Bulletproof wrote:All landcruisers and hiluxs are fitted with factory 12mm Grade 7 bolts on the japanese scale which is completely different from the SAE or metric grade, when they leave the factory.
Some clubs are making their members change these bolts for other gradings.
I believe 12mm 8.8 metric is downgrading from the factory specs and it leaves a person wide open to prosecution in the event of death.
Can anyone enlighten me about this ? Is this true or not ?
bulletproof
Sounds like some education could go a long way.
I doubt either grade 7 or 8.8 would ever be the weakest link in the recovery chain, it's more needless intervention for no gain.
That said, I think you'll need to find or buy a copy of JIS B1189:1999 to show people what the ratings for japanese bolts actually are. A good library *may* have a copy.
If you want super strong/hard bolts for any reason, then socket-head-cap-screws are grade 12.9-14.9 depending on the size.
It's rare to find a hex-head bolt with that rating.