Grease on Wheel Nuts?

I've always done this. Never had a problem. Maybe it's a "disclaimer" for those owners (Americans?) who might like to try and sue Toyota should said owner change a wheel incorrectly and crash? Sort of like the "this product contains nuts" on the bag of peanuts I got from Tesco....

Mike P

I'm with Mike on this.

Any torque setting is normally for a dry bolt. Greasing a bolt alters how much it binds up as it's tightened and stretches, so if you use normal torque wrench settings, you'll overtighten them. TBH I generally use a bit of 3 in one or copper grease if it's lying around, as all my cars are ancient and have pretty manky bolts and hubs...

Grease on any part of wheel fitment is a big no-no as far as official fitment guides go.

The reason being it acts as a friction modifier, meaning you could end up with wheels either over tightened, or under tightened when torqued. The relevant BS guide states that a light oil should be used (ie engine oil), unless the manufacturer states otherwise (ie. Transit 2000s should not have any lubricant used on the studs/nuts).

However, correct fitment is more of an issue with spigot mount wheels, rather than your average taper mount car wheels.

I've always very lightly coppereased wheel bolts/nuts, but only the threads, not the contact face of the fastener. No problems in a good few years.

I've work in quality assurance in diesel engine manufacture for over 35years and anti-seize paste has always been used on threads were there fastener is designed to be undone during a periodic service.

I would also agree that the contact face of any fastner either flat or conical, should remain free of anti-seize compounds

Rolls Royce, MAN B&W Diesels all use ROCOL.

-- Zozzer

Chris Bartram (Chris Bartram ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

I just slather the bastards in copaslip. No problems whatsoever, apart from the excess drawing nice little straight lines out towards the edge of the wheel...

.Peanuts are not nuts....

maybe im just nuts

Yet if you don't use it on the mating faces on alloys, you end up hammering them off the car if they've been on for a while.

Yup. That's been my experience as well. The problem is that if the seating faces are dry, there is no waterproof seal as such, so over time moisture can get between the seating faces and cause corrosion. This can be quite significant when you take into account that the wheel nuts/bolts could be undisturbed for anything up to 2 or 3 years. This, coupled with the fact that the wheels might have been fitted by some wally in a garage with an air gun, can make them almost impossible to remove with the std wheelbrace. Apart from that, more so with tapered seats, without lubrication a bolt/nut can actually sieze and tear the seating face. My advice to the OP based on a few decades of experience, is to use a copper based grease on both the thread and seating faces. I've done so for as long as I can remember, and have never had a wheel nut or bolt come loose. Mike.

What Doki said. However I ought to point out that peanuts aren't nuts, they're legumes or something.

My advice is to use a small amount of grease on the threads and then, most importantly, always use a torque wrench set to the manufacturers specification. Even Kwik-Fit fitters use torque wrenches. I've never had a problem with wheel nuts since I passed my test 47 years ago.

Terry

Does anyone still use taper seats apart from aftermarket wheels? Spherical / radius seems more usual.

Aye legumes IIRC. Grow underground. I done some botany once.

Maybe, but I have seen ally wheels with steel taper seat inserts fitted. Mike.

Hi,

Many thanks for all your very interesting and useful comments.

I suspect that Toyota just want to cover them selves by following the official guidelines. The Owners Manual is full of words of caution :-)

In view of the consensus of your comments, I'll continue to use a little grease as I've always done.

The message from "moray" contains these words:

I would have thought that light oil was also a friction modifier. perhaps it's just more consistent than grease. I always feel that grease prevents corrosion, and makes removal easier next time.

Cheers

Clive

Although I'm 9 years short of your experience I've never had a problem with wheel nuts either. I've always just wiped my oily/greasy fingers on the studs and that has been just fine. And I've never used a torque wrench on a wheel nut. A bit like you for the vast majority of those 47 years I imagine. You know when it's right.

Steve

Just to balance that, I did manage to stretch one of the bolts on my car. I'd used copper grease and was tightening them with a torque wrench. When I realized that the torque wasn't increasing as I continued to tighten it, I took it back out. It was visibly necked.

Cheers,

Colin.