Thread: Stainless steel wheel nuts....Legal ?

I know the guys at Beaurepairs Southport always finish with a torque wrench. That is where mine are rotated and balanced etc. Good to know the right people realisticly they propabaly are lubricated from all the oil leaks a LR has...

From long experience I have lubricated wheel nuts for probably fifty years, having found very early in my driving career that unlubricated nuts only too often rust onto the studs, which can cause all sorts of problems when you get a flat tyre.

Particularly with Series Landrovers up to late S2a, with screw in studs, this often means that the studs screw out rather than the nuts come off, as that thread is protected from the elements a bit better. This usually damages the thread in the hub as the inner end of the stud in burred into a groove to stop them unscrewing, strictly speaking requiring the hub to be replaced (although welding the stud in seems to be more common!). While it is much rarer for drive in studs to turn, if they do (and I have known it to happen) it makes it almost impossible to remove the wheel on the road.

And as mentioned in earlier posts, lubricating the studs (and the taper) is the only way that it is possible to achieve the correct tension. For the same reason, the threads on both the stud and nut should be cleaned whenever you cannot turn them up by fingers.

John

Originally Posted by incisor

i was taught never to use never sieze and the like on anything you were going to use a torque wrench on.

light machine oil and a wire brush and away you go.

Most given torque values can be assumed to be for clean lightly oiled threads unless otherwise specified. According to their literature, Loctite products are formulated to be the equivalent of this.

I use Loctite nickel anti-seize on just about anything that might corrode and need to be removed some time. An absolute must on exhaust manifold fasteners, exhaust system slip joints and flanges. Also particularly on items where dissimilar metals come together such as steel screws into aluminium. Never use copper based anti-seize products on aluminium.

Every tyre shop I've been to in the last few years has been using anti-sieze, regulated air tools and finishing with a torque wrench.

They've really picked up their game from not long ago.

and FWIW I always use a tension wrench too, have done for twenty odd years.

Copper or Nickel based anti-seize, whichever one is closest at the time as it's steel on steel on a Deefer .

I was reminded of the old "don't lube it" theory recently when a neighbour saw me lubricating the threads on the horse float studs and he mentioned his old man would've kicked my backside if he'd seen it (ex-air force mechanic, now in his eighties)

Slightly off topic as regards stainless steel, but worth reading Aluminum Bronze - Strong as steel - Engineering disaster
cheers

I apply a little grease to the studs, use a 2'bar and elbow for tension "click"