Can bolts and nuts be reused?
As for the bolt, probably yes. As for the nut, probably not. If the assembly was properly tightened the first time, the bolt will not have been stretched beyond its yield point. When disassembled, it will relax to its original condition, making it perfectly suitable for reuse. The nut, on the other hand, will have had its threads distorted as a result of the first assembly. The first three threads of a nut experience a tremendous amount of tension in a bolt and nut assembly. Simply stated, it is most likely that there would no longer be a perfect match between the bolt and nut threads because of this permanent distortion. It would be impossible to know what the proper assembly torque value should be for the second assembly.
