"David A. Webb" wrote:

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 22:43:18 -0400, "Peter Reilley"
wrote:

So which is better; grease or no grease?

Pete.


I have used the aluminum based anti-sieze, AND regular old axle
grease. Had no problems with either.

My reason for using the lube was because without it, the lug nuts
would stick and I had a terrible time getting them off. (until I
bought an air impact wrench)

A lot of people argue that the grease will allow the nut to back off
easier. But like you said, the lubrication will allow the proper
torque in the first place. The stretch of the stud will keep the
tension on the nut, and keep it from getting loose if it is torqued
correctly.

I figure if race engine builders lubricate rod bolts, head bolts, and
main bolts before installing them, they must know what they are doing.
I've never heard of those fasteners coming loose.

You shouldn't need more than maybe 70 foot pounds on your lug nuts.
Keep in mind that it is approximately equivalent to you leaning on a
standard size 3/8 ratchet wrench. (maybe a 1/2 inch ratchet if you
are a lightweight)

Over torquing can quite literally damage your brake rotor. Do you
feel a pulsing in the steering wheel when you apply the brakes?

Anyway, if your wheels are aluminum like you said, are they new? If
they didn't come with the car, you might be using the wrong style lug
nuts with them.

And finally, lug nuts typically only come loose on the right side of
the car. The rotation of the wheel will tend to tighten the nuts on
the left side, and loosen on the right. Older MOPAR vehicles had left
hand threaded lugs on the left side of the car for that reason. IF
the nuts are only coming loose on one side, my guess is they simply
weren't torqued properly for one reason or another.

I would recommend applying a dab of Permatex anti-sieze (aluminum
kind) that you can get next to all of the other Permatex sealers and
stuff at Autozone or other auto-parts store.

Dave

I agree with everything you said. And, I have never lost a
lug nut (or bolt) and have never had a loose nut (except
behind the wheel). And I have enough sense to not just honk
down on the wrench till I can't tighten any more.
I started using antisieze for the same reason (lug nut
sticking to the wheel), but I usually spray with WD 40 to
clean the threads if dirty or rusty. Funny thing, I don't
usually get lug nuts sticking to a wheel if I do the
tightening even without using an antisieze compound. You
think, maybe those wheel changers don't know about torque?

If you use regular oil or grease, you need to check one of
the sites on the internet to see what the torque should be.
Wet torque is usually somewhere around 70 percent of dry
torque, so it is easy to over torque the nut if you use
lubrication.