getting wheels off

bigger hammer.

(this was the original reason for the purchase of my 4lb hammer - the 1lb claw one wasn't up to it...)

cheers, clive

I had this problem with my Alfa 33 - in the end I undid all the bolts and lowered the car onto the wheel again. No change.

Getting a little upset, I then started to push the car sideways. (wheel with no bolts in at all!) Then faster, repeatedly, until I'd lost my pent up 'enthusiasm'. No change.

Finally, I jacked the car up again and using a flat bladed screwdriver as a wedge, whacked the screwdriver into the joint between the alloy wheel and steel hub. After the screwdriver had bent some, I continued, but harder. Finally the wheel slowly seperated, much to my joy! Then it was time for a mug of tea to celebrate!

When replacing the wheel, I made sure that it was given a light coat of grease on the mating faces - hasn't happened since!

Moral - using the screwdriver, insert through the gap in the alloy wheel into 'joint' of hub/wheel and then beat screwdriver handle repeatedly with hammer until wheel is free. If in doubt, hit the screwdriver harder/faster.

Adam H

Slacken wheel nuts (one side at a time) 3 turns ....... get into a large EMPTY car park and turn car in circle FAST and hit brakes...... it will loosen them.

Feck! The wheel should not be not driven by the studs. The studs just clamp the wheel to the hub so that friction between wheel and hub can drive the wheel. By using grease you are preventing that friction so you are now driving and braking (500+ bhp) using those poor little studs instead of that nice big contact face.

-- Peter Hill Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header Can of worms - what every fisherman wants. Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

I used a two-legged puller to pull on the backs of two of the 'spokes' of my alloys - padded with bits of plywood of course. It seems to bind to the central section of the hub rather than the face of the brake disc on mine though - so I sanded it lightly to remove the rust/dirt, and it's a snug fit now, but doesn't stick.

Also try it in cold weather (not hard at the moment!) - that seems to help.

Rich.

"Peter Hill" > >

drive

Au contraire mon ami. It is well known that copper grease should be sparingly used on the surface of alloy wheels in contact with the hub to prevent the two dissimilar metals corroding and welding together. Indeed many cars are supplied with said grease applied from new, even heavy duty ones like Range Rover [specifically].

Huw

This is what large alloy [soft] sledge hammers are born for. Loosen all nuts and hit the tyre while rotating, being careful not to miss ;-)

Huw

My Haynes manual says that the mating surfaces of the wheels / hubs should be free of grease. Personally I don't like putting grease on the backs of wheels but I like being able to get the wheels off, so I use a (very) thin smear of waterproof grease.

Copper greases tend not to be waterproof and are prone to being washed off.

-- James

together.

(very) thin

washed off.

All I can say is that I have had several new cars with factory applied copper grease between the alloy and hub with instruction book advise to reapply sparingly and periodically to prevent the dissimilar metals reacting and bonding. It is hardly likely to be washed off from this area.

Huw