stainless steel bolts

[tofast]

Need some help on a question I have with stainless steel bolts. The bolts require antiseize on them to go into aluminum to keep from adhearing together. Are they then going to back off over time and not stay in tork spec because you can't use loctite. Would it be easier to go with chrome bolts.

[Billy Ricks]

As long as they are torqued properly they shouldn't back out.

[euch]

Need some help on a question I have with stainless steel bolts. The bolts require antiseize on them to go into aluminum to keep from adhearing together. Are they then going to back off over time and not stay in tork spec because you can't use loctite. Would it be easier to go with chrome bolts.

Just use the blue loctite, it isn't the permanent one.

[Billy Ricks]

He needs anti sieze coumpound to keep the bolts from reacting with the aluminum and chemically corroding in place. If that happens you snap off bolts and never get them out.

[bwringer]

Simply use antisieze and torque properly. I've never had one back out. DO NOT use Loktite, even the blue variety, on aluminum threads. (The one exception is when replacing studs -- you need them to stay in place, and they usually don't have to be replaced more than once over the life of the bike.)

On 6mm case bolts, I use an allen wrench with a t-handle only about the width of my hand, and tighten the bolts one-handed. I don't use maximum force at all -- just spin them down, plus an extra "tweak". It's hard to describe, but it's not a lot of torque.

I just replaced my clutch this weekend, and even though it's been three or four years since I last had the clutch cover off, none of the stainless steel allen head bolts had loosened and they all broke loose easily with one hand and the same allen wrench.

Cheap torque wrenches are notoriously inaccurate, especially at the lower torque readings needed for smaller 5mm and 6mm threads. Either spend a pile on a good torque wrench or develop the feel to do it by hand.

If you really want to be cheap about it, you could grind a notch at the 1 foot mark on a cheap breaker bar, then use a spring fish scale to apply the proper force.

[Planecrazy]

Brian, you and I apparently have a lot in common besides our riding style ... I LOVE your "MacGyver" solutions ... My buddies often refer to me as "Inspector Gadget," because I'm always coming up with unique solutions to unusual problems!

See you next month!