All of this talk about replacing tower bolts, and nothing mentioned
about the stress on the bolts.
Remember, the stress is not the normal "Pull-Stress", but Shearing-
Stress.
I don't think I would use any Stainless Steel hardware. The nickle
content surely would weaken the steel.
If the hot galvenizing on the bolts has been eroded on a tower,
then the tower itself would be suspect. The Rohn hardware supplied with
their towers is extremely well galvenized, probably better than the
tower sections, from what I can tell.
What happens when tower bolts fail, is they are sheared off, then the
tower leg settles deeper over the section below, causing it to crack,
and then the resultant leg failure. Usually, inspections find the damage
before the tower collapses. But - you end up with a dangerous job of
dismantling and replacing the entire tower.
Rule of Thumb: The factory usually has the best experts in judging
what is best for their product.
de KL7HF
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