Do you use anti seize or impact drill on your lug nuts

Anti Seize or Impact Drill on lug nuts?

  • I Do you use Anti Seize on Lugs!

    Votes: 36 24.8%
  • I Do you use an Impact Drill on Lugs!

    Votes: 52 35.9%
  • I Do you use BOTH AS & ID on lug nuts!

    Votes: 22 15.2%
  • No way I don't use either on my lug nuts!

    Votes: 39 26.9%
  • Shops do all my work at the tire and lugs

    Votes: 9 6.2%
  • I would use anti seize in salt belt but not needed in my location

    Votes: 5 3.4%
  • I feel very strongly about my choice

    Votes: 32 22.1%
  • I haven't put much thought into this

    Votes: 15 10.3%

  • Total voters
    145

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DodgeDude99

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No Anti-seize
Only time I use an impact is to spin them off after I broke em loose, or spin them down then hand torque them.
It also saves the finish on the black lugs.
 

blackbetty14

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Anti seize and impact for me. I use the impact to break them free only and use a tq wrench to tighten. Anti seize... I put it $hit on everything! I was a summer mechanic years ago and a car came in for a brake job and I couldnt get the wheel lug off with heat, impact or breaker bar. Lets just say The wheel was a loss as there is only one way to get them off at that point, and they needed a new wheel hub. The ones I was able to get off had no anti seize and it could have just been a cross thread by the last guy or something else but either way I never want to deal with that again. I've been doing anti seize for 25 years and never had an issue. I live in the rust belt so anything and everything eventually rusts and seizes up.
 

62Blazer

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I have done the majority of the work on all of mine, and my family's, vehicles for 20+ years. At my previous job even had access to a tire changer and balancer so did all of my own tire work for 10 years. Have always put anti-seize on the lugs and never had an issue. That includes multiple different vehicles ranging from 2500 series trucks, off-road trucks with 40" tires, several cars and minivans, SxS's, lawnmowers, etc.... Several of those cars and trucks had well over 100k miles on them when sold or traded in.
Also always use an impact if available when changing tires. Removing lugs is a no-brainer and I don't see any reason why wouldn't use an impact to remove lugs. When installing lugs I always hand start them to make sure they are threaded on correctly, and then tighten with an impact....but I don't hammer on them. I'll run them down just until I hear the first "uggha dugga" and stop, then go back and check the torque by hand. It's not really hard to tighten up the lugs with an impact without over tightening them. When I check them with a torque wrench they usually needs rotated an extra 1/4 to 1/2 turn to get them to torque. Honestly, I have installed a lot of tires over my years without using a torque wrench, rather just doing the final tightening by hand. There is a pretty decent window of torques that will work fine and it's not like you are assembling an internal rotating part of an engine that is very sensitive to torque ratings. Probably has a +/- 20 ft. lbs. range you can torque a lug nut to with no issues, and again not that hard to get within that range by hand if you half way no what you are doing. Just to clarify, you should use a torque wrench and in my later years I always do when in the shop. But the main issue is to make sure they are not too loose, versus being too tight. Also think about changing out a flat on the side of the road..how many people carry a torque wrench with them?
 

Fnjoey

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I don't use it on the lugs, but I do put a little on the rotor where the rim sits. Very little. Just because I got tired of beating the crap out of the tire to break it loose.
 

Surge One

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I snug them down with impact on low psi, then torque the lugs to spec. No lube of any kind. Never had a problem. Lube is not recommended from what I have read
 

John Schmidt

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What kind of IDIOT starts a lug nut with an impact? You always get them started by hand!
This would be the idiots that unfotunately work at many tire centers - some obviously, not all. They rarely use any tools that aren't powered in some way - because they don't know how to or never had to or just think it's cool to use power tools. I NEVER let a tire center rotate my tires due to a couple of instances, getting the car/truck back with damaged lugs, from cross-threading while using an impact. Same thing with power screwdrivers. There's the right time/place, more so if you know how to use one properly. Seen too many younger, untrained repair people, stripping out plastic screw holes, moldings, parts, etc. because their power screwdriver is not set correctly. I grew up before there were power screwdrivers, so I had the opportunity to learn what "tight" means and what "tight" feels like. You can't assume anyone understand the phrase "tighten appropriately" anymore. It's a skill you get by "doing". Too many people skip the whole manual tool learning/training phase.
Also, I just have this bad thought about turning my $$$ vehicle over to the cheapest, untrained, off-the-street labor that can be found by the tire centers, and in many cases repair shops (again NOT all). Just doesn't make sense.
-John
 

Skyjockey

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Anti-seize on lugs will cause you to over torque the nuts and probably snap them
Being in a salty (rust) area should have nothing to do with it since you should be rotating them at least once a year so they should never rust on
Can't believe you don't have the "no anti-seize" option in your poll?
 

