D1CCY

Handbook says "wheelnuts and faces should be free of oil". At present mine are dry but even though I always torque them up properly they're very tight when I come to remove them and I'm worried something will break.

I'm very tempted to put copperslip on them next time. Anyone have any views on this ?

Cheers, Diccy.

911

Just a smear of ordinary grease on the wheel-to-nut faces for 30 years messing with cars and NEVER a problem.
Today When I remove all the wheels (about once a month) I spray all of them liberally with WD40. , allow to 'steep' for 15 mins and simply wipe the excess off before re-fitting, again, zero probs. This way the threads are very lightly oiled too.
Always wipe the studs very clean and the nut torque will be nice and consistant and will be readily removed without undue force or load cracking noises!

Graham.

Steve vRS

Yep, bit of copper slip. If your threads aren't lubricated, all that turning you do on the spanner is twisting the bolt instead of stretching it.

You'd be amazed at how slippery the grease used on flange systems that contain 300bar pressures of hydrogen is!!

Steve

vindaloo

My favourite tyre place puts copper grease on the threads but not the faces.
Even then I got strange noises when removing the wheels if they'd been on for a while.

I put a small smear/blob of copper grease on the bolt/nut face now and tighten to "reasonably tight". Not had any problems yet on Citroen AX, Fabia VRS or Citroen AXGT (RIP).

J.

D1CCY

3-nil for a bit of lubrication so far. Like 911 idea of a bit of WD40, vindaloo's experience supports my guess is that it is the faces that seize rather than the threads. I shall be lubricating in future and checking tightness frequently unless someone has a strong case against.

Thanks for replies. Diccy.

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

I've never used any grease/lub.

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

never had a problem either

D1CCY

now 3-1

Brit_in_Japan

I use copper grease on the threads, making sure there's some on the collar too. It's often a good idea to put copper grease on the mating surface between the wheels and the hub. I've had experiences where I couldn't remove an alloy wheel with a sledgehammer (via block of wood) because there had been corrosion between the allow and the steel of the hub. Needed a hydraulic jack from wheel to body to get one wheel off

StickyMicky

affects the torque

hamyam

copper slip on the threads from a skilled mechanic

Shark Man

Yup been there done that, used the sledgehammer

Also if you torque up dry threads, it can give inaccurate torque readings and lead to your nuts being under-tightened.

(tip no.2: Always unwind ALL the tension off your torque wrench when finished...if left tensioned, it stretches the spring causing inaccuracies and under tightened nuts....I knew sombody who threw a set of big ends because of a duff wrench )

Chelspeed

I read the manual, against my better judgement did as I was told and left them dry. 18 months old and it needed the second set of new tyres and the garage had to break three wheel studs to get the nuts off.

As sh*t always happens two were on one wheel and on adjacent studs.... the garage wouldn't let me drive off on only 3 out of 5 (fair enough) and said I'd need recovery to get home. B*llocks to that, sat on the forecourt, borrowed a big hammer and robbed another stud from one with all 5 OK and drove home with four our of five on three wheels. Pleased with that!

Needless to say they're now copperslip'd.

911

Let's not over react!
It is good engineering practice to have some lubricant on the nut/stud for all the reasons above. We want accurate torque and no grief getting them off later. Same for the alloy/steel galvanic corrosion on almost all modern cars, Subaru or AUDI corrosion is not picky!

Studs/nut entry threads should be lub'd, grease/WD40/Coppa slip are all excellent.

Very good tip about the relaxed torque wrench. A wizzard Porsche engine builder i know has his wrenches re calibrated by Snap-on before every engine he builds!

Graham

D1CCY

I think the concensus is clear. The risk of seizure and broken studs is obviously real despite the advice in the manual. I shall be using copperslip next time. BTW I always unwind my torque wrench after use.

Thanks for all the replies, this has been very helpful and put my mind at rest about the greasing, i.e. no wheels falling off.

Diccy.

911

budge28

What is copper grease for? it is a anti-seiz compound. I thought it was for parts to be undone easily. do you want your wheel nuts to come undone easily.
If they are tightened to the correct torqe then i dont see a problem undoing them, (snapping). problems are probably more likely when they are tightened too much.
I would clean and lightly grease the face and hub where the wheel contacts though so it doesn't get stuck on.

Steve vRS

Budge28,

See post #3 for explaination.

Steve

rustybin

Gotta say I am with budge on this. The specified torque is for a clean dry thread. If you lubricate the thread and apply the same torque you will over stretch the bolt and overload the threads. Coppaslip between the wheel and hub will solve any stuck on alloy problems and not letting pneumatic wrench wielding idiots do your wheel nuts up will prevent most stuck on wheel nut problems.