I would highly recommend he replace all the lug bolts with the newer style if he still has the original bolts. I learned the hard way....thankfully it didn't end up costing me anything.

Bolts!
 

When I first read of this problem years ago, I immediately pulled the lug bolts from my 210 and replaced them with the new, short, ugly bolts. This primarily because the 210 is my wife's car and she could end up in a situation where some stranger might be changing a flat tire for her. Later, I "upgraded" that car to the slightly nicer "long head with shiny cap" bolts shown in post #50 (thanks for posting the pic!).

For the 124, which few touch but me, I got a set of 210 wheels (so both cars could use one set of snow tires) and used the "bad" bolts with them. I always use a torque wrench and a very small amount of anti-seize (on the threads, not on the ball). After a few days I go all around again with the torque wrench just to make sure none have slipped—and so far none have.

I suspect that "dry" is a perfectly good way to install new bolts in a new hub. Anything that has been worked on by persons unknown I am leery of. That's where the anti-seize comes in. IMHO, the reason people have trouble with anti-seize is that they use too much of it. The rule is to "use very little and wipe most of that off."

Jeremy

Actually, it appears that it depends on the torque wrench used.

For example, I have torque wrenches all the way up to 1-1/2" drive.

I sometimes use the 1" drive set at 600 lbs feet as a breaker bar, to identify the break torque for stubborn bolts, after vibrating them a lot to loosen any rust bond.

This is slower work, but the last MB bolt that I broke was in 2006. It was when I picked up the 1952 220 model.

Never again.

Older, larger torque wrenches are often available cheap because everyone (mistakenly) wants the Craftsman 3/8" drive for their mo9orcycle.

My 1" drive electric torque wrench used for locomotive and missile section assembly has taught me a lot about torque. It's set for 1280 lbs ft. and is great for removing larger bolts and tightnesses above 300 lbs feet, like on some larger (non MB) diesels.

The torque values for wheel lug bolts are when they are dry. When using anti-seize (just a little) on lug bolts, how do you adjust your torque setting on the torque wrench. Do you lower it (and by how much) so as to not over torque the bolt?

Good point. I must admit I have not adjusted the torque values at all. However, when I loosen the lug bolts after many miles of driving (to rotate the wheels, for example), the break-free torque is only slightly greater than the torque used to install the bolts. Although I use a breaker bar for that job, I have a couple of times used the torque wrench just to see how tight the bolts are.

It's also worth mentioning that I don't add more anti-seize every time the lug bolts are out. When the threads have been once (lightly) coated so that they go in and out of the holes cleanly and smoothly, no extra anti-seize is needed for some time—years in some cases. Environmental conditions largely dictate this; folks in climates where rust and corrosion are challenges need to keep an eye on exposed connections like wheel nuts/bolts more than folks in dry climates.

Yeah....sounds like a VERY inexact science.