Wamsutta
Well-known member
Yes I do. I paint it on the wheel lug studs with an acid brush and work it into the threads. The acid brush is key to getting the correct application.
Anti seize on wheel lugs
- Thread starter Mike99
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engineer2
Well-known member
Last time I put anti-seize on my lug studs, this is the reaction I got from the tire shop employees.
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
I suspect most of the people who are saying yes to anti-seize live in the Rust Belt. 
I put a thin film of it on the back side of the wheel, along with a tiny amount on the threads. A little of it goes a very long way, no need to slather it on.
I put a thin film of it on the back side of the wheel, along with a tiny amount on the threads. A little of it goes a very long way, no need to slather it on.
Yea didn't work well... it seized right up after a year or So...and those are 10.2 metric bolts/nuts as well... yellow zinc plated also... The ones that is closer to the heat source deteriated the fastest... the further back I have better luck... but anyways... a bit different from wheel lugs...
With anti-seize, it's like that "Franks Red Hot" commercial... only exception is critical components like head bolts and such... those you just oil with assembly lubes.
Hilltopmasonry
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2015
- Messages
- 2,172
I had a blowout on the highway and was literally pounding on the rim with a sledgehammer to get the rim off. Nothing else would work. I was just about to call the tow truck when it finally popped
I fooked that rim up bad!
After that all of my rims got a liberal dose of anti-seize and a small amount on the threads
Guys that say they have taken thousands off without issues obviously don’t live in the Rust Belt
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My sisters Benz has a little threaded rod that you can thread into one of the holes to hold the wheel up and in place while you put the wheel on. Just screw it in and hang the wheel off it while you get some lugs started.
matt_i
Well-known member
The corrosion protection (plating-ish coating) on fasteners has improved greatly over what they had even in the 1990s.
I put anti-seize on the vehicles of that era. 2000+ I do not.
I actually had to put the anti-seize on the face of the aluminum wheel which contacted the brake rotor. On those earlier cars and trucks the lugnuts would spin off easily enough, but the wheel would be corroded in place like nothing had ever happened....
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
True !
Coat the center hole in the wheel and the back face of the wheel where it contacts the rotor/flange. This is where most wheels get stuck.
......... I had to use a 2x4 and a Very BFH to break free the wheel and the rotor that is also stuck on a 2014 Honda CRV just this Summer... no Anti Seize from Factory at all... just a bit over a year since I removed the wheel the last time. Thank Goodness for long breaker bar (HF one) with a cheater bar for the lug nuts....... The neighbors thought I was crazy whamming the wheel with a BFH and a 2x4.... Just saying I don't think they improved anything... I would be glad they hadn't cut corners if anything.
I use it. People saying you'll break things are crazy. If you use a torque wrench and tighten to spec with antiseize you'll be 5-10% over nominal on clamping force, bolt stretch, than without. This is statistically meaningless. I've had a newer car, with less than 10k miles, a yr old, with a few nuts that were seized. In TN. The majority of friction, like 80%, when tightening is due to the face of the bolt or nut. Makes sense if you think about it. If you lower the friction on the threads a huge amount, say 50% with lubricant, you've introduced a 10% error. Again, meaningless. I've run the numbers with the K values of common antiseizes, loctite gives 5hem, and if used on threads only theres no issue on common fasteners. Don't use on TTY or anything with very specific instructions.
Wamsutta
Well-known member
If you take your car to a tire store with dry wheel lug studs, there's a good chance they will peel the threads off the studs when they blip it with an impact wrench.
sberry
Banned
I am going to preach again. Common penetrating spray or oil. Even works on the aluminum wheel hubs. One of the main problems with torque is not threads but the nut face and cone in the wheel. Makes the aluminum steel contact super slippery.
cherrybomb
Well-known member
I have used anti seize on wheels and the hubs for years.I believe the benefits out weigh the disadvantages, especially hear in the snow belt.When I have a garage rotate my tires,I notice some techs make a notation on the paper work.May be in case of liability,they want a sense of blame.I had a truck mechanic,I thought he was the best.He believed even a dab of grease was better than leaving the threads dry.On a semi in the salt belt,with that liquid chemical,corrosion starts quickly.He personally worked on a fleet of 45 tractors,that went thru his bay.I will be indebted to Dan for free lessions,one such is lube all threads,you'll be glad you did.
sberry
Banned
Common grease would be a little better and maybe even last longer on the hub. Some light lube reducesa little friction and keeps them from sticking. It also displaces the potential to keep water from migrating in.
