Wheel Lug Torque

Anti-sieze, grease, oil, etc are not recommended for applying to lugs or studs. The applied lubricants can cause an over torque as well as an inhibited clean seat to the wheel from the lug. The correct clamping force of a lug seating against a wheel is a result of a clean and dry lug and stud, and having the correct torque applied. An over torqued lug or stud can stretch the threads on either and result in a clamping force that is not sufficient for that particular vehicle, trailer, etc. hence the wheel comes off. 99% of the time the lubricants wont cause a problem, but if you need them to get the lugs on smoothly there are bigger problems. Lugs and studs are cheap and its a potential problem that can be readily fixed. JMHO.

Again, put a Wee Tad, just a bit, of grease on the lug nut from our recommendation. There is a lot to this, and we have learned from loosening nuts on previous rigs with aluminum wheels. We focus on practical experience and not only that technical position. A similar position existed with a steering issue, which we have rectified our way on two different occasions. If you have problem #2 more frequently than possible problem #1, then why are we overlooking the simplicity of eliminating both problems. Thus we expand that to include both practical experience and potential failure solutions. Neil and topwater, our experience is the reason for greasing the lugs. Every new trailer has a tad of grease on the acorn nut. The reason is we were seeing loosening for the wheels on long runs occasionally. After looking into it, we found that upon tightening the wheels dry, there was a trace amount of aluminum build up on the acorn nuts dry. That build up did/does not allow the nuts chamfered face to seat flat on the taper of the wheel. The build up is bridging that and gapping the head space some. The grease does not allow the trace build up, and the nuts then seat. The proper torque is important and seems to be fine. The lugs are checked for tightness three times at BCB. Once after first install, once in check out, and again in rigging. Then we may even have to remove them again for shipping. Though the checks have been done to insure they were tight and in the event it leaves here with the wheels on it. We have lost very, very few wheels due to nut tension. Though loose ones were a pattern for a couple of years. And the thought of a tire coming through a drivers or passengers window is not a thought we could sleep with. We started a practice to check them ourselves on delivering and made sure those we were checking were tensioned personally by individuals. We found that even though these were checked three times, that we tensioned them ourselves and fourth time checked them, they would loosen some when being pulled. Thus we started digging. The hardness of the wheels is not that of manufacturers wheels, as they are no billet, they are cast and subject to different densities of the aluminum. The nuts seem to be constant and we check the face angles of the tapers. We also considered a form of LokTite, though high temps are reached on brake hubs, and non brakes are not. It would make the lives of the replacement staff difficult. We started digging after the loose wheels were found on 4X checks, and we found the trace aluminum on the nuts at the first stage. The wheel had slight gaulding on the face of the taper, and the trace was found on the nut, at the first stage. We tried to figure out how to remove that trace, and even with hand tensions and torque final we had some trace amounts. Thus we opted to go against the grain and use a smidgen of grease to smooth out the face mating. There is also a temp issue on the painted hub face of the wheel, that when the paint heats up on the brakes axle, the paint seems to allow some cushion to develop if the nuts were not fully seated. Which enhances the problem in minute thousandths of an inch. This was from practical experience, and not engineering standards. We knew the political proper position. Point 1 Gaulding Point 2 must be fixed Point 3 lubing the nuts has eliminated the issue. Point 4 Zero failures of wheel tension after the lube proceedure Again, we have done it both ways, and failures after fighting it (only on Aluminum wheels) occasionally for decades led to the latest process has seemed to eliminate any issues. Simple solution: Lube the only slightly, and this was too long… BCB

I think Id better check my lugs more often

The correct clamping force of a lug seating against a wheel is a result of a clean and dry lug and studNO NO NODry threads will NOT give you correct torque. Friction creates heat. Heat expands the fine edges on the threads.They expand from the friction and seize.Rod bolts, head bolts, etc should always have some light oil put on the threads to get a consistent reading from fastener to fastener.Back in the day fasteners had a CADMIUM coating. It had a clear yellow look to it. The coating was used to prevent rust but it also had a natural low friction value so it prevented galling. Cadmium is not used much anymore because of health hazards.Newer enviromentally friendly coatings used on fastners do not have the low friction value that cadmium had.I am going with what BCB says.