# Threadlocker vs. anti-seize



## Appendage (Jan 12, 2004)

Hey. If I had my way, I'd put Loctite Blue on almost everything. But an anti-seize thread lubricant is specified for many parts. One product is designed to kinda glue things together, the other is a lube that keeps that from happening.

Question: How do you determine which one is appropriate to use for a given part?

For your sage wisdom, I thank you.

~Appendage


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## juancancook (Aug 30, 2006)

First and foremost- use what the manual says if only because some engineer designed the bits to be assembled in such a way and felt so strongly about it that they made some monkey type it out on a keyboard.
Now the tricky part. It depends. Bottom bracket? I grease. Headset cups? Grease. miscellaneous clamp bolts (brake levers, shifter pods, saddle rail clamp, derialleur pinch bolts), grease. 
BUT, the only absolute is that there are NO absolutes. 
Disc screws and adapter bolts, loctite. Ti hardware, loctite UNLESS you have a ti formulated/specific anti seize compound. Seatposts: steel & aluminum frames: grease. Ti frames: anti seize. Carbon frames or seat posts (or anything else for the matter): NOTHING at all. Live in a salty environment (Aloha!) or some place like Wisconsin where we salt the crap outta the roads in winter? Anti seize the bottom bracket threads and maybe the axle cones & lock nuts. 

But keep in mind that the manufacturer is always right. If in doubt, check 'em out. No sense in voiding any warranties or potentially having to find a machine shop that can machine out your precious and new bottom bracket then find a shop that can still chase the threads. As my pop said after I crossed the threads on the spark plug of my YZ50 years ago, "Use your head first, then your hands."


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## hugh088 (Feb 1, 2004)

For most thing anti-sieze is what you want. You want to use loctite when there is extreme vibration or rotationinal motion that will unscrew the bolt. A good example of the latter is Italian BB's and any pivot points on a a FS bike.


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## Lunger (Jan 30, 2006)

*my two cents...*

I would generally agree w/the previous post which said to follow the manufacturer specs.

Absent this guidance a rule-of-thumb is if the fitting doesn't maintain dynamic tension on the fastener and it is subject to vibration or changes in temperature, etc you should put threadlocker on it. Rotors are a good example where you should use threadlocker. There is no compression taking place there, flat piece of metal being tightened against another flat piece of metal, its a static fit. This would have a tendency to loosen. I'm sure there are those that would argue w/this particular example but its the concept I'm trying to get across not necessarily this particular example.

BUT, I think it also depends on how much service the bike gets. If its a race bike that gets a lot of attention and/or gets sold at the end of a season or two you might take a different approach. Fittings that cry for anti-seize (dissimilar metals, exposed to elements) I sometimes put threadlocker on knowing I am going to be disassembling it enough that it won't really have a chance to seize.

Like most things there are no absolutes, it depends.


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## Mike T. (Dec 30, 2003)

Put thread locker on all threads where the maker tells you to put it. Put it on all threads that come loose after sufficiently tightening. Use anti-seize lube everywhere else.


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