Black thread locker type substance on wheel studs

[Poonie]

I removed one of the wheels off my newly purchased trailer this morning. Bought a set of Hankooks to replace the China Bombs that it came with. When I took the tire off the studs there was some kind of black thread locker looking material on the threads. My impact wrench was clacking all the way off the stud with each nut. Not making its usual clack clack clack...Vroom sound it normally makes. Same thing when I put the nuts back on the studs. The impact gun easily got the nuts back on but you could tell it was struggling a little against the thread locker. I know the nuts aren't cross threaded as I always hand tighten lug nuts first. I could only get a few turns with finger pressure though with this stuff on the studs. In all the years that I've changed tires on all manner of vehicles, I've never seen thread locker on a wheel stud, much less black thread locker.

Has anyone experienced this black thread locker looking material when changing trailer tires?

[Thomas ho]

never have . sounds like someone put Permatex gasket sealer " old black type ,,, hard curing . " new permatex in great ." on them or "Indian Head sealer" both are old fashioned sealer and not used much in the autumotive world. clean off threads with brake cleaner. and a toothbrush. or steel brush.

[Poonie]

But why would they do it?

Good Idea with the brake cleaner. I'm going to do that on the second one.

Do you think I caused any problems just putting the nuts back on without first having cleaned the threads? I never even thought to in all honesty.

[Bama Rambler]

Is this a brand new RV?

It's possible that it's not theadlocker. The only black colored threadlocker that I know of is Loctite 2047 which is used on very large fasteners and requires heat to remove. They do make a black anti-seize compound, but from your description it's not anti-seize.

[Poonie]

Yes, it's a 2021 Salem 178fsx.

This stuff felt rubbery, from the little bits that came off when I unscrewed the lug nuts. It's just weird. I've never run into anything like this before when changing tires.

[Bama Rambler]

I'd call Salem and ask if they put anything on the lug nuts to retain them in the new models. Might call the axle mfg. (likely Dexter) and ask if they've ever heard of anything like that.

[jeff64]

You sure it isnt black spray paint oversprayed from the axle mfg process

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[rsdata]

I would clean it off best I could then reinstall with correct torque
chemicals sometimes change out of the paxkage and not always for the good

[aircommuter]

I agree with overspray paint or undercoating. Black Permatex (2) is a soft set but would make your fingers black. Type 1 is the hard set variety which is redish brown. There was also an aviation variety also redish brown. These are still around but with improvements in RTV silicone you don’t see them much.
Back in the day they were what we had. Metal to metal cases we used Gasgacinch.

[TitanMike]

Brake hibs/drums for trailers are sprayed with a fairly heavy paint before packed for shipment. Sometimes more than necessary and studs aren't protected during the process.

For about $8 a die of the proper size for ones studs can be purchased that can clean the threads and allow easy removal and proper torquing when installing. A good tool to have in toolbox and can be a "lifesaver" when dealing with a flat.


Some carb cleaner on studs, running nut on and off a few times can often help remove goo as well.

[Poonie]

The black spray paint makes a lot of sense. The substance was the exact color of the drum. Now when I took off the right side tire there wasn't as much of it on the studs. Or at least it didn't seem as much. I've got both new tires mounted now, so I guess at this point I'm moving on with things. Thanks for the replies.