Ever Have Trouble finding Bolts/Fasteners?

[F100Panel]

This is waaaaay off topic but may apply. Ever have an issue getting the right bolts for these bikes?:bang head: I have in my garage a Cub Cadet 27HP Diesel 4x4 tractor I'm putting a new head on. Factory/Dealer repair manual gives 2 torque settings for the head bolts & while the head bolts are the same physical size, the only difference is a whole number stamped on the bolt head. In my case on some of the bolts #10 & some bolts #13. That don't correlate to any common hardeness scale & the bolts are neither 8 nor 9 MM, something in between. After much asking around on Cub Cadet websites the members there /much like this forum & the members here... researched & found Japan has gone to a new fastener neither metric nor SAE. They use JIS- Japaneses Industrial Standard. Sizes & thread pitch similar to MM bolts & sometimes the MM bolts will reluctantly wind in but would be T-R-O-U-B-L-E for anything critical like a head or brake/suspension item. In my Case Cub Cadet was bought by MTD & Cub stopped ordering parts for the 13 year old ($18000 in 1997 money tractor) Mitsubishi built tractors/If it ain't in stock, it's not available from Cub/they sell cheaper YanMar Tractors now. MTD Destroys anything the buy out. They buy the Name brand/respected lable & then put the label on their cheaper junk charging the same money till the public catches on.. Those Cub Cadets you see at Home depot for example are the same tin tractors you can buy from Wal-Marts in a differrent color, both made like paper by MTD..To make things worse like my needing a new head, Cub won't order a head/they have none & Mitsubishi won't sell you a head cause they require a serial number to sell you anything & as soon the the serial number comes back Cub, Mitsubishi tells you thats a Cub engine & their proprietary agreement with Cub says you have to get it from Cub Cadet... What a cluster that was.. Anyway Now I'm putting it back together & trying to find out which bolts get which torque. Cub don't care/they are YanMar focused now & the local Cub dealers don't know & can't find out either.. I did an internet search & found 1 company in Mass. http://www.nutsandbolts.com/jis.html who sells JIS Bolts.
They are closed until Monday due to the Holiday but I'm hoping they can give me the torque numbers I need...
I guess the moral of what I'm trying to say is, if you can't get a millimeter (MM) bolt to fit your application on a critacal piece, there's a reason for that & likely you will have to go back to the dealer or try the link I put up if the dealer can't get your bolt. Millimeter IF you can get it to go in is DEFINATELY NOT the same thread pitch & will compromise the threads on whatever you force them into..

 

[twistedmax]

Hey man,small world Ive been there, northeastfasteners is 20 minutes from my place. If I can help you to get anything let me know.

 

[one2dmax]

I sell ARP studs and can possibly set you up with a stud that is stronger then stock. I have a huge bucket full of nuts/bolts from vmax/ventures that if you see any that would help let me know. We have a "Fastenall" near me too. Lastly I can also get a few different chromed and stainless items. I will say that bolts are NOT cheap and something I have taken for granted for a long time.

Sean