Stainless Bash Plates - Long term Use Reports

[L200Shogun]

I don't want to be a thread dumper and ask in a Custom Off Road thread on bash plates.
Has any long term user of Stainless Steel bash plates any make ever suffered from stress cracks in the plates?

[NowForThe5th]

All good mate. Probably needed a place of its own so we can gather others experiences.

[L200Shogun]

Thanks 5th
Just a result of a comment on FB about creep fractures in stainless steel. Got me thinking

[Greedy]

Mine is a bit battered but for all intents and purposes, it is as good as new. It is also the prototype by Buzzy. I have replaced the rear steel Mitsy plate with ss. Can't remember who supplied but also going strong.

[Cowboy Dave]

I saw that post on Facebook too and my immediate (but uninformed) reaction was that it sounded like bullshit.

[charger265]

There is some truth to the statement.
With out going into to much detail in material science stainless steel 304 will fatigue slower than mild steel.
But once a crack has formed it will grow at a much higher/faster rate.

So in short a SS bash plates weight for weight is a stronger option and has much better protective qualities over mild steel. But in a poorly made SS bash plates (eg made in a way that caused structural damage to the grain structure) there will be cracking at a much earlier stage than the same produced in mild steel.

[Cowboy Dave]

How would you damage the grain? Are we talking heat, or just bending? Or something else?

Doesn't bother me as I have galvanised steel but it's good to learn new stuff and plenty of other people have stainless.

[al coholic]

Has any long term user of Stainless Steel bash plates any make ever suffered from stress cracks in the plates?

All good. I've given mine a fair workout too, drive it like i stole it

[Monkeyz]

The trick is to use nylon bushes at the bolt points, for 2 main reasons

1, isolation of dissimilar metals - SS will utilize the mild steel of ya chassis as a sacrificial anode if in direct contact so by using nylon plugs in the bolt holes isolates the materials so no galvanic reaction can occur.....

2, Stress fractures will tend to occur at high stress points i.e. where the bolts are so the nylon bushes act like a shock absorber removing much of the stress load..

thats my 2 cents spent....

Mojo....

[triton_guru]

Best mates d40 started to get cracks around the bolt holes after a simpson trip, so we made a 4mm mild steel one the same time i made my one, no sign of cracking yet and has been on for twice the time the stainless one including another simpson trip

[Monkeyz]

Now im gettin curious, I would like to see if there is a correlation between cutting method and failures, plasma cutters or any other heat cutter can crystallize (term can cover carbon loading or contaminate introduction the the steel matrix generally silica) the steel at the cut point, water jets and cold cutters don't so my mind leads me to think maybe the ones failing at the bolt holes are hot cut .........Would make an interesting study..

Mojo....

[charger265]

How would you damage the grain? Are we talking heat, or just bending? Or something else?

The grain can be damaged in a few ways.
1/ Bends in the parent metal that are either too sharp a bend or caused cracking at the edge of the parent metal
2/ Heat will temper S/S and allow contaminants to penetrate the outer coating (chromium) it will also alter the grain structure creating a high stress area which will lead to a weak point. This is why you generally see a crack develop alongside a welded area and not the welded area on stainless and other alloys

Mind you in almost all cases you will not have an issue unless they are used in a high vibration environment where some form of shock protection or dampening is not used.
But we equip them to our 4x4's and its a direct bolt to the chassy and used as a high impact area... This results in a higher degree of cracking over steel.

Now im gettin curious, I would like to see if there is a correlation between cutting method and failures, plasma cutters or any other heat cutter can crystallize (term can cover carbon loading or contaminate introduction the the steel matrix generally silica) the steel at the cut point, water jets and cold cutters don't so my mind leads me to think maybe the ones failing at the bolt holes are hot cut .........Would make an interesting study..

I would love to find out more about this also.... I can tell you one thing tho...
When welding hot cut steel you will have tiny inclusions floating in the weld pool area but cold cut steel you dont see this as much if at all.... So i think you may be onto something here mojo

[s13tsilvia]

my 3mm ss ones are going fine, have had to rebend them to fit correctly as they have had quite a few knocks which bent em out of shape, all my holes for bolts are slot cuts, not actual holes and i havent noticed any cracking.

my mechanic complained about the plates being bent and bastard to get on / off so he fixed em up for me lol.

[deermaster]

Mine have done a lot of hard miles and been bent a few times and copped a lot of hard knocks, Thanks Mitch they are still going strong and reckon they must have saved me a few dollars by now

[Headley]

Anyone ever used some 315 ss? Or would that be way to exxy? lol

[charger265]

As far as 304 vs 316... Stainless steel 304 is better for bash plates over 316

Yes 316 has better corrosion resistance but you dont keep your vehicle in salt water so no benefit

316 is stronger and will not deform as easy as 304 but has a much higher degree of cracking/breaking
304 has a much higher ability to absorb energy without breaking
so in this situation having the steel deform is better than breaking

So in short if you are after Stainless steel bash plates then 304 would be my pick