Nuts

Stainless bolts and nuts.... How do they hold up as compaired to Grade 8s?Are there different grades of stainless bolts??

Hope this isnt a stupid question, and I hope no one has asked this before,,,, the search-a-thread thing isnt working for me..

thanks!!

Stainless is tough stuff. just make sure you use antiseize so they dont gall together.

The first 4 link i ever bought was from tci... it had stainless bars, and stainless bolts.... never had a problem. I have bought stainless bolts before, however, that would rust in a short amount of time, so i figured they were a different %s of metals.. thats why i wondered about possible differrent hardnesses...

there is about 4 diff stainless grades. im not sure if they use more than one for bolts tho.

There is a whole lot more than 4 grades of stainless.

Most stainless bolts should not be used in high stressed situations. Would you ever consider aluminum bolts? Aluminum is pretty damn tough too... Stainless IS tough, but it also fatigues quickly. What happens it that as a stainless part is stressed the part becomes harder at the point of stress (called work hardening) and eventually becoming so hard that it becomes brittle. No one wants a brittle bolt. The use of anti-sieze (a must with stainless fasteners) will not stop the bolt from work hardening, but it will keep the threads from galling.

There is a grade of stainless that was designed for high stress applications, but they are a little more expensive. I'm not sure where to get them, you're gonna have to do your own homework.

BTW- stainless steel comes in two major different types

Austenitic (non magnetic and high in nickel)

Martensitic (magnetic and no nickel)

The common thought that stainless isn't magnetic and won't rust is just not true. The different grades in either type have many different properties.

Thanks (AGAIN) for the edumacation Max.. Guess I'll just keep it simple and stick with Grade 8's.

Atleast I had the galling correct. lol