Thoughts on using anti-seize on lug studs

Just spent my evening cutting a lugnut off my o/t daily ride with a die grinder. Lugnut seized and spun the stud in the rotor, so out came the die grinder. No biggie though, I love using cutting tools on polished Halibrands..... Any thoughts?

 

Worlds biggest retail chain aka Walmart makes their automotive dept employees who work on tire side use a copper based anti-sieze on every vehicle, to avoid buying as many lug studs. They pounded that into my head when I worked there, and I still use it.

 

Thanks for the input. Looks like I'll be steppin up when Halibrands go back on.

 

I use anti-size on all lug nuts/wheel bolts..even light film on the taper..They tighten easier with more accurate clamping and they loosen easier when time to remove..win/win...never have had any get loose on their own...

 

Same here. Nothing but good.

Bob

 

Been using it for years.

 

The key word when using anti-seize is "sparingly"...........no need for slathering it on, especially on wheeel studs. Too much and you'll have it slung all over the wheels and tires the first time you drive over 10 MPH.

Frank

 

the wheels on my ssei bonneville froze on.. aluminum wheels to the out side of the lug nuts! we heated them with the torch and let them cool they were a bitch to get loose!!! now i use anti-seize on the out side of the lug nuts

 

Been using it on wheel studs for 20 years.It works.

 

Go for it , I've never had any come loose and makes wheel changes somewhat more blissful .

 

Biggest problem I have with anti seize is too many people slather it on like peanut butter.

As someone here (can't remember who) once eloquently said, "Take a flypoop sized blob of anti seize and you can paint your house with it."

If the lug nuts are torqued properly, anti-seize or not, they won't come loose.

 

they key to all your problems is locktight!

Its great when you buy a car that some moron used red locktight on the wheelstuds instead of antiseize.

Fuckers.

Ended up breakin em all off.

 

marty, just a little map gas and after the POP they will come loose with impact. the key is the heat with red loctite.

 

well where were you like 8 months ago!

I cracked a good impact socket!

 

I've done it both ways and I can agree with either, that said, after 20 years in the wheel & tire/automotive buisiness I believe....if wheel studs are clean and dry and lug nuts are NOT OVER TORQUED they will not seize. The main reason for lugnuts seizing is thread stretch from over tightening....period.

 

My biggest problem with anti-seize is me forgetting to use it.

 

Very true. I very often come across customer's lugnuts that are hammered on with an impact. Threads stretched. and the taper on the lugnut deformed. Putting 200 ft. lbs. of torque on a lug nut that is supposed to be 80 ft. lbs. is not a good idea, and no anti-seize, or grease, or whatever will prevent the resulting damage. I recall reading somewhere in a training manual to NEVER use lubricant on a wheel stud. Maybe it was an ASE prep. for the test book. Sounds like lawyer protection more than anything else.
Not sure about that "rule", there are exceptions to almost every rule, and a few examples in this thread. My best advice is to tell the tire place what torque you want your lug nuts set to, and check them before you drive away.

 

Everything I was taught in school said to install lug nuts dry. One shop I was in used brake hardware lube on lug nuts. I started using a light wipe of never-seize on just about anything for under-car work, even on exhaust hardware. Just a little but is all you need and dirt cheap insurance.

Bob

 

Been using it on wheel studs and sparking plugs on aluminum heads since the early 80's.
As mentioned earlier "sparingly" is a key word. My freind Neal says "you can paint your house with a thimble full of that stuff".LMAO

 

It's a little known fact that the next thing Archimedes invented after the screw was anti-sieze.

Bob

 

I remember reading the "no lube" rule myself a hunert yrs. ago. Thats why I posted the thread. As far as over tightening, always in sequence first to 50ftlbs then 100ftlbs. Stud is 14mm. And thanx to all for the help!

 

Anything that has threads should be lubricated in my opinion.

 

I've never ever ever used anything on the lug nuts of any machine less than 10,000 capacity. Proper torque and clean threads are the number one way to put on lug nuts. It frightens me that so many of you use a lubricant to keep their wheels on.

Tirerack.com quote.. "
Once you have completed your test fit, we suggest removing the wheel and applying a thin coating of anti-seize around the axle hubs to help prevent rust and permit easier removal when it's time to rotate your tires. Do not apply anti-seize compound to the lug hardware or studs."

 

I wonder how rods bolts and mains stay tight. I not only oil them when installing, but they ride in a bath of oil...

I put a sparing amount on my studs & hubs.

I have also run with scissors. ;-0

 

Engine bolts are another thing altogether. I use ARP fastener assembly lube now, and I used motor oil before as a means of applying proper torque to fasteners. The problem with using anti seize is that it has a tendency to allow the user to overtorque a bolt, causing thread deformation and over stretching of the fastener. Oil and fastener assembly lube prevent the deformation of fasteners due to overtorquing. I won't google it for you but if you paste the phrase "anti seize allows too much torque" in google you will get sufficient information.

It seems to me the vast majority of problems I hear both in this thread and in the real world are directly related to:
1. Lug nut previously put on with an impact and overtorqued.
2. Lug nut rusted on solid.

The only time one should use anti-seize is to prevent galling with dissimilar metals like stainless and aluminum.

I'm not going to try to convince anyone otherwise, but I will follow the manufacturer's recommendation on what I put together. Use fasteners in good repair and assemble them in the way the manufacturer recommends. In some cases, like big trucks, oil or fastener assembly lube is actually recommended (torque in excess of 500 lb-ft). I can't remember any manufacturer of any vehicle less than 1.5 tons that specifically says use anti seize on lug nuts. Anti seize, as far as I know, has not been recommended by any manufacturer except the manufacturer of the lubricant. I hope I'm not behind or in front of any of you guys when you break off a few studs and your wheel comes flying off.

 

I also use antiseize on the wheel studs, torque 'em at 90ftlbs, and if it's an aluminum wheel it's coated where it's in contact with the drum or disc, salted roads up here!

 

I have been using "Never-Seize" for years working on heavy equipment. Most of this equipment is in the harbor/waterfront or in marine applications - too many problems with salt water and salty air. Over the past few years Chemical manufacturers have developed a "white anti-seize" which seems to work quite well.

As many have previously said, most if not all manufacturers do not recommend using anti-seize on lug bolts/studs. I would have to agree if the fastener is properly torqued I can not see a possibility of loosing up by using anti-seize. In fact at work, I have the reputation of using anti-seize on all external fasteners on heavy equipment. It's not fun trying to remove a frozen bolt or nut-large or small, especially when you might not have access to a torch [Victor wrench] to remove it.

 

also it may be technically illegal to use antiseize on lugs/studs.......don`t let a DOT see it, have had to go pick up over-the-road big trucks from scale before for antiseize on the threads........true story........donno if it was real or not, but the cop redtagged trucks for it.........and on smaller mostly OT cars, if you overtighten the lugs, you can warp rotors......have replaced warped rotors because of it before......torque to specs, the angle of the wheel and nut is designed to do most of the work, not the he-man tighness of them.......

 

It's written on pretty much every loctite bottle too..

 

Just reminding, my problem with anti seize is NOT loosening. It's overtorquing and damaging the nut/stud which can lead to failure down the road. I never said they would loosen.