I was just wondering, why do lug nuts/studs get seized? It's happened many times to me and the only way to remove it is to keep untightening until the stud snaps off. I am sure it's not a problem of cross threading as I always use an air compressor to blow off any dirt on threads, and I use a die on the stud if I feel it's not 100% smooth. I have literally tightened lug nuts with a torque wrench to spec, couple min later try to remove and it's seized and needs to be broken off. Is it just old age and removing lug nuts too many times? Also, is this the fault of the lug nuts or the studs? Like what if I upgraded to some grade 10 ARP studs? Would that solve my issues? I just don't want to change them and still have them seize up because the problem is with the lug nuts seizing. Any thoughts?

 

this might sound basic as fuck but do you put grease on your studs?

 

It can be different materials between the nuts and studs. Debris, or the asshole that backs the lugs off at full speed with his impact. You never back them off at full speed because it can gall the threads but it saves them .00001 seconds. I just had a stud ruined just getting my tires put on and tore them a new one for being that stupid to the point all activity at the shop ceased. For now on ill have to unmount them and drive them down there in the other car.

If they seized right after correctly torquing its likely there was previous damage and/or wear. I have long ARP studs in my other car and I remember the lugs going on smoother a d staying that way. Good studs with good lug nuts have the potential to help. People don't realize the damage impacts do. Even if they're not over torqued and stretched out, backing them off at such high speed wears the threads and can damage them. Have yours ever been removed and installed with an impact?

 

Even with anti-seize maybe the threads just get manipulated over time from the lugs being removed a lot, but you said you used a die if they don't feel smooth. Im also interested to hear some thoughts on this. Are they the stock lugs? Maybe that wouldn't matter?

 

yes they are stock lugs, but yes shops have used impact guns on them to loosen, but not tighten, I always tighten it myself with a torque wrench. I wasnt aware removing with an impact gun would wear out the threads? I'll make sure to not let that happen now.

and as for the grease no I dont, would it be a good idea to? I never really hear about people putting grease before installing a lug nut

anyone know if its a good idea to let the lugs cool down after driving before removing them? there were a couple times I didnt let it cool down.

 

Very weird. I have had more cars than I can even remember and never once had a lug but seize.

 

I wouldn't grease the studs....

A tiny amount of anti-seize? Maybe. But I'm talking about a drop. Although it shouldn't be neccessary.

Paperboy, i would look into replacing damaged studs/lugs. and what IHC said is right, about dissimilar metals. Kind of like what happens with our Brembo Aluminum calipers, and hardened steel bolts, they strip.

Do you have aftermarket lugs?

 

That's me too- 30+ years of driving- never a seized or stripped lug nut or oil drain plug either. I don't know if it helps but I give the log nuts a squirt of WD-40. I don't have air compressor tools so everything is done by hand and properly torqued.

 

I have OEM studs and nuts. Well, a couple of them are autozone oem replacements though, they look exactly the same as oem. the autozone replacement ones never gave me trouble.

my bad luck is only with wheel nuts, I never seize/strip any other bolts. It's so weird lol

 

Just can't get my arms around the fact that you state that the nuts are torqued to spec and can't be immediately removed without snapping the stud. I'd say that's impossible, so I'd check to be certain that the torque wrench is 80lbs when set and not 200.

The only time I've seen a problem is when some gorilla didn't use a torque stick or had the air impact set at max as some shops are not diligent in installation.

I don't normally use any lubricant on the studs, but if a lube is used, make certain it is placed and stays on the threads and nothing where the nut makes contact with the wheel as that will alter the torque.

 

Okay that was actually only one time. I was putting on a new stud because I just took off a broken one. I was using a lug nut to tighten the stud in order to pull it in. After I was done, I tried removing the lug nut and it had to be broken off.
Twice, I've had a lug nut seized and then when I try to break it off, and instead of breaking the threads just get messed up, and the lug nut will spin in either direction without coming out or going deeper. Imagine how frustrating it was to get that off. First time I drilled out the lug nut, and second time I just used an impact to spin it really fast and it kinda caught a slight thread and then snapped off slowly by bending it couple degrees in various directions with a breaker bar. And I had to do that without scratching up the wheels!
If I remember correctly I should have changed 7 studs until today. Well it'll be 8 soon because I tried removing one earlier but I felt the threads getting stuck so I stopped and decided to do that another day. None of the ones I've changed have gotten seized yet so that's why I think age/use has to do with it.

 

I have owned more cars than I can count and never once broken a stud off... In all honesty if you use a thread chaser to "clean" the threads you can actually cause more damage than good. Sometimes you end up thinning the threads so much that they can't handle the torque anymore. You might also want to get your torque wrench calibrated because they are very delicate. You drop one, you should have it calibrated. You leave it on a torque setting after use and it is going to be way off the next time you use it.

There is no way they are always torqued to spec and later needing to be broken off when you are using factory lugs and lug nuts. There has to be something going wrong.

 

I agree with the above.

One other thing to mention is the studs getting stretched by over torquing which changes the thread pitch.