Can't get wheel off?

tomdempsey200

changed car recently

i could take the wheel off?

there's like a centre cap on the wheel? do i need to remove it?

i tried but it wouldn't budge

the wheel was off ground and nuts removed..never had the problem before

colm_mcm

Give it a wallop. Probably an alloy. They often fuse onto the hub. Little bit of copper grease on the surface will prevent it happening again.

tomdempsey200

i was trying to upload a pic

it's like a round cap in the centre of the wheel

never seen one before -do many cars have them?

is it needed?

jimgoose

colm_mcm wrote: »

Give it a wallop. Probably an alloy. They often fuse onto the hub. Little bit of copper grease on the surface will prevent it happening again.

...as will torquing it correctly.

Peanut2011

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

i was trying to upload a picit's like a round cap in the centre of the wheelnever seen one before -do many cars have them?is it needed?

Don't remove that, yes it is needed. I had the same problems with the wheels on my Mondeo, all it required was a decent wallop from the inside the tyre out to loosen it a bit.

Just be careful what you use to do it with so not to damage the wheel or the tyre.

tomdempsey200

i'll take alook thanks


just so we're clear this is not the fancy hub-cap...it's the small cap inside that!

colm_mcm

jimgoose wrote: »

...as will torquing it correctly.

I had a fiat before and this happened with the correct torque and factory wheels

dgt

colm_mcm wrote: »

I had a fiat before and this happened with the correct torque and factory wheels

Snap but with a Primera DLX. Wouldn't budge.

OP get out a sledge, block of wood, place wood carefully beside wheel and wallop it. Don't miss

Chimaera

It's nothing to do with that centre cap - that's just a piece of trim. Several people have told you this!

Get a piece of wood - something like a 44x75 that's long enough to cover the width of the wheel. Get a buddy to hold it near the top of the rim and give it a whack of a sledge hammer to dislodge the wheel.

When aluminium comes into contact with steel, a process called electrolytic welding can occur which will create a bond between the two components. It's a particular issue if the two parts are in tight contact to begin with.

Rub a little copper grease on the inside of the wheel centre next time and around the centre of the hub mounting flange to keep this at bay.

tossy

jimgoose wrote: »

...as will torquing it correctly.

This won't prevent it from happening. I find it happens more with cheapo alloy wheels as opposed to OE wheels.

A rubber mallet or long piece of wood and hit the wheel at 9 o clock and then 3 clock and repeat as necessary.

biko

The 4/5 nuts around the centre are the only ones you need to remove, no centre stuff.
As said, sometimes the wheel will rust/fuse onto the axle and you need to take a lump hammer or just give a few good kicks to loosen it.

If you do - screw one of the nuts back a little bit so the wheel doesn't jump off and you hurt yourself.

dr.fuzzenstein

Happens a lot and salt on the roads in winter does nothing to improve the situation.
I usually sit in front of it and kick it left and right till it falls off. Caution is advised and make sure your car is well secured, as kicking a car that has been jacked up is always risky.

NobodyImportant

I've HEARD, that you can just un-do the nuts a little bit, so they are no longer seated properly and drive the car forward and backwards a little bit and it will free itself.

Perhaps others could comment? I've never tried this before.

Matt Simis

Last Mondeo guy I helped with this problem had to go buy a sledgehammer and we had to beat the absolute $hit out of the wheel to get it off. Before that one of the lugs nuts rusted off the hub.

Quite the disaster, he didn't care at all though.

dgt

NobodyImportant wrote: »

I've HEARD, that you can just un-do the nuts a little bit, so they are no longer seated properly and drive the car forward and backwards a little bit and it will free itself.

Perhaps others could comment? I've never tried this before.

Good way to destroy a wheel, potentially the hub too

Whoever told you that kick them in the nuts

mickdw

Ive seen a guy loosen theads until there was about 1mm gap then driving around corners at about 5 mph to get wheel off. Dont like that idea myself.

jimgoose

colm_mcm wrote: »

I had a fiat before and this happened with the correct torque and factory wheels

dgt wrote: »

Snap but with a Primera DLX. Wouldn't budge...

tossy wrote: »

This won't prevent it from happening...

Well-and-good. Never encountered it myself once some youngfella in a tyre-shop hadn't gone all Yippi-ki-Yay with the rattlegun.

tomdempsey200

ok i got it now thanks......the wheel is stuck to the hub!


the manual threw me off cos it shows the 'centre cap' and the fancy 'hubcap' being prised off with a screwdriver


so i thought that was the problem

session savage

You dont need to wallop it. Put the nuts in but loosen them about 2 turns then drive slowly forwards and then backwards turning left and right. this will get the wheel to loosen. Obviously keep a close eye on the wheel in question and dont be doing this down the road or anything.

DanWall

Try a drop of WD 40 as well

dgt

DanWall wrote: »

Try a drop of WD 40 as well

Not worth a sh*te.

Sledge and block of wood as I've said before

I may make a video of this if I get the time and you're still stuck

Ipro

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

changed car recently

i could take the wheel off?

there's like a centre cap on the wheel? do i need to remove it?

i tried but it wouldn't budge

the wheel was off ground and nuts removed..never had the problem before

Elbow grease

Ipro

session savage wrote: »

You dont need to wallop it. Put the nuts in but loosen them about 2 turns then drive slowly forwards and then backwards turning left and right. this will get the wheel to loosen. Obviously keep a close eye on the wheel in question and dont be doing this down the road or anything.

Starving ! Doughnuts anybody?

johnayo

A 2lb hammer and a block of wood will even work. But make sure you put something under the car in case it falls off the jack.

worded

loosen bolts.

Get a ramp and drive it sideways on two wheels while you counter balance out the window.

Ipro

worded wrote: »

loosen bolts.

Get a ramp and drive it sideways on two wheels while you counter balance out the window.

+1

Gary ITR

Ipro wrote: »

+1

It's the only way

Ronnie Beck

The aul lad uses a shovel handle. Fifteen minutes of me getting awful thick with a flat tire one day and he strolls out with a shovel, sticks the handle in between the spokes, pops the alloy off and strolls off again. Haven't had one stuck since to try it myself but it looked fairly effortless.

mickdw

Ronnie Beck wrote: »

The aul lad uses a shovel handle. Fifteen minutes of me getting awful thick with a flat tire one day and he strolls out with a shovel, sticks the handle in between the spokes, pops the alloy off and strolls off again. Haven't had one stuck since to try it myself but it looked fairly effortless.

That's a good way as you are levering against the wheel itself and therefore unlikely to shake the car off the Jack