Can somebody explain to me why ANY aftermarket vendor would be using non-metric fasteners on their stuff?  Does any auto manufacturer, even in the US, still use "inch" nuts and bolts?

I was putting my belly armor back on the Gnewt last night.  3/4" nuts & bolts in the front, next pair back is 1/2"  (but that pair MIGHT be 12mm, as it goes into existing threaded holes in the crossmember, and then 9/16" for the next set back.  And my Calmini Anvil has 5/16" hex head "bolts" on the fill and drain plugs.

Heck ESPECIALLY Calmini, who makes stuff for Suzuki, Isuzu, and Nissan - you would expect THEM to be metric, but noooo...

Why is it that when I buy after-market parts, I now have to carry twice as many tools?
 

Just guessing, but I would think it is a cost thing But it is annoying as hell trying to remember wich is metric and wich is standard  I think my very first lift kit came with standard bolts to replace the stock metric so I took them to the Nuts and Bolts store and bought metric replacements and gave the standard stuff to my Jeep friend.

Zig

Just guessing, but I would think it is a cost thing But it is annoying as hell trying to remember wich is metric and wich is standard  I think my very first lift kit came with standard bolts to replace the stock metric so I took them to the Nuts and Bolts store and bought metric replacements and gave the standard stuff to my Jeep friend.

Zig

My Jeeps have as much Metric stuff as SAE from the factory and some weird pitch stuf that I had to order from Mcmaster carr cause I lost a couple. I say switch the whole world to Metric, a much easier system.



Wayne

Can somebody explain to me why ANY aftermarket vendor would be using non-metric fasteners on their stuff?  Does any auto manufacturer, even in the US, still use "inch" nuts and bolts?

I was putting my belly armor back on the Gnewt last night.  3/4" nuts & bolts in the front, next pair back is 1/2"  (but that pair MIGHT be 12mm, as it goes into existing threaded holes in the crossmember, and then 9/16" for the next set back.  And my Calmini Anvil has 5/16" hex head "bolts" on the fill and drain plugs.

Heck ESPECIALLY Calmini, who makes stuff for Suzuki, Isuzu, and Nissan - you would expect THEM to be metric, but noooo...

Why is it that when I buy after-market parts, I now have to carry twice as many tools?
 

Yeah that annoys me too. I wrecked one bolt installing my body lift because it never even occured to me that they would be anything other than metric.

it's even more frustrating when you work on cars all day long(like me). you would think that an american vehicle would be all SAE, but no its half and half. i think its a plan so us mechanics have to buy twice as many tools!

derek

When I did my lift, I replaced all the hardware with SAE stuff... matched the hardware I got from Calmini, but kinda sucked since I ended up with suspension that was SAE, and engine/body/chassis stuff that was metric

I have been trying to stick to all metric hardware on mine...

I noticed a similar trend in scaled down r/c's. People would buy a Tamiya Clodbuster Monster truck kit(which comes with ALL metric hardware), then buy or build an aftermarket custom chassis for it using SAE hardware. It never made sense to me. I use all metric whenever possible...