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Anti-seize is a big no-no on lug nuts. It is never recommended and leads to over torquing of everything. There is a general rule of using 10-20 percent less than the required torque when using anti-seize. On a personal note, when a buddy of mine decided to "lube" his boat trailer lugs with anti-seize when he was finished lubing his wheel bearings, some weeks later the lugs loosened, the trailer started to sway, the wheel came off and the hub scraped the ground. Disaster! Had I known what great idea had been done to lube the lugs, I would have shared my advice prior to this nightmare. Luckily, I had my own boat and trailer and did not share in the disaster. Some people just need to know when to pay someone else for work.
Always do. Great point
Question for you then.If anti-seize leads to over-torquing,why did the lug nuts loosen off???
great, thanks brother.. Just got a HF store here too.
I grabbed a Matco 100 ft/lb but haven't checked it's accuracy yet.
The lug nuts probably loosened over a relatively short period of time because I know my friend has no idea what a torque wrench is, so it probably never achieved the proper torque rating. With all the slippery characteristics of the anti-seize, there wasn't enough friction on the threads to hold the torque of the lug nuts. As far as manufacturers go, just look at torquing spark plugs. There is a lower torque specification for wet (using anti-seize) versus dry.
I lived in MN for 35 years. Lug nuts came off a lot more often than every 3 years. I rotated them every 5k. But my lugs sure stay a lot more rust free down here in the Ozark Mts.
I wouldn't trust them. I watched the guy at Discount Tire torque the wheels on my 22 Ram and still had 10-12 that were below spec when I got home and checked them with my Mac 1/2 torque wrench. First time I've ever had that many below spec.
It does. You have to reduce torque while using a lubricant on threads. There's charts you can use to go by.
I watched a tech at discount used the wrong size socket on my 11/16 lugnuts on my dart, get the socket stuck after spinning against the cragars chrome and then use a hammer to get it off. I heard the hammer and walked around to see what was up and lost it on the guy. I told them at the start it was 11/16. They replaced all the thin shank lugnuts but wouldn't replace the wheels they fd up.
So it wasn't actually the anti-seize then at all,it was the fact he hadn't tightened the lug nuts properly, but you decided to blame the anti-seize instead of a properly tightened wheel. Torque wrenches are still a fairly rare tool in alot of peoples tool boxes,most people are lucky if they even have a 4 way wrench,and they're still changing tires on the side of the road,with very few issues.You put the anti-seize on the threads not on the face of the nut or it's cone,and you won't have any issues with a wheel falling off if it's properly torqued.BTW you won't find many mechanics using a torque wrench on plugs,most just run them in till they're tight.Using a torque wrench takes time,and most mechanics aren't wasting that time,going to get their torque wrench,looking up the proper torque/adjusting their torque wrench to the proper torque,then walking back over to the vehicle and going over the plugs with a torque wrench,so i'd lay odds 90% of plugs done in a shop are run in till their tight then called good
The best place for anti seize if you don’t have your tires on and off is on contact surfaces between the hubs (ferrous) and aluminum wheels.It’s a problem ive seen and brings out the electrician side of me.
