Lubing hub caps to ease wheel removal after winter is gone (was: lubing the bolts)

After having difficulty getting BOTH of the rear aluminum wheels off the hubs on my A4 I ended up lubing the hubcups with "copper" lube (same as "aluminum" lube I'm told) when I put winter steel rims on.

Any bets how that would affect the ease of winter set removal in spring?

The grease is about gone and I'm considering whether to get some more.

Or soaking the hub with WD-40 for 24 hours or so would work equally as well for unstucking the stuck wheel?

I'm hesitant to implement JB suggestion of loosening the wheel bolts and riding around to get wheels loosened off the hub.

Reply to
isquat
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I've used anti-seeze for such purposes for decades and it works flawlessly.

Reply to
.

Anti-seize IS NOT LUBE. It is different.

What, copper vs. aluminum anti-seize? Probably no difference at those temperatures.

Loosen the wheel bolts, then drop the jack so the weight is on the wheel, then jack it back up again.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

Oddly, I inadvertantly just did this experiment on my car and I *did* notice a difference. The first time I had the wheels off my car it had nothing on the hubs, and required extreme persuasion to get them off. I reinstalled with Permatex aluminum anti-seize. The next time I had them off, they were much easier to remove but still a little stuck. In the meantime, I had changed the spark plugs, and the FSM specifically recommended copper based anti-seize so I tracked some down at NAPA (it's apparently harder to find than aluminum anti-seize, but when you're dealing with 'spensive stuff and there's clear and specific direction in the FSM, who am I to argue with them?) and that is what I happened to have handy when reinstalling the wheels. They came right off with no issues this time around.

I don't know if that is because of the different anti-seize or other factors (different seasons, less use of vehicle, who knows?)

Doesn't do squat for a hubcentric wheel... need acceleration/braking forces to bust it loose. Only other real option is to use a hammer and block of wood from the inside of the wheel, under the car, and I would emphatically recommend using jack stands and chock the opposite wheel if you are going to do that.

I would caution the OP however to only apply the anti-sleaze to the hub protrusion and not the face of the rotor hat.

Odd side note - the hats of the Centric Premium rotors that I installed still had the black coating on the mating surfaces making clean up for installation of winter wheels cake easy. A swipe with a shop rag and a pristine surface!

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

^^^^^^

Since you are in the Washington, D.C. (District of Criminals) area, could you spray your leftover anti-sleaze on passing Congresscritters?

Reply to
T0m $herman

I will supply some Anti Sleaze.

Reply to
JR

I always figured if the heads, (or wheels), are ALUMINUM to begin with, then using ALUMINUM anti-seize was counterintuitive...so I use copper

GW

Reply to
Geoff Welsh

with the roads becoming increasingly muddy this month it's a moot point. The wheel and the visible part of the hub are uniformly covered with dirt now.

Reply to
Brake Dive, Acceleration Squat Body Roll Works LLC

My 1971 Chevelle than my Dad bought me to beat around in when I was 16 had the original tires & wheels on it from the factory. That means they had been on the car for 15 years!

One AM I woke up and noticed a flat, thankfully in our driveweigh. And I'll look you straight in the eye: Between my father's and my efforts, that tire iron had a permanent BEND in it from the attempt to remove one of those nuts! lol!!

Reply to
thekmanrocks

that's why I carry an extention with me to pry stubborn wheel nuts off.

though the last tire iron I've bought was telescopic to begin with to deal with this exact problem. got an impact wrench socket to go with the wrench as I have already busted a cheap soft chinese made 17 or 19mm socket in the process of removing a stubborn wheel nut once

Reply to
Brake Dive, Acceleration Squat Body Roll Works LLC

yeah I am thinking of buying a set of Snap-On or S-K 6 point deep sockets spanning the sizes 17-21mm... busted a "Husky" brand 17 removing the wheels from my car this fall, they weren't even on tight! (everything clean and torqued by me to 88 ft-lbs) quality tools are important!

I don't know that Craftsman is all it used to be... Kobalt stuff looks nice but they don't often have 6 points in the stores.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

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