By Tony K
Recently I have discovered (or better yet it was pointed out to me) the benefits of using anti-seize when installing bolts in corrosion prone areas. While it may be obvious on areas of the frame and other exposed areas there are additional places that will also benefit from a little dab of this stuff.
A couple of things to think about when using anti-seize. The biggest one is to contain the mess, this stuff spreads like wild fire and it is not easy to get off of cloth so go easy and maybe even wear gloves. It comes out of the can or tube in a fairly soft paste and it loves to stick to anything it touches. I am sure some of the solvents I use at the boatyard will clean it up but I prefer not to get it anywhere other than the intended bolt or thread. The other thing is to reduce torque settings as the anti-seize acts as a lubricant and a reduction in your torque settings is needed to avoid over-tightening. The amount of reduction I have heard mentioned is between 15 and 20 percent.
Recently I reinstalled my skidplate and this time around a coating of anti-seize made my life much better. Especially while holding that chunk of iron above my head. For the first time all the bolts threaded right in and they will come right out the next time they need to.
I have also used it on the cone washers for the hub studs of my rear full float. For some reason these things just don’t want to come out of my axles when it’s time for maintenance. So next time around everything should be much more cooperative. Just remember to try and keep it off the threads in this area as I am only trying to get it on the cone washers not the studs.
The place this stuff really shines is when installing steel bolts in aluminum case components. I say this because due to disimilar metals corrosion on a bolt in my t-case resulted in me breaking off one of the bolts in the case. And this was no small bolt either, it has a 10 mm threaded section. I would have been hard pressed to believe this can happen but once aluminum corrodes it forms quite the bond with the metal next to it. Lucky for me I was able to drill out the bolt and retap the case. While you don’t need anti-seize on the bolts that are contained inside the gear box, its the ones that are on the outside that penetrate the case and their threaded ends are exposed to the elements that have a pretty good chance to corrode and cause problems later on.
One other really good place to use it is on exhaust system fasteners. And according to the manufacturer it’s good all the way to 2000 degrees. As we all know the bolts on the exhaust, starting at the engine block and going all the way back are really prone to corrosion. So a bit of anti-seize is just the ticket for those future tear downs that you know are coming your way.
So if you look around you will find numerous bolts and fasteners that will benefit from a little bit of anti-seize. All you have to do is look around on your rig and I am sure you will come up with some. Come to think of it there are a couple of large screws that hold the rear brake drums on that may need a little attention….
