I also at times buy from a local hardware store as well as from
McMaster-Carr,
Belmetric,
Fastenal, and a local company here call
BoltDepot. My main reason for using these other sites instead of a local store is the selection of available coatings. With all the salt around here I like to use at least Zinc Yellow Chromate plating. My local ACE has quite a few metric bolts with this coating but not everything.
To me, the biggest drawback of McMaster is that you often cannot get single fasteners. The will likely have exactly what you need but you may have to buy anywhere from 5-50 bolts or nuts etc. At the other sites I listed you can get items in whatever number you want, but sometimes they are cheaper if you order more. At BoltDepot, I can order online and then just go and pick up the order, so no shipping. BoltDepot doesn't have a better coating then Zinc plating however. Too bad because there prices are really good as well.
The poster mentioned that these are M10 bolts, but you also have to know the grade of the material, the thread pitch, and the length. I think that you should also pay attention to whether or not it's a bolt, a bolt and separate washer, a flange bolt, a nut and washer, a flange nut, etc, and stick with the original design, though I certainly haven't always done that. Nuts and washers should match the material grade and coating of the bolt.
The material for this part would have to be either Class 8.8 or Class 10.9 steel but I suppose either would work. That would mean that they are likely coarse pitch at 1.5mm, so you would be looking for M10x1.5mm hex bolts or flange bolts. This is only a guess and I don't remember the length at all. As you might guess Ford doesn't exactly spell it out on their website. They would rather have you pay them $4-$5 for each bolt instead of the $0.50 or so from one of these sites. You do have to figure shipping though as sites like McMaster always charge separately for shipping. If these are say M10-1.5mm x 50mm Class 10.9 Zinc Yellow Chromate plated hex bolts, you would have to buy a pack of 10 at McMaster for $12 plus shipping. In that case, for one bolt $4 at the dealer would be a better deal, plus you get it today if they have it. I generally buy from McMaster when I have quite a few items since the shipping often doesn't change with volume.
For a part like this you could always take one off and take it to a local store to find out what it is. I keep a tray full of labeled nuts and bolts to use to figure out what I need. I got tired of running down to ACE to check a bolt. They probably got tired of me as well. Keep in mind that if there are 4 bolts holding a part onto the engine block, they may not all be the same. I know that the 3 idlers don't all use the same length bolts.
LMHmedchem
