Antiseize on lug nuts

If I understand this correctly, ALL lug nut (and lug bolt) torque specs are dry specs - that is the components are not lubricated in any way.

Adding anti-seize to any component reduces the amount of torque needed to achieve the required bolt stretch - ergo, you need to reduce the amount of torque.

Also, the problem with using excessive torque on lug nuts and bolts has more to due with double and triple the amount of torque - like using a pneumatic impact gun where it is possible to get those high values. In other words, the concern about over-torquing a lug nut due to the use of anti-seize is real but over-exaggerated - which explains why there is such a debate on the subject.

So I have taken to using anti-seize only on mating surfaces of the wheel and the hub, and avoid the lug nut area altogether. Personally, I think that is where the real problems are. OTOH, I don't live in an area with high salt usage, and I am really careful to hand start all the lug nuts when I rotate tires. - and I occasionally need to chase a thread to get it to go only smoothly by hand.

My advise to others is to do the same - avoid using anti-seize on the lugs nuts and the seats of the nut to the wheel. Hand start every nut. Chase the ones that need it. Be prepared to replace a stud or nut if it binds or gets too worn. Don't use a pneumatic impact gun for final tightening. Hand torque every nut to its final position. (This last one gets some caught out as the nut has to be turning for this to be done correctly) Use a pneumatic impact gun for REMOVAL with its huge torque generation to get the lug nuts loose.

Nice recap by CapriRacer

North American auto makers specifically state that no foreign matter including paint, plating (chrome), ahesive (from cladding) or clearcoat is to be on the lug nut seats. Based on that alone, I would assume that they want a dry contact between the nut and the nut seat and fully agree with what CapriRacer has stated. Unsure if the OP is asking about the seat only or the stud threads only or both?

I'd also add to Capri's final paragraph that there are recommended patterns to use to tighten the lugs based on the bolt pattern (4, 5, 6, 8 lugs). It's not recommended to tighten one after the other in order. For example, 5 lug is tightened in a semi-star-shaped pattern, 4 lug in a cross-shaped pattern. Unfortunately, my experience is limited to design and testing, not official auto assembly.

Tire Rack recommends the following (and I'd still omit the use of lubricants and anti-sieze compounds): [URL unfurl="true"]http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=107[/url]

I also prefer to retorque after the recommended 50-100 miles any time my wheels are removed, including standard servicing (rotate and balance) of my wheels/tires.

Tim Flater
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I prefer to have anti-seize on the threads. Especially that I'm used to lug nuts not covering the stud threads and I live in a very harsh environment, so rust is a big issue and removal of nut not previously lubricated can be tedious (even impossible if you have to do it by hand to put a spare tire for example).

If anti-seize reduces the torque requirement, rust will also have the opposite effect. If it is always lubricated the same, the torque requirement will always be the same. If you got rust, the torque requirement will depends on how much rust there is. I choose the lesser of two evils.

As for anti-seize on the lug seat (which I don't see a reason to do it), I would say that it matters for flat seats only because friction would be important to resist wheel torque such that the wheel doesn't turn on the hub. With conical or ball seats, I don't see the importance for that.

The factory condition for wheel studs (in the 1960s at least) was 'clean and oiled', which was at that time stated in the official shop manuals, and was also the condition of the studs as delivered to the axle plant where I worked briefly.

I have always added a little NeverSeez or equivalent to the stud threads on first reassembly, so that field loosening by ordinary means remains possible. I do not carry an impact wrench in the car for changing tires.

As compensation for the extra lubrication, I will torque wheel nuts to the low end of the stated range.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

The only time I've used any sort of lubricant on lug threads or lug nut/washer faces is when I'm replacing the stud. It's lots easier to draw the stud's knurled section through the hole that way, and much less likely to result in thread damage.

I have also found that with alloy wheels, properly torqued lug nuts are still apt to loosen slightly in hard driving. Doesn't seem wise to do anything to the lugs or the lug nuts that would reduce friction.


Norm