Is this a good subfloor elevator bolt choice?

[Happy2BeHere]

We need to order bolts for our subfloor. After reading many threads on the subject, I've been wondering about finding a stainless steel option. This is what I've come up with:
https://shop.marshfasteners.com/prod...=FHSHCS1/4X125

https://shop.marshfasteners.com/prod...=NLST1/4-20BAG

Are these the right size & a good opton? I figure I'll have to drill holes with a counter-sinking bit. I like that they are stainless stell & still affordable, but strictly speaking I don't think they qualify as "elevator bolts".

For a subfloor on a 31' AS, will 100 be enough?

Thanks for your help,
MaryPat

[mrdes8]

Hi there MaryPat... I would advise regular elevator bolts, I buy them off e-bay in bags of between 25 to 100 depending on the project. I don't really like the ones you listed because of the small head, need to hold each bolt with an allen tool (means 2 people for each bolt), stainless can be brittle, expensive and I would say overkill in this application. Biggest issue to me is the small head. The best I ever found were elevator bolts with "fangs" on the edges that held in the wood, also had a nice oxide coating, hard to find. I also like fender washers at each nut and "nylock" nylon locking nuts, found at any hardware store. PM me your address and I'll send you the rest of a leftover bag, there are quite a few, free.
Good luck, Mark D

[OTRA15]

Plus . . . elevator bolts have a flat bottom on the underside of the head of the bolt, not a bevel which requires a countersunk hole.

https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Find-Fas...8681838&sr=8-2

You want the flat of the head to land soundly -- as a flat surface -- on the subfloor. You do not want that other taper-bottomed bolt to try to bury itself in the subfloor as you crank on the nut.

As the trailer travels down thousands of miles of road, shaking and twisting, your incorrect bolt will enlarge the holes in the subfloor!

No need to "think" about this -- replace the bolts in-kind.

Wrong bolt.

Period.

[IMO]

[Happy2BeHere]

Originally Posted by mrdes8

Hi there MaryPat... I would advise regular elevator bolts, I buy them off e-bay in bags of between 25 to 100 depending on the project. I don't really like the ones you listed because of the small head, need to hold each bolt with an allen tool (means 2 people for each bolt), stainless can be brittle, expensive and I would say overkill in this application. Biggest issue to me is the small head. The best I ever found were elevator bolts with "fangs" on the edges that held in the wood, also had a nice oxide coating, hard to find. I also like fender washers at each nut and "nylock" nylon locking nuts, found at any hardware store. PM me your address and I'll send you the rest of a leftover bag, there are quite a few, free.
Good luck, Mark D

Thanks Mark. I hadn't considered that those bolts would necessitate a two person installation. I also didnt know that SS was brittle.

I'll order the zinc coated elevator bolts & the nylock nuts instead.

[Happy2BeHere]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Plus . . . elevator bolts have a flat bottom on the underside of the head of the bolt, not a bevel which requires a countersunk hole.

https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Find-Fas...8681838&sr=8-2

You want the flat of the head to land soundly -- as a flat surface -- on the subfloor. You do not want that other taper-bottomed bolt to try to bury itself in the subfloor as you crank on the nut.

As the trailer travels down thousands of miles of road, shaking and twisting, your incorrect bolt will enlarge the holes in the subfloor!

No need to "think" about this -- replace the bolts in-kind.

Wrong bolt.

Period.

[IMO]

Thanks for the reply. The reason I was considering these bolts is because they are almost identical to half the bolts holding down the original subfloor on my '81 AS. Half of the bolts had phillips head tops, wide flanges & tapered undersides. The other half were like elevator bolts, but the heads are only 1/2" across. So the bolts I posted are more similar to my original subfloor bolts than modern elevator bolts. Things change over forty years I guess.

[OTRA15]

Thanks . . . suggest using elevator bolts everywhere you can. Surprising that you have that OEM mix IMO.

[guskmg]

If you are trying to have moisture resistant system including the elevator bolts, do what Airstream does on new production. Every foot or so along the "C" Chanel they cut an oblong hole though the chanel and subfloor so the inside wall moisture can drain out and air can circulate. That is bound to help the moisture situation and they are using a composite floor material.
guskmg