Wheels wont come off

Last weekend wanted to rotate the tires so jacked it up and took off the 6 screws front left side and rear to swap them. Guess what the tire would not come off so got the big sledge out to whack it from behind to pop it lose. Did not want to budge at all so ended up putting the screws back on and plan to have dealer look at it when i take it in for the recall work on Monday. I have the aluminum rims and I suspect that they bind on the hub and needs to have a loser fit. Just want you to get a heads up on this since if you get a flat you may not be able to change to the spare tire.

I don't know how hard you hit it, or if you hit the front wheel or the back, but it wouldn't hurt to have them verify the alignment, while you're there.

-Jon

PS

something to try if you're in the mood.... a few controlled bursts of some aerosol rust solvent/penetrating petroleum product around the stud hole areas, let it sit for a few minutes (say, um, 20?) and then remove the bolts and bang on the tire tread with the heal of your hand or maybe place a 2x4 or other substantial hunk of wood against the tread and try to shock it loose with a hammer blow to the wood. Oh, if you're able, rotate the wheel on the rotor as you bang on the tread.

I've had it happen before too. You can use the vehicle's weight to break the bond between wheel and hub: just carefully begin to lower the vehicle on the jack and put weight through the wheel whilst the nuts are off. Not clever with the factory jack, but it's got me out of a spot before. Make sure it's properly chocked.

mean_in_green said:

I've had it happen before too. You can use the vehicle's weight to break the bond between wheel and hub: just carefully begin to lower the vehicle on the jack and put weight through the wheel whilst the nuts are off. Not clever with the factory jack, but it's got me out of a spot before. Make sure it's properly chocked.

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I did that trick with the jack once. My cousin saved me from myself by putting a piece of fire wood under one of the leaf spring mounting points, just tall enough to protect the brake assembly, but short enough to allow the wheel to free itself.

I released the jack and thanked him for the wood (nicely crushed under the weight of the car).

-Jon

unimog,
You did say you were just going to rotate the tires. A shop is going to go at it until it breaks free. That can mean heavy handed hammers, torch heat, or whatever their favorite method is to get the job done in a reasonable time.

If there's no emergency I'd recommend spraying each hub area with a bit of good penetrating oil (maybe Liquid Wrench or Kano Kroil) every day for the next week. At the end of the week, jack up a wheel and give the lug studs a few well aimed blows with a decent sized hammer (smaller than a sledgehammer). Then loosen the studs and check. More than likely it will break free without a bunch of heavy beating. This method takes time, but is kindler and gentler on your wheels and parts. You're in no big hurry just to rotate tires are you? Hope this does some good. vic

before you put the wheels back on, smear a very thin coating of synthetic grease on the surface where the wheel and the hub meet. the wheel will not be stuck next time. Just my 2 cents.

I've had this happen on other cars with aluminium wheels. I now clean the back of the wheels and the hubs really good, than apply a light coat of antisieze on the back of the aluminium wheel, on the matng surface. I've not had any problems for years now. If you use any kind of grease, go easy on it, to minimise the possibility of the grease dripping down into the rotors when they get hot.

Good advice on the grease/anti-seize. Although seizing to the hubs seems more common on aluminum alloy wheels it can happen on steel wheels also. Especially if you're in an area that uses salt on the roads and don't rotate your tires. I always put a light coating of grease or anti-seize on my wheel hubs. Whichever you have handy will work. Putting too much on so it gets to the rotor surfaces is a concern, but it's fairly minor. You'd need to use a bunch of grease for that to happen. I've been using grease on hubs for about 40 years now. Hope this does some good. vic

Yes thank you for all the advice. I did hid it hard from the back on the side of the tire with a large sledge hammer it would not budge at all. The six bolts were out and it fits very hard on the hub. It is an 09 with less than 20 k on it is strange that it already is frozen on there. Going in to the dealer on Monday for the H11 recall so will have him take a look at it

Went in for the recall H11 and had the dealer rotate the wheels. They did not want to entertain a warranty repair and I am not sure how they got the wheels off the hubs but in any case i am good for a while now