Thanks for the reply Mike. From you name I assume you are something of an expert.
I do spring latches for horse trailers many with an aluminum base and SS pin. SS has gone from $1/# to $3/# rapidly and I have been forced to increase my prices in the face of brutal competition from the Chinese. So I want to switch from SS to coated MS.
www.customdie.com has several listed under hardware.
Aluminum trailers are usually rinsed in a solution of hydrocloric acid to was the weld black of and are exposed to acidic horse and cattle urine. The chief engineer at Featherlite Trailer also tells me that people will use pine chips as absorbent/cushion on the floor that soaks up the urine and ferments into even worse acidic fumes that eats zinc plating.
Some trailer makers use a xylan/xylene? teflon type coating on their fasteners. FL uses a proprietary coating from Rie Coatings in WI or MN. It seems to have a good impact resistance. It has a zinc rich bottom coat and two subsequent coating that they don't give much information about.
They charge $.50/# which is not cost prohibitive but a logistical pain because I'm in OK.
I can bake something on, check out my oven via the Ebay link on
www.customdie.com but what?
So somewhere closer to vinegar and a light tap.
Gene