Bolt Question.

[Xplorer82]

today while changing my rear shocks on the X, i broke the first (bottom) bolt off (rusted and wouldnt budge, even with a impact), got to the other side and same thing. this time i just cut the bolt off instead of busting my knuckles on the concrete again.

well my question is, i went to Autozone, advance and a local auto parts store and no one carries the Hardened "10.9" Bolt to replace it. is the "10.9" on the bolt the grade of it? and also if it matters i believe on top of the 10.9 on the bolt i think it has a F on it, circled.

is my best bet going up to the Stealership on moday???

 

[my pos mounty]

Why do you need the EXACT bolt? Get a grade 8, same diameter, same length. Install, done

 

[71cutty455]

A home improvement store like Lowe's, Home Depot, or Menard's should have higher grade bolts like that available. I had to get some grade 8 bolts not too long ago and Lowe's had them, 10.9 is the metric equivalent of a grade 8 bolt.

 

[Xplorer82]

Why do you need the EXACT bolt? Get a grade 8, same diameter, same length. Install, done

didnt know if it "required" the same bolt or not. and the guy said grade 8's didnt come in "mm" or something, he also didnt know if the grade 8's would be strong enough. and he also didnt have any in the store. autozone and them are outta the picture. they dont carry any hardened bolt that big.

idk, i'll try it. thanks again mounty.

 

[Xplorer82]

A home improvement store like Lowe's, Home Depot, or Menard's should have higher grade bolts like that available. I had to get some grade 8 bolts not too long ago and Lowe's had them, 10.9 is the metric equivalent of a grade 8 bolt.

^^ thanks. well time to take a trip to Home Depot then for a grade 8.

thanks cutty.

 

[71cutty455]

No problem, here's a bolt grade strength chart for reference -

http://www.k-tbolt.com/bolt_chart.html

And if you have a Lowe's locally I would go there first, the ones by me have a better selection than Home Depot and they should have the actual 10.9 bolts available too.

 

[my pos mounty]

didnt know if it "required" the same bolt or not. and the guy said grade 8's didnt come in "mm" or something, he also didnt know if the grade 8's would be strong enough. and he also didnt have any in the store. autozone and them are outta the picture. they dont carry any hardened bolt that big.

Just more evidence as to whats wrong with autozone and the like. They should have the grade 8 bolts in stock, should know that a grade 8 is fine as a shock mount and is just the ASE equivelent of what they were handed. I remember when ...... Oh nevermind. Im gettin old

 

[lvis82]

what about a junkyard?

 

[Electrohacker]

this is why i go to tractor supply... all the bolts you could ever want in grade 8 and up

 

[IZwack]

You dont really need Grade 8 for shocks - the vehicle's unsprung weight is not held up by the shocks. I'm sure Grade 5 will work w/o any problems.

But if you have the time, instead of looking at the "Grades" of bolts, look into Stainless Steel bolts so that in the future, you wont have rust/corrosion problems. And this goes for almost all of the bolts on the underside of vehicle - if you pull it out, see if you can find a stainless steel equivalent.

 

[gijoecam]

Just more evidence as to whats wrong with autozone and the like. They should have the grade 8 bolts in stock, should know that a grade 8 is fine as a shock mount and is just the ASE equivelent of what they were handed. I remember when ...... Oh nevermind. Im gettin old

Umm, no. You won't find a Grade 8 METRIC bolt, and you won't find a Grade 10.9 ENGLISH bolt to replace a metric one. It'll be loose in teh bore, and that's the LAST thing you want on a part that cycles up and down billions of times a year.

He needs a 10.9 hardened METRIC bolt of the proper size to replace it, and the odds of finding those at Lowes or even a decent hardware store are pretty slim on a Sunday. I can guarantee that if a grade 5 bolt (or its metric equivalent) would have safely worked in its place, Ford would have used them from the factory.

And ditto on the stainless steel bolts... They won't be hard enough. I'll take a rusty bolt that stays put over a shiny broken one any day!

 

[Electrohacker]

my replacement shocks came with grade 5 standard hardware, never had an issue

(except the front shock lower bolts came loose and had to be replaced, use loctite )

 

[my pos mounty]

gijoecam, you quoted me on the top of your post, then MIS-quoted me in your reply. I wrote the 10.9 ASE equivalent (meaning a replacement of the metric 10.9 in ASE size) would work. That being said, the metric 10.9 is pretty damn close to a grade 8, isnt it? That was the intent of my reply. Im sure an ASE would be fine there, Mine are ASE replacements and are fine after 2 years of being on there.

Depending where you live, maybe Lowes, Home Depot and the like, are not open on a Sunday, but they are where I live. And they carry a very extensive collection of both ASE in all grades, and Metric sizes in all grades.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Yeah, my local Home Depot and Lowe's both carry a fair amount of grade 10.9 Metric hardware.

 

[gijoecam]

I think maybe my response wasn't clear either.... Why would you put an SAE bolt in a hole machined for a metric bolt? There is no ASE equivalent for a metric bolt. Yes, the SAE 8.8 hardness and the metric 10.9 hardness are roughly similar in strength/hardness if there was a size-for-size comparison, but there isn't.

My point was that if the application calls for what is clearly a metric bolt, replacing it with an SAE bolt, regardless of the hardness being equivalent or not, isn't the way to go because it's not going to be the correct diameter. But calling them equivalent bolts is not correct.

It's not a good idea, in my opinion, at least, to replace a metric bolt with a standard on something as important as a shock mount. OK, maybe in a crisis I might swap a 1/2" grade 8 bolt for a 13mm metric 10.9 bolt until I could get the right one, but I wouldn't call them equals. Shocks are cyclically loaded over their life, and running an under-sized bolt, even just *slightly* could easily result in problems down the line. It's just not a good idea for a long term solution.

 

[Xplorer82]

i ended up having to go to True Value on sunday (thank god they were open as Home Depot and Lowe's didnt have any), they had some hardened 10.9 bolts there, also had grade 8's. i ended up spending the extra $ on the 10.9's because that is just me, i would rather put back what was pulled out. so i shelled out the $13 on the hardware and was good to go. the X rides good now w/All new shocks.


thanks guys.