[TowerTalk] Aluminum towers

[Cqtestk4xs at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/24/2006 5:36:07 P.M. Greenwich Standard Time,  
daweezil2003 at yahoo.com writes:

I'm  pretty sure you can get stainless steel bolts at least to grade 5 that 
you  could use. Just be sure to use some sort of thread compound like Locktite 
or  equal to prevent seizing
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I don't know if Universal or Heights recommend stainless or not, but over  
the years I've had a few aluminum towers as tall as 96 feet.  I've  found:
 
1.  Putting lithium grease or some sort of anti-oxidant in the joint  sure 
helps get them apart later.
2.  Overtightening the bolts is easy to do and can make disassembly  almost 
impossible later, since the outside tube distorts inward acting as a vise  when 
trying to take them apart.
3.  I've NEVER had a bolt work its way loose.
4.  Aluminum tower tends to egg out on the holes from the flex in  winds.  My 
solution was to lightly guy the tower to stop the swing.
5.  Galvanized bolts create a galvanic reaction that really corrodes  the 
aluminum at the joint area.  I switched to stainless and that did the  trick.
6  Getting the steel pipe off a bottom section in one piece is a total  
exercise in futility.
 
Bill K4XS