Lube the lugs?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: JRed
I'd never put anti-seize on a wheel stud. Clean 'em with a wire brush as well as you can and that's that.


+1
Have always done that. Those nuts are one of the few I never use anti-seize or any other lubricant on.
 
You do not lube lug nuts or studs. Torque value is based on DRY studs and nuts. You can clean them with a wire brush and perhaps spray them with brake cleaner or something but don't oil them, grease them or anti-sieze them!
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Rotating my tires today, the lugs are getting a little tight, corroded, dirty, etc. I was thinking about wiping the threads mildly with a rag spayed with a small amount of Kroil.

safe?


When I used my personal vehicle on a rural mail route I would put a little grease on the threads. Never had one loosen and it made changing, rotation and brake work just a little easier. I never ran hub caps or wheel covers and the winter weather and road treatment could be brutal on the lug nuts and studs.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
If a lug nut is properly torqued, it will not be hard to removed.


And yet - I torque mine myself - every time. The ONE time in the last few years I DID NOT use a small amount of anti-seize, I needed a cheater to get most of the lugs off.
 
Also if you have thread chasers you can run them over the studs and nuts to clean them out and keep them true. Just did that to my F100 when I had the wheels off to paint the rims.
 
Originally Posted By: tbm3fan
Also if you have thread chasers you can run them over the studs and nuts to clean them out and keep them true. Just did that to my F100 when I had the wheels off to paint the rims.


When I got my old Legacy a few of the nuts were very hard to get on and off - the threads were slightly pushed. I didn't chase the threads, but dressed them and replaced the worse nuts with new, and man what a difference. I was able to loosen every nut on that 200k mile car by hand after they were broken off of their seat.
 
For truck wheel studs, it is specified to use two drops of oil on each stud before running down the lug nut.

As eljefino said, make sure not to mess with the acorn contact face. That's probably where most of the torque resistance comes from.
 
I put 2 drops of 3in1 oil on the studs of all my vehicles, properly torqued they are good to go
beer3.gif
 
I use antiseize on the stud threads and lugnut seats. I also torque the lugs to 80% of stated requirement. The reduced torque value accomodates the reduced rotational thread friction, due to the lubricant, that normally "wastes" some of the torque that would otherwise (non-permanently) stretch the lug stud.

This technique is per a technical paper from the Budd Wheel Company that directly addressed thread galling, and included automotive stud sizes/threads in the discussion.
I have done this for many, many years without issue- no stretched studs, no stripped nuts, no wheel lug seat damage, no corroded hardware.
 
ALWAYS put antiseize on my threads. I reduce torque by 20% to adjust for the lubricant.

I never had a lug nut loosen up over time. I check them a day after and one week after remounting the wheel and never had ANY slippage. The nuts come off like butter and just so much nicer to work with.
 
I have always used Never*Seez over the last 40 yrs. Never an issue and I don't have to reapply every time I remove the wheels. Only once in a while now, I'll have to reapply some. I have kept vehicles as long as 18 years in this salt ridden climate and never had to replace a stud or have a lug nuts come loose for my own vehicles.

I have talked to many folks over the years, who have had lug nuts coming loose no matter what they did(how thight). I think it was specific to their vahicle. Something wasn't right in their case(s).

On these folks vehicles, I think that over time, some or a bunch of mechanic(s)/tire shop(s) or different garages were over tightening the lug nuts time and time and time again and the threads on the lugs themselves have stretched, causing the nuts to come loose while driving.

Ya see, I just don't have issues when I work on my own vehicles!
 
Last edited:
It's funny that the anti antiseize camp is mostly down south and most of the pro-antiseize people are up north.

Personally I HAVE to do it. I've had way too many cars that I torque the studs down with a torque wrench then weld themselves on. When I buy my cars used it can be almost impossible to get the studs out.

Could it be that wheel studs like my euro cars use are more exposed to road salt since the back of the hub is exposed? And that the nut-on-stud style everyone else uses tends to stay cleaner since the studs are generally covered up?
 
That is why I do it... Salt/rust. I had times where I thought I was going to snap a stud because the nut had rusted on a bit. Some crazy noises when removing those nuts, not to mention the force needed to dislodge them.

So I wirebrushed the studs really good and applied a smear of anti-seize on each one. Ever since, they come off like butter. I love it. Every year I will re-apply a tiny amount when rotating tires and such.

They don't normally recommend it due to liability reasons, but it perfectly safe. The only risk you run is over-torquing the nuts. But that is why you should reduce torque 15-20% specified to that specific car. My car is normally like 78-80ft/lbs, so I now do 65 ft/lbs. None ever have come loose or lost any torque when re-checked.

I learned my lesson with cars here in Cleveland that I work on (family fleet). Lubricate everything and anything you can (safely). Makes life so much easier down the line.
 
I put Ceramlube on just about any fastner that I take off of a car. I've never had anything loosen or break from torque.

Makes later removal much easier.
 
I use waste oil when I change a tire on:

The hub, the back of the drum, the lugs. One reason is aluminum and steel wheels like to seize on the hub, lug studs get rusty and also , if there's any [censored] on the studs, you can get a false reading while trying to tighten.

I've only had 2 wheels come lose; that happened after I decided to NOT lube the lugnuts when changing to summer tires.
 
Here's what BMW says on the matter:

"Do not apply oil to new wheel bolts.
In the case of used wheel bolts, apply an extremely thin coating of engine oil to the threads and tapers before reinstalling them."
 
Originally Posted By: E365
Here's what BMW says on the matter:

"Do not apply oil to new wheel bolts.
In the case of used wheel bolts, apply an extremely thin coating of engine oil to the threads and tapers before reinstalling them."

That's probably because the original Dacromet coating gets abraded off the wheel bolt surface during service. Dacromet is very much like antiseize, except it uses a paint-like carrier instead of an oil carrier.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
brake dust sticking to wheels
Replies
12
Views
636
nthach
tbm5690
Frustrating Experience at Sam's
2
Replies
28
Views
8K
Sayjac
Patman
Tire shop over torqued my wheels
2 3
Replies
52
Views
2K
odie
G
Normal for more tire wear in front?
2 3
Replies
43
Views
2K
z71bill
irv
One piece chrome lug nuts for 17 Impala?
Replies
6
Views
628
paulo57509
Back
Top Bottom