Just rotated my tires for the first time (about 3,300 miles) and noticed corrosion on 3 or 4 front wheel studs/nuts. Kind of surprised with the low miles, no salt on roads yet and not along the coast. Anyone else seeing this? I know it's early but thought maybe some other DIY'ers might have some experience. Anyone know of any wire brush kits designed to clean the stud and the inside of the nut (like the battery post cleaner tools)? Does anyone use any kind of corrosion protector/anti-seize lubricant?

BTW, I rotate my own tires after having Honda torque the nuts to about 300 ft # (it was so bad, they had to replace the rotors due to warping) and AAA screwing up 3 studs by cross threading the nuts. Seems like no one uses common sense to do this properly (every time I see the Firestone commercial with the tech running that impact wrench on the lugs, I get sick).

 

I have not rotated the tires, so I have no comment about the rusted studs. For cleaning them, you can use a wire brush and do it by hand or use a wire brush that you can attach to a drill.

Totally understand your concern about over-torquing by the Mechanic. I do double-check the torque on the lug nuts after taking it from the shop.
A friend of mine worked at Firestone and he has been servicing my two vehicles for a few years now and I have not had any issue about over-torquing the lug nuts. The torque value was actually displayed on the computer screen with the work order.
I also noticed the local Costco's tire center calibrating their torque wrenches at the beginning of the day.

 

I have never considered using anti-seize on wheel lugs. Since I believe the torque specification assumes no lubricant is present on the threads, and the consequences of unintended separation of a wheel from the vehicle are potentially severe, I think I would be inclined to screw the darn lug nut over the somewhat unattractive stud and call it a day.

All of which simply goes to show that a good stud is hard to find.

 

Did someone call my name?