24 replies to this topic

[Ivor Badger]

Had to take the radiator out a Land Rover today, leaking front water housing. Most of the hose clips were stainless steel with mild steel tightening screws. Almost every tightening screw was so corroded that I ended up breaking the clips off. So anyone still want to use stainless bolts on their mini?

[rally515]

Do you mean jubilee clips ? i thought if it was stainless it'd be all stainless not half haha

[Scoop77]

I'm not sure what you're on about mate?

[Fast Ivan]

You would have thought the whole lot would be stainless, though there are different grades. Mild steel will corrode a lot quicker when in contact with stainless though.

[Captain Mainwaring]

Stainless running against stainless is not a good combination - 

In the right place stainless is OK, but don't assume stainless is strong - they may not be, and for clamping they may not be elastic as the original fastener.

[ibrooks]

Depends on the grade of stainless - if you use dissimilar grades then stainless on stainless is no problems i.e. use A4 nuts on A2 bolts etc.

 

The note about tensile strength is a good one for people to bear in mind though as Stainless bolts are generally like cheese compared to a conventional "high tensile" bolt. I often see the "stainless bolt packs" for sale on ebay and look upon them as an accident waiting to happen as I'm damn sure the sellers haven't considered this and the buyers just think "OOOH SHINEY" and assume that because they are buying from a company then it's fine.

 

Iain

[Captain Mainwaring]

Depends on the grade of stainless - if you use dissimilar grades then stainless on stainless is no problems i.e. use A4 nuts on A2 bolts etc.

 

The note about tensile strength is a good one for people to bear in mind though as Stainless bolts are generally like cheese compared to a conventional "high tensile" bolt. I often see the "stainless bolt packs" for sale on ebay and look upon them as an accident waiting to happen as I'm damn sure the sellers haven't considered this and the buyers just think "OOOH SHINEY" and assume that because they are buying from a company then it's fine.

 

Iain

 

 

Less likely with 304 and 316 but they still need a little bit of compound, especially on anything that actually needs a bit of mortgage......

 

Regarding the rest, as you say 316 is lovely stuff, it's much more brittle than MS though.

[rally515]

Can people give there views on titanium whilst this thread is here, i know its a different material but was wondering if theres anty down side or reaction like stainless ?

Have seen some 5/16th's bolts on e-bay so would like to know haha

 

Cheer

Cliff

[sonikk4]

I love shiny stuff but for any critical component on a car whether its a mini or something else unless you meet the exact specs or higher than the OEM part you are playing with fire. The potential for an accident due to a failed component is going to be higher.

And god forbid the accident is so bad a fatality occurs and more in depth investigations are carried out.The insurance company will drop you like a hot stone if the parts found that caused the accident are non standard or do not meet the OEM criteria, plus then there will be the fallout of law suits possible jail time and so on.

Scaremongering maybe, will it happen hopefully not but as we have learnt in the Aviation industry all it takes is one small component or item that will start a cascade event leading to a major incident.

It's always worth buying your hardware from a reputable company who can if asked give you details about material spec, KSI ratings and whether the item is suitable for where you want to use it.

Personally for me I use aviation quality bolts where possible as I can trace their history through paperwork. We use a lot of stainless bolts and titanium on the airframe and engines but like anything else these are approved by the manufacturer.

Be careful of where you buy especially of Ebay etc.

[rally515]

Personally for me I use aviation quality bolts where possible as I can trace their history through paperwork. We use a lot of stainless bolts and titanium on the airframe and engines but like anything else these are approved by the manufacturer.

 

Is there a supplier were average folk can get these materials sonik ? and the big question.....how much ?

[adampat84]

 

Personally for me I use aviation quality bolts where possible as I can trace their history through paperwork. We use a lot of stainless bolts and titanium on the airframe and engines but like anything else these are approved by the manufacturer.

 

Is there a supplier were average folk can get these materials sonik ? and the big question.....how much ?

 

One of the listed suppliers on this site is a-series spares.. the have a website here that does bolts and bits..

 

Seems like they provide the right information?

Edited by adampat84, 18 July 2013 - 10:55 AM.

[madaboutcherry]

i buy all my stuff from namrick

 

http://www.namrick.co.uk/

 

[sonikk4]

Personally for me I use aviation quality bolts where possible as I can trace their history through paperwork. We use a lot of stainless bolts and titanium on the airframe and engines but like anything else these are approved by the manufacturer.

 
Is there a supplier were average folk can get these materials sonik ? and the big question.....how much ?

There are companies online that can supply these BUT they are not cheap. As soon as you mention aviation prices double and triple. However there is this company who are very reputable and have been supplying bolts etc for sometime for car enthusiasts.
http://www.namrick.co.uk/

And beaten to it.

[tiger99]

You should never, ever use either stainless or titanium for anything major on your car. Stainless are mostly too weak (lacking in static strength) and the higer grade may have almost as much static strength as a standard 8.8 bolt, but very inferior fatigue strength, so will be liable to fail rapidly due to the dynamic stresses that the working bits of the car are subject to. Titanium is another thing altogether, and size for size is NOT as strong as a standard 8.8 bolt. Weight for weight, it is significantly stronger, which is why it is used in aircraft. A 100g weight titanium bolt may have the strength of 150g of steel, but it will be bigger. Where weight matters more than size, titanium wins, but obviously not as a direct replacement for steel.

 

If you want to use stainless and titanium on your car, do it only with minor, low stressed items, that will not result in any kind of hazard if the bolts break. Stainless is fine for attaching trim, for instance, and the lenses on light units, and probably ok for boot and bonnet hinge fixings (not the doors, please, they directly affect safety), maybe mounting some electrical bits such as fusebox and wiper motor, gearlever gaiter and such like, and that is about your lot.

[Scoop77]

Usefull stuff guys thanks. I didn't realise this was the case. I always thought stainless was stronger but brittle. I will stop paying the extra for it now.