ARP quality products?

[David K]

Hey what grade bolt are ARP products? I found a local speed shop that specializes in offroad Nissan trucks, and they have all kinds of sizes for me to choose from. They use all the bolts/studs they carry on their own trucks. I want to stud my head/block and the bottom end as well. I know some of you are going to swear by ARP, but there has to be another product out there that is of same quality and cheaper. Its a big world! 8)

[johnc]

ARP has a good reputation for producing quality fasteners. A lot of their stuff is beyond the old SAE Grade 8 standard of 150Ksi tensile. FYI... SAE is now using a new standard (J429) which re-arranges the grade number to more closely match the metric standard. Be aware of the change because the new SAE Grade 8 is equivilant to the old SAE Grade 5 and the current Metric Grade 8.8. Its better to source fasteners by their tensile strength.

 

The new grading scales are:

 

Metric 4.6 - SAE J429 Grade 4 or 5 - Old SAE Grade 1 - ASTM 1 A306.

Metric 4.8 - SAE J429 Grade 4 or 5 - Old SAE Grade 2 .

Metric 5.8 - SAE J429 Grade 5 - Old SAE Grade 2.

Metric 8.8 - SAE J429 Grade 8 - Old SAE Grade 5 - ASTM A325, A449.

Metric 9.8 - SAE J429 Grade 9 - Old SAE Grade 5+ - ASTM A193.

Metric 10.9 - SAE J429 Grade 10 or 12 - Old SAE Grade 8 - ASTM A490, A354.

Metric 12.9 - SAE J429 Grade 10 or 12 - Old SAE Grade N/A -ASTM A540.

 

Other sources for quality fasteners are SPS, Wurth, and Fabory. When it comes to fasteners, unless you're buying in bulk you're getting exactly what you're paying for. A cheaper fastener is of lower quality and there's a lot more to fastener quality then strength.

[Wagz]

Good post, John.

 

I'm printing that out to hang on my garage wall.