Stainless Brake Rotor bolts.. not feeling great about them

Ganze

Ganze

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Been slowing prepping the bike for track season. Restoring brakes, stainless lines, fork rebuild, etc...

I thought, "It'd look great to replace those dingy rotor bolts with something new and shiny." Being a little cheap, I decided against titanium but instead bought some M6 stainless bolts sold as brake rotor bolts. I am sure they were made in China, but did not look at it before I bought them.

So, installing them yesterday, one snapped and broke off in the wheel the moment I put any pressure on the threads. Crack!

I will drill it out and use an extractor, that's not what I am writing about. I know what to do with it.

And the rest went in fine, it was, of course, the last one that snapped. I am interested to see how they fare when I remove them after the Loctite has cured.

Looking for input on the subject of using stainless (probably made in China) bolts for the brake rotor?

Was this a fluke?

Ditch the stainless and go with carbon steel or titanium or my life and bike is in danger? (not too happy about blowing any extra cash on it but, you know... would hate the brake to fly off at 125 mph hard barking for a turn)

Anyone have any experience with this?
 
A crusty old bolt snapping on the way out makes sense. A new bolt snapping on the way in doesn't make much sense, unless you were using a 3' breaker bar instead of torque wrench. I would have thought the socket head or allen wrench should have started stripping long before the bolt itself snapped.

The good news is it's in a easy place to work on. I'd change them out.
 
Id trust oem fasteners or fasteners from ebc.

Being from the mfg industry, i trust that everything from china has no material certs and doesnt maintain critical dimensions. This thought process has worked well for me. Just use your favorite search engine and look up chinese metal fail. Their rebar industry is a major wtf.
 
I'd be VERY inclined to swap 'em out. The rotor is kind of important and having any doubt about the bolts holding it in place would make me extremely uneasy...
 
Quick update for anyone interested: Since I had a few extra of the stainless rotor bolts, I decided to do a really basic test.

I took three, and clamped them in a vice and each of hit them with a 3lb hammer at an angle. Each took three to six solid hits but they all snapped and shot the button socket cap across the garage: brittle, and not impressively strong.

I took another M6 bolt, also stainless but from a completely different supplier and clamped it in the vice and did the same. That bolt absorbed about 5 hits before it started bending. Bending before breaking is a good thing.

No need to think about it really, even though I have not tried a grade 5 or grade 8 or even and OEM carbon steel M6 bolt.

Ditching the nifty stainless bolts and going back with OEM. I'll try to clean them up or paint them with epoxy enamel for cosmetics

Case closed.

Ganze
 
Ganze said:
Quick update for anyone interested: Since I had a few extra of the stainless rotor bolts, I decided to do a really basic test.

I took three, and clamped them in a vice and each of hit them with a 3lb hammer at an angle. Each took three to six solid hits but they all snapped and shot the button socket cap across the garage: brittle, and not impressively strong.

I took another M6 bolt, also stainless but from a completely different supplier and clamped it in the vice and did the same. That bolt absorbed about 5 hits before it started bending. Bending before breaking is a good thing.

No need to think about it really, even though I have not tried a grade 5 or grade 8 or even and OEM carbon steel M6 bolt.

Ditching the nifty stainless bolts and going back with OEM. I'll try to clean them up or paint them with epoxy enamel for cosmetics

Case closed.

Ganze
Click to expand...
I polished mine up with a wire brush and spray painted them. After a few years a little hint of rust is showing. Probably should have used a primer.
 
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