Has anyone replaced their steel mainfold bolts / studs with Stainless?
Is it a good idea?
If so, shouldered like the originals or straight threads? I am leaning towards the straight threads as they will not have any potential areas of weakness at the shoulders where they normally break.
At some point in the UK due to the salt on the roads the manifold / headers will rot through and in anticipation of this I was wondering if this was worthwhile as a precaution?
My US bike has not seen salt yet so in theory the current bolts should come out relatively easily and as I will be doing some work on the front end of the bike with new brake lines etc could be an ideal time to do this.

 

Living in AZ we don't know what rust even looks like so I've never done it, but I would use the same shoulder on the bolts. They are not a stressed part so I'm not worried about strength or them breaking.

 

Thanks boredandstroked, yes unfortunately the dreaded rust is one of the more delightful aspects of living in this green and pleasant land.....
My main concern was the potential corrosion related to SS studs in the aly head, as you can imagine on google their are many differing views and a lot of people are selling SS studs so is it a problem or not (also many different views).
I do believe Suzuki actually have SS studs as oem fit.
If the studs stay in I will probably just replace the nuts with copper / brass domes so at least they are sacrificial.
Cheers
Al

 

Stainless or not, its still steel bolts in an aluminum head. The difference being the stock steel can rust in place, the stainless should not. Good luck!

 

Thanks