When I took the rock sliders off to modify them the expansion anchors stayed in the holes. There are flat sides on the anchors that have to align with the flat sides on the holes in the accessory being installed. The problem is getting them aligned to install the bolts. I realize that the captive nut in the expansion portion of the fastener does not always stay in place and falls into the tube. If that happens the best thing to do is pull the expansion portion out of the hole and use a magnet to fish the nut out of the tube, put the whole fastener back together and install them like the instructions show. My fasteners did not come apart and i was faced with the task of aligning the flat surfaces on the fastener with the flat surfaces of in this case the rock sliders. I realized it is harder that it appears because you cannot see the fastener to assure it is aligned with the hole. Here is my solution. I used a piece of all thread, the fastener is M8 1.25 metric but i found a piece of 5/16 18 will thread into the fastener just enough to twist it to align it to the hole. I cut the all thread long enough to stick out of the accessory being installed, pushed on the accessory while turning clockwise and pulling the all thread until it went into the hole on the accessory. I then put a fender washer on the end with a nut to hold the fastener in place while i did the same to the others. Once they were all in place, I gently removed each all thread and replaced it with the bolt being careful not to put too much pressure on the bolt so as not to dislodge the nut and loose it in the tube. If the captive nut falls off into the tube, this method will no longer work. I hope this helps a little because getting the fastener aligned with the hole is a PITA!!! Good Luck!