on something, I am a bit wary about modifying it.

 

[Shrek]

Just how high is it ? Being high usually isn’t a problem.

 

[uteranga]

It's the cross piece that is bothering him as when he looks up his head knocks the bar, in the mountains it's happening quite often. I've got the same problem too sometimes, especially in climbing parts, when the frame is well tightened to my back, it's annoying I must say (I know the frame is not really made for such use, but it's super comfortable the rest of the time so I stick with it).