[quote]Hopefully, some ME is reading this, and can spank me and set me on the straight and narrow if I have run off the road here...
That would be me, but I believe you're still on the road here. Good info.
To follow your point about lube, my modern truck has 2-piece lug nuts and specifies a drop of oil on the interface between the two parts and NOT on the threads. That additional step of the drop of oil adds yet another step of cleaning the wheels of the 8 stripes of oil after a few miles.
To add another thing to the puzzle, fine threaded fasteners require a different torque to obtain the same clamping force as coarse threaded ones. But as was said, there's a lot of tolerance on these old trucks.
As far as reusing fasteners, there's nothing worse than that sickening feeling when you're halfway to the torque spec and the needle doesn't move on the wrench, indicating stripped threads either on the bolt or worse yet, the threaded hole in the block. Worst case, break out the helicoil kit. Another really bad one is when the needle drops to zero and the head pops off the bolt. If you're lucky, disassemble and spin the stub out unless it's a tight fit, then go to one of the methods to extract it (check the tech tips for lots of good suggestions).
Moral of the story is to inspect your fasteners for rusted threads and general condition and if in doubt, replace them.
