Originally Posted by nelbur

Obviously, over-torqueing by tire shops is a major cause of the stuck lugs problem, but they do get locked by rust due to the threads rusting in the steel hubs. The only way I know of to stop the rusting of the threads in the hub, is to coat them with something to protect them. I have always used anti-seize. In my opinion the torque is mainly developed where the bell shaped portion meets the rim, and that will not change when anti-seize is used only on the threads. I suppose there are other protectants that could be used to coat the hub threads, like low strength thread lock, or some type of thread sealant, but anti-seize has always worked fine for me. I still have all my original lug bolts on my '97 with 237k miles.