My father who works on jet engines at GE brought home a bottle of aerokroil, it is a penetrating lube that helps loosen rusty bolts, it has come in very handy not only on my 96 f-150 but also the many rusty bolts we are dealing with on his 1970's fiat spyder 2000. I think this product works great i was wondering if anyone else has used this product or feels there are far superior products they would use for the job. Although my bottle came from general electric it is availible to the consumer at around 7 bucks a bottle.

 

I buy Aero by the case. It comes out of the can a drop at a time if you want and doesnt make a mess. We oil EVERY bolt we install here. A DRY thread doesnt tighten correctly and often dry seize instead of applying proper tension. It aids in removal when they are oiled when installed. Lug nuts are a classic case when the guy at tire stores zip them on with air guns. Speed and heat and they become friction welded together.

 

but do bolts loosen by vibration easier with the stuff on it?

 

Without it they never get tight,, no, they dont loosen. Bolts apply tension and are designed to create friction between the pieces being bolted, like a C clamp does. On a dry bolt much of the torgue applied is used to overcome thread friction,, it quits twisting but never squeezes the parts together like it should. A lug nut is designed to squeeze the rim against a brake drum creating enough friction between them to keep the rim from twisting or slipping. Take a common pipe fitting and put together dry, you can seize them where they never come apart. Adding sealer or lube allows them to get tight and also allows it to be removed. Threads under a microscope are rough, oil lets the rough spots slide and round over instead of sticking. Look at head bolt torque specs. They call for lightly lubricated threads to torque to specs.

 

I use the stuff all the time, I'll never buy a can of crap like WD40 ever again
It;s made by Kano Laboratories & you can order it on line.

 

Sounds great.I never heard of it though.Can you buy it over the counter?

 

I've used B-Blaster a good bit here lately and so for it's worked great. Had some manifold bolts to get out, douched them down for a couple of days and spun them right off. Just my 2 cents.

 

I've been using it for several years with good results. It is the best penetrating oil I've seen although PB Blaster is close.

I've never seen Kroil or Aerokroil in auto stores although you might find it at an industrial supply house. The way I've always gotten it is by mail order. They almost always have some kind of deal going. Not long ago I got 2 of the 13 oz aerosol cans for about 1 1/2 the cost of one. The company makes several other products but I've no experience with them.

(I have no financial interest in the company, not related, own no stock--just like their product.)

http://www.kanolabs.com
Kano Labs
P.O.Box 110098
Nashville, TN 37222-0098
615-833-4101

 

Thanks for the link.It sounds like something I would like to try.

 

I'm a big fan of Aerokroil.

I've never seen it for sale anywhere, but I bought a couple of cans off their website and I've never looked back.

 

My father is a purchasing agent for a large agricultural manufacturing company. He gets salesman and samples of everything all the time. Kroil has been around for awhile and I used to think it was a good product when I first used it a few years ago. There are a ton of penetrating oils that are way better than kroil. The best one out there hands down period is CRC screwloose. A seriously rusted bolt that kroil will take a week of soaking to break loose, screwloose will do it in less than a minute and it doesn't have that terrible kroil stink to it. And I have to seriously disagree with putting oil on lugnuts. DO NOT DO THIS. I used penetrating oil to remove stuck lugnuts one time. I put the new wheels on and new lugnuts and went down the road. I had a wheel come off on the freeway and to make matters worse none of the wheels would stay tight until I took all the lugnuts off, cleaned them in lacquer and hosed the studs with brake cleaner. IT SAYS RIGHT IN ANY SHOP MANUAL TO NEVER USE OIL ON LUGNUTS. Also, any torque value for any given bolt will also have a reference to whether it is with oil or dry and what weight oil. In general, most bolts torque with 30 wt motor oil, some use moly lube and plated bolts don't use any lube, but any quality reference material will give torque specs and what if any lubricant is required.

EDIT: Might as well mention, I also work on GE and allison marine gas turbine engines. Does that make me more credible?

 

AverageF250:

I guess the only remaining question is: Did you stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night?

RussA

 

Some lug nuts call for no oil, some of the newer ones,, not all of them call for no oil. I have put thousands of them on and NEVER had one come off or come loose that has been oiled. I have seen several wheels not tighten and work on the studs and shear lug studs off, mostly put on by tire shops, most recently on an F350 with duals. The tire guy spun them on dry at high speed with an air gun and seized them. One of the auto mechanics in town calls me every once in a while to remove seized lugs, last time where the tire guy across the road had installed them an hour earlier. Who knows what the applied tension actually is on those bolts? Another case where the guy at auto parts guy puts a ball on his pickup hitch in the yard here. I mentioned to oil that fine thread,, went in one ear and out the other. He installs and then changes his mind,,, the threads come right off with the nut and ruins new ball. Plated as a matter of fact. How tight was that ball,, it stopped turning, but tight,, no way. A local trucking company was having problems with wheels coming loose, since they started oiling not one case. John Deere fastener tech manual gives the difference in dry compared to lubed fasteners. They claim on NC bolts 40% torque is required to overcome thread friction on oiled fasteners right up to 100% for dry to the point of seizure. I have seen lots of lug studs ruined removing with no oil. Now I could be wrong but I would like to see where it is written not to oil ALL lug nuts. I do agree there are better pen oils than Kroil for penetrant. Even PB blaster probably works better but makes a huge mess as it comes out of the can at full blast. The Kroil can be metered a drop at a time if you want.