I noticed my 84 Midliner had just nubs of nuts and threats left on frame bolts, would have thought oh **** but they come loose consistently and threads look brand new inside. They must have been very specific and QC oriented when assembled.
I noticed my 84 Midliner had just nubs of nuts and threats left on frame bolts, would have thought oh **** but they come loose consistently and threads look brand new inside. They must have been very specific and QC oriented when assembled.
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ex-x-fire
Well-known member
There was a question about this in the last ASE test I took.
jayoldschool
Well-known member
Don't feel bad, lots of mechanics do the wrong thing. Like putting grease or anti-seize on lug threads.
To all of you that do this: stop. Sooner or later, you are going to lose a wheel from broken lugs.
jayoldschool
Well-known member
Ottawa. Think Buffalo with more road salt. No anti-seize. Clean, dry threads. Just like they're supposed to be.
You know it's wrong... but you won't stop...
You know it's wrong... but you won't stop...
bpjr
Well-known member
I'm on the coast of Florida and been maintaining my cars since the 1960s. Never put anti seize on lugnuts and never a problem. Been dunking boat trailer wheels in salt water since the 1960s too and don't use it on them either. The trailer wheels get removed every couple yrs to check bearings. The only thing I do on boat trailer lugs is smear grease on the back and front of hub before installation and on lug nuts after they are already tight. It appears to migrate around and provide a protective coating. The only time I use antiseize on anything is when mfgs spec it.
anndel
Well-known member
I don't use any.
xin
Well-known member
Hmm... wonder if this fella travels around thinkin I ran across some 'Hercules' tightened oil filter on a used Blazer I bought.
kctyphoon
Banned
Why would anit seize make a wheel fall off??????????
What magic bullet physics are being used explain this?
Is it the same people saying this that say driving on a tire with a plug in the tire is deadly???
What magic bullet physics are being used explain this?
Is it the same people saying this that say driving on a tire with a plug in the tire is deadly???
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nelstomlinson
Well-known member
I never assemble threads dry. Everything gets either loctite or antiseize. Usually a torque spec gives a wide acceptable range: use the low end of the range for lubed fasteners. It the spec calls for torque, the application isn't critical enough to worry about. If the spec calls for an angle or measured elongation, the lube doesn't change anything.
AreYaSerious
Well-known member
I wouldn't recommend it actually to be honest.
2ndGearRubber
Well-known member
In what universe will this ever happen?
I deal with thousands of lugs (sickening really). 5 lugs per wheel, assuming 1 wheel removed per car (VERY conservative average), 10 cars a day. That's 50 lug nuts per day, 250 per week, 1000 a month, 12000 lug nuts removed/installed by me every year. This a bare minimum number.
Snapping lugs comes from a few circumstances:
A) The threads are stretched/damaged - happens with or without lube. Some people get retarded with the impact guns
B) Rust penetration - capless lug nut not removed for a year plus in crusty conditions. Usually thumping it back and forth knocks the rust all out, 99% of the time
C) It was crossed on.
The number one cause of stud replacement, is rounded off lug nut. Usually either 19mm whose cap fell off (18mm then) then got rounded with 19s, or they swole up and someone butchered the removal. Most of the local shops refer any customers to me, "that guy at shop X, he gets anything off". Yeah, sometimes you drill them out, takes about 5 actual minutes with real drill bits, then you swap the stud. Honestly the stud replacement can be a lot tougher than drilling out the lugs.
