I usually retighten wheel bolts with torque wrench after rotating tires, because the manual recommends it 60~300 miles after re-attaching wheels. When I retighten the them, only a couple of the 20 bolts rotate small amount.

At this DIY tire rotation, however, I sprayed WD-40 on wheel bolts – the bolts looked brown due to rust -. When I retighten the bolts, I found that almost all the 20 bolts rotate more than usual.

Did I do wrong thing? Must I degrease the wheel bolts for driving safety?

My car is 1992 300D, 263 thousand miles, with factory alu-alloy wheels.

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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles.
124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny.

as previously posted ... remember the SEARCH function is your friend

Anti-sieze on a lug bolt is a very bad idea !!!

Here's why: Bolts or studs provide clamping force by being purposely stretched. Most torque specs bring a bolt well within its elastic limit. Then when loosened they will return to their original length and can be safely reused (Some bolts, including many head bolts, are purposely stretched past their elastic limit, and can not be reused). The torque wrench is the most convenient-but not the most accurate-method of properly stretching
automotive bolts. Engineers spend hours correlating the proper bolt stretch to the required turning effort.

About 90% of a torque specification is used to overcome friction; only 10% of the specified twisting effort provides clamping force. It is no surprise then that most lubricant tables recommend a 40-45% reduction of applied torque when using
anti-sieze on a bolt. So, a lugbolt coated with anti-sieze should be tightened to a maximum of 49 ft-lbs. Tightening this lugnut to 85 ft-lbs. means it is now over-torqued by 73%! Considering that most torque specs stretch a bolt to within 70% of its elastic limit, over-torquing by 73% will easily send the bolt or stud well beyond its elastic limit-and could be dangerously close to its failure point.

For this reason I would suggest to all forum members to never use anti-seize on your lug hardware.

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Oops. I did wrong thing.

By the way, is the WD-40 as powerful lubricant as anti-seize?

The lug bolt is about $8 each on Fastlane. 20 bolts cost $160.

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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles.
124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny.

So what would you suggest putting on lug nuts/bolts to keep them from becomming too hard to take off?

I would just take them off, degrease them and put them back on

I've never had a stuck lug bolt before. But, I always made sure they were tightened by hand and not with an air tool. The dealer that services my car is aware of this too.

btw, ktlimq. Do you wash your car in Allston sometimes? I think I saw your car last time and remember thinking to myself that I should've bought a nice white diesel 124

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2008 BMW 335i Coupe

even though WD40 is not as strong as anti-sieze I agree with the above statement

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I'm trying to take off my wheel to replace the brake pads on my '86 300 SDL, but I noticed that one of the lug nuts has been snapped off leaving just the post and the neck holding the wheel. There is no way with the recessed hole to get any tool onto the post, and even if I could, I doubt that I could apply enough torque to bust it loose. Any recommendations would be helpful.

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86 300 SDL (201,000 miles)