Ralph Mauro

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Never use anything on wheel studs or nuts anti seize or any kind of lube will change the torque on that wheel. If the stud is slippery enough the nut could vibrate loose, remember the hub assembly will go through many stages of heating up and cooling down attributing to wheel nuts coming loose. Highly recommend not applying anything on wheel studs or nuts.
 

Senodil

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I use impact to remove then a torque wrench when tightenin and always use anti seize. We drop the boat in Tampa bay& surrounding areas all year round (1-2 times a week), even beach launch occasionall.
 

rosco11

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DO NOT USE IMPACT TOOL ON LUG NUTS. Period. And you do not need anti seize unless you regularly expose the wheels to water like at a boat dock.

About impact tools. Even if you set it at 100psi because you think you are smart, it is like hitting the nut with 100 lbs of pressure every time it activates. It will over tighten the nuts.

For you code reading generation mechanics, you WILL stretch the threads on both the nut and stud. When that happens it will not tighten properly and/or break the stud if you do it enough. Not going to find a code for that on your dash.

As well as damaging the stud and nut, you will need a gorella to take those nuts off with a tire iron. FYI, i had NTB put on a set of tires on my 98 ram. Then tried to remove the tire to do a brake job myself. I broke two studs trying to take the nuts off with an extension and socket. It was easily over 200 lbs of pressure with that smart persons impact tool set at 100lbs.

ALWAYS use a torque wrench to tighten lug nuts. ALWAYS.

I took my truck back to NTB and after arguing with the manager, i handed him the tire iron and asked him to show me the proper way to loosen the nuts his shop put on 2 weeks prior. After breaking one lug nut and stripping another, he finally agreed to replace EVERY STUD on the truck and give me a new set of lug nuts. Do not listen to anyone who tells you it is ok to use an impact tool to tighten lug nuts.

Also consider they use the same impact tool on every car they work on. Yet, the requirements for every car are different. It can range from 85ft lbs to 110ft lbs depending on the vehicle. You think they care? About anything other than their paycheck? You gettting stuck with a flat and having to take one off? They will have a good laugh. And of you do not know better, 95 percent of you will take it back to the same shop and pay to have them replace broken studs. Which they will install with an impact tool. Again.
 

CROD

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Rotate Tires and Wheels myself. Use my Cordless Impact to remove and install using precision wrench control. I always hand tighten the Lugnuts as far as I can then light impact to snug. Then use a Torque wrench to spec after. :cool:
 
Last edited:

TomB 1269

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I'd never put anti sieze on lugs. Mounting surface between rim and rotor will get a very very lisght coat and I clean any that gets in the lug nut holes out before re-installing. I aslo used antiseize on the face between rotor and hub as well as I have started using it in the guide pin boots vs brake grease.
As for impact gun I have an Earth quake from Harbor freight with 3 settings. The lowest is only around 70-80 lbs of torque and it also spins slower so as not to gall or cross thread.....However I always start lugs by hand never drop it in the gun and let it rip as that will destroy them quickly.
 

Speedy Mike

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London Ont Canada
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2011
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Hemi
I use an impact to loosen the wheel nuts and
to tighten the wheel nut almost to spec's the I
use a Torque wrench . After a short a mile + or-
I retorque the wheel nuts to spec.
 

Shawn Burns

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2016 Rebel
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Rotate Tires and Wheels myself. Use my Cordless Impact to remove and install using precision wrench control. I always hand tighten the Lugnuts as far as I can then light impact to snug. Then use a Torque wrench to spec after. :cool:
I do exactly this. I also use anti-seize on my hub mating surface and I apply to the lugs about once/year.
 

GsRAM

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I use a small amount of anti sieve on the lug studs and torque to spec with a torque wrench. I run them on just snug with an impact gun. Remove with an impact gun. Never had an issue with any coming loose.
 

Jrod

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Impact to remove, torq wrench at 130lbs to reinstall.
 
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