torquing lug nuts, dry or greased?

I change the wheels on my 01 NB miata regularly, torque to 85 ft/lbs.  I haven't used any anti-seize on the studs, but hate leaving them dry.  Wouldn't adding a lubricant to the studs change the effective torque values?

Recommendations? Comments? Criticism? Mockery/Derision?

I always put the silver/grey stuff on the studs and torque to spec I also put a thin coating on the rim contact points with the hub and rim especially if the rims are hub centric. Been doing it for 25 years or more with no issues. 

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm going to follow your lead on this, especially since I had a hard time getting the aluminum wheels loose from the front hubs after removing the nuts last time.

Dry.

Never use anti-sieze on lug nuts, or oil them.  Added lube will make you overtorque them since the torque spec is for clean, dry threads, unless specifically called out by the manufacturer.

If the lug nuts are binding, it is because they were overtorqued at some point and have been pinched, throw them away and get new ones.  Carefully check the studs to see if they were stretched near the hub, too.  If a new lug nut doesn't thread all the way down, then replace the stud, or all of the studs if two adjacent ones are stretched.

And people wonder why I like lug bolts so much.  They are much more tolerant of hacks who put antisieze or oil on everything.

Always done it dry. Never saw the need for antisieze on lignite.

“Hacks,” nice. I antisieze mine. No problems. Light dab on clean studs. 

If it’s an exposed lug stud small dab of antiseize. Otherwise always dry.

In the rust belt use of some lube or anti-seize prevents rusted and or broken studs.  I add some about once every five years.  

Depends where the car is driven--Rustbelt, use Anti-seize.

Any lubrication affects the torque value of a fastener.  I would not reduce the setting, however, since you do not know how much without scientific testing. 

In reply to Knurled. :

Hack ...... Really?  

Oh and torque spec 99 percent of the time is my highly calibrated elbow. Might as well own being the hack. 

Copper anti-seize on the hub face and centering ring, religiously. 

Just a dab on the threads. 

Never an issue. 

Hey, I'm a hack too!

Is the copper based stuff in mineral oil?  It does not seem to stick like the grey stuff. The grey anti seize is like baby poop one small dab not accounted for and in 20 minutes the stuff is everywhere. 

50 FT-LB of rust induced torque and thread bind causes some inaccuracies also. 

In reply to dean1484 :

Baby poop is a perfect analogy. Doesn’t take much and you’ll always know it’s there. 

I do use a torque wrench nowadays. I didn’t when I was younger but a couple stretched studs have helped make me very careful as I’ve aged. 

I use the nickel based antiseize and still end up looking like the TinMan...

I find that a very, very light dab of anti-seize on new lugs or studs lasts a very long time.  I do use my crappy HF torque wrench, though...I'm not a total hack.  ;)

PS...Lug bolts suck. 

Tyler H said:

I find that a very, very light dab of anti-seize on new lugs or studs lasts a very long time.  I do use my crappy HF torque wrench, though...I'm not a total hack.  ;)

PS...Lug bolts suck. 

Left hand thread trailer lug bolts do suck, I liked the ones on my BMW? or is my memory that bad.

Ohhh lug bolts are a completely new level of pain and misery.  You need a third hand. 

akylekoz said:

Tyler H said:

I find that a very, very light dab of anti-seize on new lugs or studs lasts a very long time.  I do use my crappy HF torque wrench, though...I'm not a total hack.  ;)

PS...Lug bolts suck. 

Left hand thread trailer lug bolts do suck, I liked the ones on my BMW? or is my memory that bad.

Two reasons (I guess) that BMW used them:  It's easier to put in and torque five bolts at once during assembly, and BMW conveniently lets you adjust the parking brake shoe through the lug bolt hole....just remove one lug bolt and adjust it, don't even have to remove the wheel.  I thought that was clever.  

But what a pain if you're changing wheels often.

As covered, dry is what most torque specs call for anti-seize provides lubrication which can cause some over-torque. If you used anti-seize torque to the lower end of range then recheck the torque after 50 or 100 miles.

I'm guilty of using it in the past on the winter beaters, but closed end lugnuts do a pretty good job of keeping the crap from creeping into the threads.

Ranger50 said:

I use the nickel based antiseize and still end up looking like the TinMan...

People are looking in my office now due to me laughing at that.  Been there as well!!!  

Lugs get anti-seize. Bolts and studs. Doubly true on cars that get wheels swaps often. I can't imagine not using it in the rust belt. I even use a torque wrench on occasion though large stuff, like the busses, usually gets the nuts hammered on with the impact. 

I live in upstate NY, where rust was invented. So if you don't paint the wheel studs with anti-seize, then you end up breaking wheel studs off come spring. Never broken or damaged a wheel stud and never had a wheel come loose on me either. Also, put me in the "berkeley wheel bolts" column.

scrolling down after reading first few posts.  I had been meaning to ask about 'galvanic corrosion' as I put copper grease on the studs for the SE recently (alloys).  Some people on the interwebz say okay then some use a dab of sciency to say it will cause the earth to wobble off its axis and start a new ice age almost like reading WebMd for hypochondriacs.  Have I boogered the wheels?  Should I avoid using it ever again?  I will be changing a set of wheels soon and remounting the ones for the Ford also.