US Tower HDX572MDPL what bolts 2 use - TowerTalk Forum at eHam.net

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US Tower HDX572MDPL what bolts 2 use	Reply
by N9RD on October 26, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
I bought this tower used and most of the bolts on it are rusty which is leaving an ugly brown stain on the galvanize. US Tower is using grade 5 galvanized bolts. I can buy lots of them all over but in a few years they will be rusty too and I don't want to climb up and change them again. I am just looking into the future when I will be too old to climb. My question is did anyone replace the bolts with Stainless? The grade 5 bolts have a tensile strength of 81,000# to 120,000# and the s30400 stainless 80,000# to 120,000# Most of the bolts in question are used for brackets holding the cable pulleys to raise and lower the tower and they need to be strong. Most towers etc. have a 100% safety factor built in which would make the SS bolts work just fine but it appears that the grade2 hot dipped galvanized bolts are not strong enough. OK, Guy's I am looking for some common sense answers, don't just say call US tower. They are very little help and only worry about liability. The tower to base bolts are at ground level and there is no problem to use the grade 5 bolts. I can replace them whenever the plating is rusting away. Someone wrote that he had problems with the 1" X 24" anchor bolts rusting, are there better bolts than what UST is selling?

RE: US Tower HDX572MDPL what bolts 2 use	Reply
by KE4DRN on October 26, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
hi Jurgen, take a look at this previous article on tower bolts. http://www.eham.net/articles/3445?duathlonsid= 73 james

RE: US Tower HDX572MDPL what bolts 2 use	Reply
by N9RD on October 26, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
Thanks James that was good reading and tells me a lot about using SS bolts. I worked in the Steel Mill for 35 years and know all about strength etc. I will probably go ahead and use good galvanized steel grade 5 to replace the load bearing bolts.(just what is in there now) There are several that just hold motor guards and pulleys to guide the cable and the SS will work on them fine. The secrete to a long life is to spray them with cold galv. paint after installing. There must be a lot of force on the lower raising pulley as they mount the bracket with 10 3/8x1" bolts. If they are rusty in 20 years, it's someone else problem. LOL Now I just need to hear from someone about the anchor bolts. I will probably order them from UST direct since I have been reading bad things about TX Tower customer support. 73, Jurgen N9RD

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