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Help.
My upper shock bolt has bent. They're notoriously soft, so not wanting to replace like for like from manufacturers.
It's a 8mm X 40mm Dome head barrel (sex) bolt.
UK supplier would be nice, also wondering if a normal hex bolt with 40mm plain section and nyloc nut would do, but I guess that depends on the overall diameter, guess I've got about 14mm, so 12mm nut at most...
Googled, and searched eBay, but not convinced I'd get something right.
Tia
Try the suspension servicing guys, TFTuned. They do all sorts. Or the dealers of the frame.
You won't easily get an m8 nut inside 12mm. They are normally 13mm across the flats. You can get Allen headed nuts which are smaller. Alternatively look at shoulder bolts which have a smooth shank and take a smaller nut. Another bonus is that shoulder bolts tend to be better defined with dimensions so its easier to find the right one online
I'd steer clear of titanium, its a bolt in a high stress area, not worth the risk. Plus the quality of ti fasteners is variable.
Get something in 12.9 grade steel?
Is yours the type like an 8mm tube with m6 bolt on one end threading into the tube, if the shock mount is flat faced or there's no odd sized recesses that the bolt head fits into then a proper m8 bolt with threads just at the end (like a thru axle) would be stronger assuming there's a 8mm hole either size so it slots through, nukeproof used to sell titanium shock bolt options so I think M8 from a reputable source like pro-bolt should be strong enough. BURGTEC even make ti shock bolts for Santa cruz bikes.
The current type is a sex bolt, so long 8mm dia female thread bolt with 5mm domed hex, and a M5 domed hex, male thread bolt on the other end.
a female 8mm dia connector as linked will work, but as also said, it's a tube, hence asking whether a bolt with 40mm plain section would be better as it's a solid rod?
Thats the problem with that design, the bolt only goes in so far leaving the rest supported just by a tube rather than a solid bolt, is the bike a Mettle or are you just using the bolt because it fits, strange choice to have 30x8 at both ends of the shock on the Mettle leaving it prone to bending if you bottom out the shock too much, nukeproof did similar years ago but only at one end, they switched to m8 bolts threaded into the frame mounts, trouble is you'll have to use nuts which won't look as nice, you'll have to work out length needed by how much thread the nut needs to nylon onto, it's a last resort though as the ti one ordered could hold up better than the original.
Thanks.
no, it's a carbonda/vitus FS. the mettle one is the right size and I hope made of better metal, but we'll see. by the looks of some of the feedback about these frames, the cheese quality of the shock mounting bolts is one that has been mentioned and replacing it with anything is better than the original!
It's only the upper that is bolted, the lower is trunnion.
Think the mettle one will arrive later this week, and the ti one arrive next, but at least I'll be able to get out on the bike sometime this week.