Hey Charlie,
Personally, I don't use any thread locker or anti-seize compound on these fasteners. I do make sure however, that the copper sealing washer is in place and in serviceable condition.
I've seen some come with factory-installed red or yellow Locktite on them, which I believe to be way overkill. First, this makes them nearly impossible to remove. Second, there is no way for these bolts to fall out during use, and even if there were room on top of the axle for them to loosen up enough to leak, so what? If that ever happens, I'll use some Locktite, I guess.
I use an adjustable air impact wrench on these bolts as well, both to loosen and then to tighten again upon re-assembly. I use a lower power setting for tightening, and have never had one leak, cause damage, or come undone over the years.
There is probably a torque spec for this bolt, and there are probably good arguments against using my method. That said, there is some long-standing history of using an air wrench on these bolts for good reason. I've done more forks than I can remember, so I'll stick with it a while longer most likely.
I have had to deal with drilling out a stuck bolt at the fork bottom when the cheesy head stripped out once--the corrosion from years of outside abandonment was amazing, but I got the best of it eventually.
If you don't have access to an air impact wrench, hopefully you can get it to sit still with hand-tightening. Assuming the threaded portion inside the fork doesn't spin on you, I'd give it a good snugging with a long hex wrench on a 3/8 drive socket driver handle.
I hesitate to throw out a number, but I wouldn't be afraid of putting about 20-30 ft/lbs on it.
All the best,
Shane
