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Old 08-29-2016, 06:48 PM   #7
jakeru
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Join Date: May 2015
Location: Greater Seattle, WA
Posts: 534
Regarding thread chasers, they can be useful also, I have a set I eventually accumulated, as use routinely when I'm not too rushed - especially when there are any damaged or badly corroded threads.

(Here's what my set looks like


If you have excessive corrosion build-up, they help get it off fast. You can use them in the cleaning regimen, along with the brake parts cleaner and paper towels.

If you drop a bolt and ding the end, they help clean it up. On coated threads, they can potentially remove the coating where they work, which is not necessarily good - as the coating helps prevent corrosion. If the coating gets removed, it's more important to use Anti-seize on areas which has had the coating removed, (if corrosion protection is important). Best of luck!

PS - someone has suggested replacing steel bolts going into aluminum with stainless, to control corrosion. Not necessarily a good idea, in my opinion and experience. Stainless is much further away from aluminum on the galvanic series than either mild steel is, or than the typical coatings applied to steel fasteners are (like in the case of many Porsche fasteners, the spun-applied aluminum and zinc coating). The result of a stainless fastener threaded into aluminum can be more corrosion (and it will be pitting of the aluminum, not of the stainless steel!) of the stainless-aluminum interface than mild steel or coated mild steel to aluminum (which would be pitting of the mild steel or zinc coating - generally much easier to correct when bad, by replacing the corroded bolt or capscrew. When you have a bolt/fastener corrosion concern, anti-seize is often a really good solution!

Does it take more time to apply? Yes. For this reason, a careful enough DIY mechanic can often outperform the quality of a pro - although taking much more time in cleaning and preparing the disassembled parts prior to reassembly when doing so.

Do you need to be careful to torque properly? always (whether using anti-seize or not).
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Last edited by jakeru; 08-29-2016 at 08:16 PM.
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