Recently an auto technician stated the taper on a front wheel lug was damaged and the lug nut seat on the wheel was also damaged. He attributed both problems to over tightening the lug nut presumably with an air wrench rather than a torque gauge.

QUESTIONS: 1) Can the damaged wheel lugs be removed from the front hubs without removing the front axles from the car? One amateur mechanic suggested hitting the lugs with a sledge hammer but that risks damaging the front wheel bearings. What is the best way to remove those lugs?
2) The technician said the threads on the lugs should NOT be lubricated because that reduced friction between the nut and the lug and would cause the nuts to be overtightened even at the recommended 80 ft lbs of torque. Is that statement correct?
Dennis Waller

 

The best and safest way is to remove the whole hub unit from the knuckle, then removing the studs form the hub.

I have heard of threads being damaged from using an air wrench on too high of a torque setting.

 

you should NEVER use an impact gun to TIGHTEN your lug nuts. use hand tools to tighten them up. If you are having a problem getting the lug nuts off, put the car on the ground and use a really long breaker bar (4-5 ft pipe, leverage is your friend) to break the stud to get the wheel off then replace the studs and lug nuts, and inspect the wheel too. also NEVER put any lube on the studs because you will most likely over tighten like you said or they might work themselves off from not being to tightened enough. that is the one place you shouldn't use lube

 

yea dont use an impact Ive been using it for a while and I completely just over torqued two the studs ripped off inside the lugs. not fun to fix. but if you do use an air gun. put it on a low setting. my gun has 4 settings

 

You can get what is called "Torque sticks" for your impact guns. They have rating of 65, 80, 100, 120, etc...

But you should always use a torque wrench for a final torque.

If you apply to much torque you simply strip the threads

Damage to the bevel on the rims would be from loose lugnuts.

So as for grease on the lugs. I use anti-seize. Everything else we either put oil or grease on so it should not hurt. I haven't had a problem with it for the last 20 years of doing it.

 

Yes a torque wrench is the best way to go when tightening your wheels, hands down. As far as replacing the studs goes I would never take the hub off since that is way too much work. I've replaced plenty of studs and a good solid whack or two w/ a 4 lb sledge knocks them out everytime. I have never had to worry about hitting it so hard I messed up the bearing or hub, it's an easy quick painless job usually.

 

Also I dont agree with some earlier posters. You should always put anti-seize on the threads. If they are NOT lubricated the rust and old crap on them will give you a false torque reading.