Originally Posted by
TearlessTom
I took the OEM bolt with me to ACE Hardware. It is an 8mm with a 1.0 thread pitch. Total cost was $4.50 as the brass spacer was $3.50 and the stainless steel bolt was $.95.
The brass spacer will get shorter as the screw is tightened, tubes are poor when it comes to compressive loads.
Depending how thick the wall of the tube is it may slowly get loose as the screw comes undone due to vibration. The recommended torque setting will not be maintained, so use some low strength Loctite.
I am pointing out the worst case scenario, it might be OK, but I would not do this.
Even a steel tube is weak, just not so weak as brass.