galvanetic affect?

Can I use stainless steel nuts and washers with a galvanized carriage bolts with steel tie-down clips? Going to bolt on tie-down clips to the bed of my trailer. The nuts and washer will be exposed on the under side of the trailer while the tie-downs and carriage bolt head will be on the top side. Also, do you think just bolting to the wood bed is good enough or should I also drill through the angle bar supporting the wood bed? These tie-downs will not be meant as the main method to secure any load. Just to help steady the loads. All major securing will be to the trailer itself.

 

I don't see a problem. Galvanic corrosion is also known as dissimilar metal corrosion (or effect). You're just using two forms of steel, in addition to which both are corrosion-resistant. And I would opt for the better of the two anchoring methods, just in case of need for stronger holddown.

 

When in doubt use stainless!

There is quite a range of galvanic values for stainless steel and zinc is way at one end. So, unless you know which type stainless it could be close or relatively far away on the galvanic scale. Still, even poorly matched stainless will resist corrosion better than a lightly plated zinc nut and washer. Down at the coast I always use stainless even against hot dip galvanized hardware and even in a salt environment don't really have trouble with galvanic corrosion or what there is is very minor. The important thing is that the stainless nuts and bolts are solid and still be easily removed 5 or 10 years later.

 

Thanks to both of you for the replies.


I'll use some Loctite anti-seize compound on the threads. Use to use on muffle clamp bolts and never had a problem removing them.

I also plane on putting a couple lighter duty tie-downs on the sides about mid-way. The trailer does not have any hook points in the middle part of the frame. I assume that's because they don't want you to load in the middle but try to load at the front closest to the tow vehicle for stability.