Wheel Bolts

[StewartIngram]

I passed my test in Jan 1967, always done my own maintenance, with assistance in the early days from my Grandad who was in the trade. My hobby is railways, and hearing of the steam locos in Barry scrapyard being restored, I took note. When re-assembled (in their working days), graphite was put on the threads to make it easier to undo the bolts next time round. The enthusuasts found those that had been done, and had served may years in service plus standing derelict in the salty air at Barry, were much easier to dismantle. So early on I decided on a similar tactic. EVERY bolt that I replaced on any car since that time (no later than 1970) has been smeared with copper grease. I've suffered no problems in that time and always find them easier to release.

Stewart

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by Gren 24

Now for some advice please, when I put the wheels back on would it be a good idea to put some coppergrease on the bolts.

Yes, and here's the reason why.

Twenty five years ago I had to renew the lower front suspension arm on my SD1. At that time I lubricated its bolt threads, probably using grease since water repellent properties are more important in this application than the heat resistance of Copper Ease. I tightened them to the torque specified in the workshop manual and coated the heads and nuts with Waxoyl to protect against corrosion.

Last month the same arm needed renewal due to play in the integral balljoint. Despite the use of grease, none of the bolts had fallen out or loosened. Appropriate effort was needed to turn them but I used nothing more than normal hand tools. None of the heads rounded and no threads were damaged in the extraction process. All the original nuts and bolts were refitted with the new suspension arm.

That proves to my satisfaction that not only will greasing threads pose no problem but it is actually positively beneficial. I am sharing this long term experience with those who have ears for pragmatic rather than theoretical reasoning.

Simon

[macafee2]

only problem with brass nuts is the lack of torque they can handle before the thread strips. I fitted a brass nut to my exhaust last year, stripped the thread torqueing it up

macafee2

[bl52krz]

I always clean the face of the brake disk hub which the road wheel fixes to, and then put a small smear of copperslip on the face of it. I also clean the part of the wheel that faces the hub when fitting the wheel. I do not put anything on the threads or the conical part of the bolt that tightens into the wheel. As an ex lorry driver, if you had a wheel come off your vehicle when you knew it had been torque tightened only 7 hours before, people would understand the reason for torque tightening wheels to the correct tension, and without any substance being applied to the face of any bolts used for fitting.I know this is true because the above incident happened to me on the M42 near Solihull many years ago, and the relevant information was given to me by the chief engineer of the company I worked for and the company we dealt with regards tyres. You have been warned.

[macafee2]

Not quite sure how heavy handed is the issue if the threads strip before required (recommended) torque is achieved.

macafee2

[marinabrian]

Coppaslip is excellent at prevention of thread galling, due to it's low stacking fault energy.

It prevents metal with high friction coefficients from transferring, incidentally stainless steel has a higher friction coefficient than mild steel, and being softer has a greater propensity to "pick up" on the threadform.

Coppaslip is far better than conventional lithium greases in seizing prevention, however it shouldn't be used on wheel bolt threads, instead used sparingly on the conical part of the bolt which is in contact with the wheel, and on the face of the wheel which is in contact with the hub.

Also something that shouldn't be forgotten, application of lubricant to a thread affects how torque is applied and indeed tension of that fastener, a rough guide of thumb is an increase of 25%

So if you tighten to the torque specified in the manual, with your torque wrench set at 125 Nm will result in the bolts being tightened to 155 Nm

While this is unlikely to result in deformation of the threadform, it will make it very difficult to remove the bolts on the roadside with the standard toolkit

I hope this explanation is detailed enough to explain why you shouldn't use lube on the thread of wheel bolts

Brian

[bl52krz]

If you want to check the torque of a wheel nut/bolt, you must always loosen them first.If you do not loosen them when checking the torque, how do you know what torque has been applied?

[COLVERT]

Brian.---Can't find GALLING in my dictionary.---


MgJohn. Never found a wheel that wouldn't come unstuck with a firm kick on the tyre.---

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

Brian.---Can't find GALLING in my dictionary.---


MgJohn. Never found a wheel that wouldn't come unstuck with a firm kick on the tyre.---

Take a look HERE John

[StewartIngram]

Originally Posted by macafee2

only problem with brass nuts is the lack of torque they can handle before the thread strips. I fitted a brass nut to my exhaust last year, stripped the thread torqueing it up

macafee2

Surely the toque for steel nuts will be different to that for brass?

In days of yore, manufacturers used to fit brass nuts as standard on exhausts and manifolds. My first car, a 1955 Austin, was thus fitted.

Stewart