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Topic Closedsteel bolts vs stainless steel for attaching axles
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mcarter View Drop Down
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Posts: 3419 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: steel bolts vs stainless steel for attaching axles
    Posted: 24 May 2019 at 5:53pm
+2 to OffGrid.
Mike Carter
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Posts: 473 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2019 at 11:48am
Thanks to all, this is very useful information.
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2019 at 9:11am
Originally posted by lostagain

Another thing that puzzles me regarding the use of SS bolts:  The brackets are still regular steel and are pretty thin, and are welded to an even thinner trailer frame.  Seems to me that the brackets and such would still fail from oxidation and all you're doing is moving the point of failure to a different location, kinda like putting one SS link in a steel chain.  I could be wrong, but most steel bridges and such, certainly exposed to the elements, use steel bolts.  I should call one of my friends at Iron Workers 377 to check.  

+1. That was exactly my point. You're creating a dissimilar metals corrosion problem where there wasn't one, and that problem results in the trailer and axle bracket steel now being sacrificial to the SS bolt. Since those are big bolts connecting to relatively thin steel its not good. 
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Posts: 2595 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2019 at 8:45am
Another thing that puzzles me regarding the use of SS bolts:  The brackets are still regular steel and are pretty thin, and are welded to an even thinner trailer frame.  Seems to me that the brackets and such would still fail from oxidation and all you're doing is moving the point of failure to a different location, kinda like putting one SS link in a steel chain.  I could be wrong, but most steel bridges and such, certainly exposed to the elements, use steel bolts.  I should call one of my friends at Iron Workers 377 to check.  
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2019 at 8:00am
Originally posted by furpod

My '48 Buick has regular steel bolts holding the suspension on.. I see no reason to use SS if the grade 8's are going to last 70 years to begin with....

Depends where you live. Here on the Outer Banks with a hot, humid, salt spray environment, nothing metal short of gold lasts 70 years. More like 10-15 for steel if you're diligent about flushing with fresh water, painting, and using a water displacement material to fill all exposed cracks and crevices. I spray the bottom of my vehicles with Fluid Film a couple of times a year and that seems to help quite a bit. 
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Posts: 6128 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2019 at 7:27am
My '48 Buick has regular steel bolts holding the suspension on.. I see no reason to use SS if the grade 8's are going to last 70 years to begin with....
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2019 at 6:19am
Originally posted by Toyanvil

All Stainless Steel bolts and nuts need lube before assembly. Stainless Steel bolts do not have the tensile strength you need for an axle, use grade 8 steel bolts and paint them with good paint.

SS bolts might be strong enough for the application but I agree with Toyanvil. This is not a good place to use them. Grade 8 steel bolts are stronger and won't gall. 

If you use steel bolts then there won't be a dissimilar metals galvanic corrosion problem between them and the axle and chassis steel brackets. If you use stainless you will be setting yourself up for galvanic corrosion of the brackets because they will be anodic to the stainless steel. 

I'd much rather just paint the steel bolts, inspect them occasional for corrosion, and replace them if necessary than risk corrosion of the brackets, which would be much harder to repair. 
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Posts: 157 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 May 2019 at 9:54pm
All Stainless Steel bolts and nuts need lube before assembly. Stainless Steel bolts do not have the tensile strength you need for an axle, use grade 8 steel bolts and paint them with good paint.
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Posts: 6326 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 May 2019 at 7:20pm
+1
In addition to tensile strength, Stainless Steel seems to be a little more subject to galling and seizing of the threads. I've had stainless steel nuts seize on the bolts.
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Posts: 2595 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 May 2019 at 6:23pm
Not all stainless steel is the same.  You have to be sure you are getting bolts with adequate tensile strength in addition to corrosion resistance.  
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