Thread: Why do all my bolts rust?

Hi mojo ,I also have an Extreme and a 86 county , the county bolts are in better condition than the Extreme, I think a lot of parts became lesser quality . It won't cost a furtune to change them over ,you could use stainless steel , then you can forget about it . If you go down that road and can't get them local , they are available in the uk on Land Rover Defender ebay . Best of luck jimr1 ...

I've been dealing with Stig Fasteners for years (see the link below). They do bolt replacement kits for most Land Rovers and I'm in the process of systematically changing out most of the non high tensile bolts and nuts on my car.

So far my chequer plate, wing top intakes, mudflap brackets, mudflap mounts and bonnet hinge screws have been changed out. I've got the body tub bolts for the rear but I've not changed them yet.

Land Rover

The shipping is roughly the same for a $50 to $150 order, so maximise if your making the effort.

Cheers,

Lou

Originally Posted by ugu80

ERPS does not work. All stories to the contrary are anecdotal with no basis in fact or science. For your problem, especially with your liking for the beach, a good spray with lanolin or the like, about a litre every 12 months and your Defer will thank you.

I rememeber reading a artical in a magazine about not being able to use the wording about stopping rusting in the USA because it was proven that it didnt.
They still can in Australia though.

Sounds like a job for Popeye. He's got a method of rust prevention.

Hi mojo , after loubreys info thats a good way to go , i've changed my bonnet screws and nuts for s/s , plus i have s/s door nuts and bolts . the thing is the kits come with the right sizes ie. lengths diamiters . just a simple change over all the best jimr1..

Originally Posted by jimr1

Hi mojo , after loubreys info thats a good way to go , i've changed my bonnet screws and nuts for s/s , plus i have s/s door nuts and bolts . the thing is the kits come with the right sizes ie. lengths diamiters . just a simple change over all the best jimr1..

If you do swap your bolts to stainless, don't forget to apply a liberal amount of anti-seize, or you may find the fastening a bit more permanent than you would have liked

I'm no metallurgist, but I do know that aluminium and stainless steel don't like each other much (over very long periods of time) and I've always used copper grease liberally as anti-seize and for prevention of aluminium corrosion on the holes and fixings.

You get it in aerosol as per the link, but I prefer a tin or pot to really get a decent coating (available from your local farmers mart)

Buy Greases 3-in-One,Professional, Anti-Seize, Copper grease, Aerosol, 300ml WD-40 44617 online from RS for next day delivery.

Cheers,

Lou

Hi All,

Following up on this older post, I have had to do a bit of rust management myself on my MY 2010 90.

My rear cross member started looking decidedly ordinary (no rust, but weird faded patches) and my OEM tow bar had started rusting good and proper. Add to this my rear mud flap brackets that had the coating (powder or paint, not sure) separating from the steel body of the bracket.

Started off by stripping the brackets and the rust up between the cross member and the bracket was scary. I would have replaced the bracket had I anticipated the rust, but not having done so I drilled the rivets holding the rubber out and took the drill mounted wire brush to the brackets. Stripping them back to metal I gave them a good couple of coats of rust preventative epoxy enamel.

The tow bar needed the wire brush as well and again got close to bare metal. The tow bar is pretty rough finished in any case and I decided I can do a tidy enough job with a brush and avoid risking over spray.

Finishing all that I gave everything a good coating of cavity wax (Tectyl 506) and I bolted the mud flaps back using stainless steel hex buttons on the vertical side of the bracket and normal stainless steel M6's to mount them to the chassis with liberal application of copper compound.

Last thing was to clean off excess wax with mineral turpentine (replacement product). Some pictures of the end product attached.

I'll in the next couple of days be changing both the tub bolts (5 pairs across the back) and the rear cross member chassis bolts (2 sets) visible in the last picure with stainless steel ones from my Stig Fasteners kit as described earlier in the post.

Cheers,

Lou