Wheel stuck on

in article snipped-for-privacy@sizefitter.com, Johannes H Andersen at snipped-for-privacy@sizefitter.com wrote on 12/10/03 6:30 pm:

Better than falling off, eh? Anti-seize, leave overnight, hammer like hell tomorrow and hope. Perhaps a huge breaker bar to give you some more purchase?

I'd be inclined to hop down to Kwik Fit and leave it as their problem. You can have new valves fitted as a cheapest job. For about 5 UKP, you can have them get the wheel off for you :)

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S

The wheels are stuck on after the wheel nuts have been removed! I kicked on the wheel while lying down under the car, but no luck. Problem is that they're rather nice 16" Aero wheels, I don't fancy putting a sledgehammer to them. A bit worrying if I get a puncture. Just shows that you need to check that things can be undone once a while or your car get seized. BTW "seized" is my favorite multi-purpose word, can be used in any tight situation.

Johannes

in article snipped-for-privacy@sizefitter.com, Johannes H Andersen at snipped-for-privacy@sizefitter.com wrote on 12/10/03 7:13 pm:

What about a paving mallet? One of those huge rubber hammers. Take some photos for us, coz it's kind of comedy hitting things with over-size hammers.

Paul

Spray some penetrating oil (PlusGas etc.) onto the hub, leave it

10 minutes, spray again, and give it a good whack. It *will* come off.

I would not be inclined to trust places like that with any job that may require some force. They tend to give the job to their most inexperienced employee, and be very heavy handed with cars.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@sizefitter.com spouted forth into alt.autos.saab...

Get a nice piece of thickish wood that completley covers the diameter of the wheel.

Get some one to hold it in place. Whack the centre of the wood with the big hammer.

If that fails, put it on a jack/Stand with the wheel still incontact with the ground if you can (or with the nuts back on but slack/finger tight).

Start the car, and turn the wheels back and forth several times. Should eventually do the job and slacken the wheel.

Get a good penetrating oil (WD-40 is neither good, nor a penetrant, nor an oil...stay away from that stuff...), and let it soak in. It's most likely stuck along where the wheel fits over the steel ring protruding from the hub' get some penetrant in there. Tighten the lug bolts as normal, and drive the car around with some good, energetic braking. This might generate enough heat & movement in the wheel/hub to get the oil where you want it.

Once it comes off (yeah, I skipped the tricky part, I know) go at it (the hub) with a wire brush - clean all the rust off of that ring. When you remount your wheels, use an anti-sieze grease on that part, so this doesn't happen again.

Good luck, Dave Hinz

in article snipped-for-privacy@news.cis.dfn.de, MeatballTurbo at snipped-for-privacy@bouncing-czechs.com wrote on 12/10/03 8:37 pm:

I still favour the rubber mallet method. Sheer comedy aside, this method has worked for me with a badly rusted Metro wheel hub that size 11 British army combat boots on a 6'2" bloke couldn't move. I know, I know - Saab wheels are a bit bigger and more complicated, but the principle is the same.

I did see an AA (Automobile Association, for our non-UK readers) bloke walloping a wheel in Asda car park once. I overheard him saying to the customer he'd be back in a few hours once some penetrating oil had soaked in to give it another go.

Good luck Johannes, let some oil soak in overnight and see how it is tomorrow.

Paul

Some people have reported that loosening the wheel screws a little (don't remove them completely) and then driving a couple of meters will loosen the wheel rim. I haven't had to do this myself as I prefer to prevent stuck wheels by proper preventive maintenance[1].

[1] A small amount of some anti-corrosion stuff (copper paste, aluminium paste, grease) on the part of the hub that protrudes through the rim. Do not apply any substance on the surface between the hub/brake disk and wheel rim. This surface should only be cleaned from corrosion and dirt.

Try this: loosen the bolts the hold the wheel a tiny bit. Take a ride around the block. This worked for me. On some stubborn wheels, I had to make 3-4 rides.

No damage to the rims or the bolts.

Thanks, that worked a treat. I only drove at walking speed a few meters, but could hear the groan when the wheel shifted. Brilliant idea.

A small warning here. When I lifted the car up with the scissor jack, original Saab equipment with the car, the tread snapped once such that the car dropped suddenly a couple of inches. Never trust a scissor jack, not even Saab's. BTW, I always mount a tripod after lifting.

My original intention was to change drive belt, still haven't managed. To gain access, I wanted to remove the plastic shield inside the wing on the car's right side. However, one of the screws just rotated infinitely and didn't come out. I suspect that a garage mechanic who previously did something in that area have over tightened the screw using a power tool, and the hidden backside nut has come unstuck. Doh.

Johannes

if you can grip with a set of pump pliers, you may be able to pull the hidden nut tight enough back against the wing to unscrew the screw.

might only get 1 1/4 turn at a time, but better than drilling out.

I did that, but couldn't get a proper grip. (Get a grip Johannes!) See if I can find some better tools for the job.

Don't blame the garage - this is a very common problem. When it happens, just drill them out.

Sadly the screw rusts onto the nut, and becomes almost impossible to undo.

"Nick Monyatovsky" skrev i meddelandet news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Yes that´s the way to do it.

/B

Why oh why does it take me 6 weeks to do what a F1 mechanic can do in 6 seconds? Well I'm still learning...

Because an F1 mechanic would never work on a rusty car - the cars they work on have new, shiny, polished parts, which are never over torqued. And they struggled like you did early in their career.

sledgehammer