Stainless steel nuts and bolts

dmblbit

Active Member
Is it OK to replace the 9/16" AF nuts and bolts which hold the front bumper irons to the chassis with stainless steel ones? I thought I'd heard somewhere that the SS ones are not as strong?
 
This a US based place, but McMaster Carr is an amazing supplier of all things (and I mean all things). Their website is great and they have a lot of easily understood technical info too.

McMaster-Carr
 
I must admit I am very reluctant to use SS fixings except for holding such things as trim items . I wont use them for safety critical items at all as the nature of them, unless you really look into it, can be very different from other steel fixing. Its not just the basic tensile strength that is important.
 
On this subject I’ve noticed recently that one of the main suppliers is selling stainless “upgrade” hex bolts for rear suspension components such as dedion elbows. I couldn’t believe what I was reading honestly..such a safety critical part of the car as we all know

I know you can get some very strong stainless grades, ARP does one that rivals 8.8 I believe but they are of course very expensive.

You can get chrome plated HT UNF bolts/set screws from Namrick but the last time I had a look at them (in Hove Nut and Bolt Store) there had been some manufacturing defects with a large batch meaning the chrome was already peeling..

Stainless for show, Steel for go go
Jim
 
Hi, As well as the structural issue there is the electrolytic action as well. The are stainless engine fixing kits for things like the water pump for example, which is worse than steel for that.

Colin

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A mate has a business fixing motorcycles and he recently asked me what our stainless aviation fasteners were rated at and where could he buy some because he had a client bring in a sports bike that had braking issues which he traced to loose calipers.
The owner had spent a packet on fancy stainless fasteners and replaced almost every visible bolt or screw with the shiny stuff, including his caliper bolts....which were stretching under the forces of track day riding...:eek:
 
A mate has a business fixing motorcycles and he recently asked me what our stainless aviation fasteners were rated at and where could he buy some because he had a client bring in a sports bike that had braking issues which he traced to loose calipers.
The owner had spent a packet on fancy stainless fasteners and replaced almost every visible bolt or screw with the shiny stuff, including his caliper bolts....which were stretching under the forces of track day riding...:eek:


And the Darwin award goes too......


Graeme
 
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