Stainless Question

bikesnbones · Post by **bikesnbones** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 11:51 pm

Hoping there is someone who could advise here.
I'm looking to go through my bike and replace the crappy BMW fasteners with stainless one's.
I found a company that does kits that are quite reasonably priced.
Thing is, they include caliper, brake disc and spindle pinch bolts.
One company I wrote to said they would never advise using stainless bolts in these area's, as they cannot withstand the high torque settings and there is a high risk of them breaking.
Another company say it's perfectly OK.
Any experts here care to advise.

Merecat · Post by **Merecat** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 1:41 am

I think in general, the tensile strength of stainless bolts is less than the equivalent mild steel bolt. So the advice not to use them in high torque applications was sensible, but im no expert on stainless bolts. There are also different grades of stainless, which complicates things further

cornishflat · Post by **cornishflat** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 5:15 am

Good question as I too would like to replace the bolts throughout the brakes. The fasteners are one area that could / should be stainless throughout the bike in my opinion.

conkerman · Post by **conkerman** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 7:25 am

I have always been of the mind not to use stainless as caliper bolts are high tensile steel.

Without knowing the exact grade of material I would steer clear.

For mission critical stuff. Stick with OEM.

Dog Tyred · Post by **Dog Tyred** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 10:21 am

Use the search function. There is loads of info on there.

Here's a good thread on the subject to be going on with!!

viewtopic.php?t=16047&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Personally I won't replace any critical fastener (calipers, etc) with anything less strong than the original component. Standard Class 70 stainless is not as strong as 8.8 mild steel. End of.

DT

bikesnbones · Post by **bikesnbones** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 6:29 am

Dog Tyred wrote:Personally I won't replace any critical fastener (calipers, etc) with anything less strong than the original component. Standard Class 70 stainless is not as strong as 8.8 mild steel. End of.

DT

Yeah I think I'm going to go with that.
Actually, last night I got the modelling brush and silver paint out and touched up the rusty bolts.
They look OK now.

Daveg2812 · Post by **Daveg2812** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 6:45 am

There has been countless stuff on here about this subject and some recent stuff about people cleaning up and painting original bolts etc. A few of us asked how this affected the paint once these were tightened, but never got answers.
Personally, I cleaned up my caliper bolts with a wire brush and a flap wheel in a drill, painted the non contact parts with clear laquer, then touched in the contact parts when the bolts were in place and tight. Not perfect but not bad either.