I deal with maybe 15 a year? Retarded over tightening stretching threads, which ends up in someones bay whose service advisor refuses to even try to sell lug nuts (they up-sold that free rotate though). Or the customer just refuses like 99.9999999% do. It's like selling hood struts, customer never opens the hood, why would they care if the hood stays open? The lugs go on tight as hell, and you gun them down. A single over tightening will not ruin lug nuts/studs. Lubrication or grease will not either. If a lug fails, it was either crossed on blatantly, or a long time coming. Usually it's the latter.
Wheels fall off for 1 reason - nobody tightening the lug nuts. Had a guy come in last week, ran the lugs on with a cordless drill. Guess how ovaled out those wheels were.
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Corvette0096
New member
Farm equipment its a must.
sberry
Banned
There was a website dedicated to this. I forget where it was at. A couple engineers did it. It wasn't very popular but one said,,, some will never understand it.
Idea is that a specified torque translates fairly well to a load on the bolt.
If you change the friction, and keep the same torque, the load changes (higher in the case of lube). They're worried you'll exceed the yield strength and break the bolt.
but i think the margin is fat enough it doesnt matter, in this case.
If you change the friction, and keep the same torque, the load changes (higher in the case of lube). They're worried you'll exceed the yield strength and break the bolt.
but i think the margin is fat enough it doesnt matter, in this case.
Wamsutta
Well-known member
If the stud seizes to the nut, or if the nut seizes to the stud, when bubba goes to take an impact to it, something is going to give way. Either the threads are going to peel off the stud, or the threads are going to peel off the nut. Sometimes the stud might even snap. All because people are too lazy to paint on some anti-seize.
2ndGearRubber
Well-known member
Why would it seize though?
Corrosion, thread stretch, cross-threading. How else is a steel nut on a steel stud going to seize?
Corrosion, thread stretch, cross-threading. How else is a steel nut on a steel stud going to seize?
Wamsutta
Well-known member
It doesn't even have to seize, friction alone can damage the threads; that's why I oil everything that has threads.
leadfoot415
Well-known member
Anti-seize only on the pilot bore of the hub to wheel area, use a brown roloc cookie (or the like) and clean up the backside of the wheel so it doesn't have 1/4" of corrosion built up on the flat face and the taper, run em down evenly with a proper torque stick socket (not an extension). Ford approved way...
Firebrick43
Well-known member
Farm equipment, budd wheels on semis, and michilin truck tires that last 90k, in a rust state, yea, they get cop Graf. And I use a torque wrench.
People are worried about anti seize but yet let shops use torque sticks or impacts????
People are worried about anti seize but yet let shops use torque sticks or impacts????
There is nothing on any of my vehicles that requires the R&R of a wheel that I cannot do myself. When I need tire service, I remove the wheel(s) and take it to the shop in one of my other vehicles.
Had new tires put on my truck before an 1100 mile road trip towing a 5000lb trailer. An hour into the trip, I felt a vibration and heard a squeak. Pulled over, found out the wheels on the driver's side never got their lugs tightened. The other side was fine.
Had a nail in a tire fixed once. 200lb gorilla with an impact put the lugs back on. Either he cross threaded all five, or cranked them on so hard he deformed the studs. I couldn't get any of them off...by hand or with an impact. Ended up spending hours drilling, grinding, and cursing.
Most people using torque sticks and torque wrenches alike use them improperly.
WittHay
Well-known member
Never have used anti-seize on passenger vehicles. Used it on trailers, farm wagons and outer budd nuts on semis. Farm trucks, equipment and large fine thread things like hitch balls, I use a spray called Moovitt
My thought is if you remove the lug nuts or wheel bolts from your daily driver with a impact and you cannot easily turn them back on by hand something is wrong. A spray of some kind or a dab of antiseize will help put them back on, but the proper way is installed dry. Of course there is always exceptions
My thought is if you remove the lug nuts or wheel bolts from your daily driver with a impact and you cannot easily turn them back on by hand something is wrong. A spray of some kind or a dab of antiseize will help put them back on, but the proper way is installed dry. Of course there is always exceptions