Zinc Plated or Galvanized

[Mulv80]

I bought some U-Bolts off of Ebay for my trailer. They were advertised as galvanized but when I received them they are clearly zinc plated. Will these U-Bolts hold up to harsh saltwater use?

[Skools Out]

yes that's what Yamaha ships with their new Saltwater motors to mount them with, Zinc will be better than Galv.

[Mulv80]

Thanks Skools, I was just about ready to fire off an email to the seller.

[reelapeelin]

WHAAAAAT??... :o....

[Stinky_Hooker]

Skools, i love you but ZINC over Galvanize???

WTH are you talking about? "Zinc plated" are regular grade bolts. They will rust in ONE trip!! NO??

[phester]

I thought two dissimilar metals in any application is a no no...?

[Mulv80]

Ok, new wrinkle to this post. I emailed the seller and he said the bolts are ElectroGalvanized ??? I googled the term electrogalvanized and it does exist, as far as its resistantance to saltwater corrosion I dont know?

[Skools Out]

ok Stink's i looked at the ones i have from Yamaha. They are Zinc coated stainless bolts. but avail. in Zinc grade 5 bolts too. But the Zinc on their bolts is super thick. I have them in my trailer and not spec of rust yet n there grade 5 zinc's. Nice shinny new looking bolts lol. Depends on the amount of coating of Zinc.

[Geekie1]

Hi Mulv,

See this web page:

www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=1380

According to studies, zinc plating has much less corrosion resistance than other zinc coatings. Check it out!!

Ed G.

[Blue_Runner]

Hey Geekie, nice first post ;) Extremely relevant...welcome to the site!

[Skools Out]

Hey do ya have a pic of these bolts? are they shinny or dull in color?

[Mulv80]

This is what I bought

SQUARE U-BOLT
Galvanized
t's New and Includes Two 1/2" Hex Nuts, Two Spring Washers and Two Flat Washers
Suitable for 3" Square Pipe
Thread Dia & Pitch = 1/2" - 13
Inside Width = 3-1/8"
Inside Length = 4-3/8"
Threaded Length = 1-1/2"
Grade 5


http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c374/rtmulv/db_1_b.jpg

They actually look more like this finish

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c374/rtmulv/e4_1.jpg

[Geekie1]

Hey Mulv,

I have been overhauling my tandom EZ Loader trailer and have been buying my parts from Eastern Marine in Newark DE. So far I have replaced all four drum brake assemblies, jack, winch cable, lights, surge brake coupler, both equalizers and replaced all brake lines with stainless steel lines. Yeah, I know, I should have replaced the drum brakes with disc brakes, but right now, money is an issue. As you know, I have a leaky 60 gallon fuel tank to fix or replace and some regular engine maintenance issues to perform before striper season. I know you live in the Philly area and the reason I mentioned Eastern Marine is the quality of the parts they have supplied me so far, price, and the quick delivery. If I order on-line, and select UPS Ground, (cheapest) I receive the parts next day in Doylestown PA. I haven't ordered parts such as u-bolts yet but EM also has hot dipped and stainless steel fasteners.

Ed G.

[Mulv80]

Hey Ed, Glad to see you here on the site. I'm familar with Eastern Marine, their prices are the best around in my opinion. I ordered these bolts hastily over Ebay because they were cheap and it looks like I may have gotten what I paid for.

[msbhammer]

What about Boaters World ??? Herad that there was one in Newark I guess, or Wilmington. Across from the airport on rt.13. I was gonna check it out on Wednesday.

[Stinky_Hooker]

Zinc plated stainless is one thing, but "zinc" as far as I know are the standard grade bolts that any hardware store (lowes, Hdepot) would carry.

I could be wrong, its happened before...hey once I met this guy Skools and I thought he was a fairly "normal" guy. ::) ;)

[Skools Out]

Till he went and bolted 4 Johnson 225's on a dingy boat with zinc bolts lol. :o

[willy]

Hey Geekie welcome, your about 45mins from me, Whitehouse Station NJ. Hunterdon County

[shicks007]

I was wondering if they were cadmium plated. I did a Google search and found this to be interesting.

http://www.finishing.com/4000-4199/4144.shtml

[Skools Out]

Hey Mulv stick'em on the trailer tell us how they are in 6 months ;D

[reelapeelin]

Here's a GREAT supplier for ANY kinda trailer parts:

http://www.championtrailers.com/

These people got it goin' on!!... ;D ;D...

[Mulv80]

Rap, Great site I book marked it.

[reelapeelin]

Mulv...glad you like...I stuck it in "Links Section"...if anybody wants it down the road...

Click on ''technical assistance"...half of all the questions I've ever read on this board concerning trailers is answered there... ;)...

[Mulv80]

Went to the boat show last night and looked at a new Load Rite trailer just to see what kind of finish the hardware had, and you guessed it Zinc Plated. I asked the salesman why they use the zinc plated? He told me that when you hot dip galvanize hardware the finish builds to thick and throws off the tolerances. He said as soon as you go to thread a nut onto a bolt it breaks the galv finish making the piece vulnerable to corrosion. It made sense to me. Either way the bolts are going on this weekend and we will see how they hold up.

[reelapeelin]

Good luck w/it, Mulv, but I'm stickin' w/galvanized... ;)...

[macojoe]

well the guy at the show had a point, but if you get a can of cold gal spray and coat them right after you get them all buttoned up they are fine.

and loadrite has zinc plated, he said it but they are plated also!! and after you tigten them up they also are compermised.

I have a brand new trailer and they are zinc, and I am sure they will be rusting soon!!

I will be looking at Stainless when I need to replace!!