Farmall Bolts

Doesn't anyone know the grade of the production IH bolts with the rounds dot on the heads? Looking for a torque spec to use. Also, do you guys use grade 5, 8, or stainless bolts for the rims to the hubs? I'd like to use something that's not painted but the only ones I find that aren't in yellow zinc finish are grade 5 and stainless.

Thoughts?

IH used the same "tick mark" system as the SAE standard.

No tick marks - Grade 2
Three tick marks - Grade 5
Six tick marks - Grade 8

I recently saw in an old IH Blue Ribbon service guide that they also had a "Grade 6" bolt. IIRC it had five tick marks on the head.

By the way, ALL Grade 8 bolts have the "yellow zinc" finish these days.

Stainless is closer to a Grade 2 bolt. I wouldn't use them to hold the wheels on my tractor. I'd only use Grade 8.

will have no problem with grade 5, their plenty strong enough for the rims.

I believe they make stainless in harder grades,but you will PAY for them!(Not sure of HOW hard????)

Check Fastenall and Mcmaster-Carr

(quoted from post at 06:09:17 02/02/12) Doesn't anyone know the grade of the production IH bolts with the rounds dot on the heads? Looking for a torque spec to use. Also, do you guys use grade 5, 8, or stainless bolts for the rims to the hubs? I'd like to use something that's not painted but the only ones I find that aren't in yellow zinc finish are grade 5 and stainless.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Grade 5 is more than good enough for just about any application on the letter series Farmalls.

for sure, grade 5 in stainless or just black.

Bolt grading is very important to usage requirements. Grade 2 has just under a 200,000 psi tensile shear strength and the ability to sustain a shock load better than a grade 5 or 8 just because it has the ability to stretch before it will break. A higher grade is not always the best option . A grade 8 bolt will work loose faster or even break faster than a grade 2 if it is not used for the proper requirements.In severe cold a grade 8 bolt will be very brittle and can snap in two under a seemingly light shear(sideway) load. Cylinder head bolts are grade 8 and hardened because of the fact that they are harder to stretch lengthwise.For agricultural wheel applications a grade 2 bolt is actually more than sufficient, if you think about it most tractors have 6 or more bolts on the rims and 6 grade 2 bolts working together have a tremendous amount of strength.Especially considering that most are 1/2-3/4 in diameter. The grade 5 bolts seem to have the best overall qualities for general purpose use in most any application. Coarse thread bolts will also come loose faster than fine thread bolts of the same grade and size, and almost always will need a lock washer to keep them secure.

yeah - only go stainless if you REALLY want something shiny.

Very expensive.

Schultz! If you go back to the H,m through the 450's you will see the IH bolts with the dot in the center on side rails and clutch housing to rear end. Had all kinds of trouble with them coming loose. Then the 460 560's had grade 8 with stare washers, that was better. 706 806 656 had grade 8 and no washers. No problem coming loose. So I used grade 8 and no lock washer on all tractors after the 06,56 came out. Just use a long wrench a tighten them up goood. I will not use a lock washer on anything,, waste of time and money.

I left my rim bolts with the gold on them on purpose.I thought it stood out a little bit.

I has newer Ford paint on it(It is a 55) But I did not care what the "correct police" thought about this one!

Mike, I like your philosophy. It's your tractor and you painted it as you wanted.

I also leave the new bolts unpainted. If the tractor is kept inside, out of the weather, it'll be many years before they start to show any signs of rust, and when they do, you can paint 'em then.

I torque dot head bolts to Gr 5 specs. I torque down every bolt on my tractor. If there isn't a number in a manual I use standard torques.

We worked out on the cowboard one time that the dot head bolts came into production in late 35 early 36.... on the F series anyway. If you look through the repair manuals for these tractors there are no torque specs given for anything. Critical bolts like rod caps had castle nuts and cotters. Why, because very few people if any and probably no dealers had torque wrenches available at that time.
The dot head bolts will be fine with standard grade 5 torque specs. IH made their own bolts to their specs not SAE which came later.

Lots of bolts in the forties also had FC on the head with no dot.