Lubricating Lug Threads and Nuts - Good idea or bad ???

Have heard this argument before, but it has never happened to me. If you torque those nuts down to the proper value, it wont happen to you either.

At the GM training center in St. Louis we were taught no NEVER lube lug nuts. Clean dry threads.

Al

Yep, Al, that has been the technically correct way of doing things for years.

The only fault I find with it is when the weather and road conditions lead to severely rusted and frozen lug nuts. I have seen some so tight that getting them off without snapping a lug bolt was difficult.

On those sorts of applications, I use a wire brush (tap or die if I need to) to clean the threads and then use a little 'Neverseize' compound to seal out the salt water. I always derate the torque specification.

I've never had an occasion of wheels loosening by themselves or coming off. But I can usually get the lug nuts off without any problem the next time I have to mount, or demount, winter tires.

I have heard the 'wheel falling off ' story often, but nobody I know has ever experienced it --whether with or without antiseize compount (if he torqued the nuts in the first place...Have seen a few people forget to do THAT).

I think the dry thread torqueing rule is basically a good one to follow whenever satisfactory. Sometimes, if there is legal liability involved, you have to do what is traditional and accepted practice rather than to do what might fix the problem.

Thanks to all who replied with their advice and recommendations. I am glad that I asked this question..... the knowledge gained was priceless, especially if it prevents me from watching my wheels pass my car on the interstate.

Now I see the need for hubcaps and lug covers....thought they were decorative, but maybe they do serve the purpose of keeping the lug nuts away from the elements.

Also.... I learned.... wheneve the lugs are suffering from extreme neglect it's best to clean off the lugs and run a thread chaser to make sure they are clean. Use anti seize or lubricants sparingly, if at all.

Thanks again...the knowledge gained was excellent..... I'm going to scratch the idea of using lubricants and just do it the right way !!

Peter

There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers. Nice to see that people actually give a crap about their cars. I was at a grocery store recently. A lady and her kids pulled up next to me and parked. I noticed that one of her front tires was almost flat -- maybe 10 pounds of PSI. I told her about it in case she didn't notice it. "Oh, I already know, it's been that way for a week; my husband said he'd take care of it", she said and seemed to act like I was creeping her out. So I told her at worst she's at risk for a blow out and is wearing out the tire and decreasing MPG. What a husband she has. Moron. Letting his wife and kids drive around with a flat tire, on the front no less.

Hardly. I've been using anti-seize or just oil if that was all I had for 30 years. Never had a wheel come loose. Here in Michigan where salt is used in the winter and CaCl on the gravel roads in the summer they would get rusted on too easily to go without. I've had to knock wheels loose with a sledgehammer when they wouldn't come off after the lugs were removed.

Ken

I've been using 1-2 drops of trans / motor oil on the lug threads for

harryface