Changing a Tyre (different problem)

Hintza

My daughter called me the other night stranded at the side of the road with a puncture she had all the bolts undone and car jacked up but the rim was stuck to the hub (we have all seen this before and I have found brute force, a big hammer and ignorance normally gets it off) and she couldn't shift. In the end she got a lift home after calling her friends father out but car was stranded until the morning when a mechanic went out.

I will be advising her to get all the wheels loosened and retightened but what advice would others offer when you don't have any suitable tools and are stuck in the middle of nowhere with a rim virtually welded to the hub?

[Deleted User]

Make sure you have one of these in the boot (or know someone who does)

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_174166_langId_-1_categoryId_90884

Big hammers are fun also

oh yeh, don't try to loosen the nuts with the wheel in the air...

steveo3002

if it was me stranded ...id refit the bolts but leave the a few turns lose then lower the car on the ground and give it almighty rock to try and break it lose

copper slip where they touch and they wont stick again

headpin

If the ground is dry and the car is reasonable safe on the jack then sit on the ground in front of the wheel and kick the tyre/rim with the sole of your foot reasonably hard. Do that at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions alternately and generally it will generally loosen the rim from the hub after 2 or 3 good kicks.

This is usually a problem on the rear wheel's of cars' that still have drum brakes. The rim gets stuck on the drum and you need to break the “seal” between the two.

But be careful if you do this as you do not want the car to topple off the jack. Unfortunately brute force is the only sure way to get the wheel rim off the hub.

vikingaero

I called out the AA once when I had a puncture. I'd removed all the bolts and even by kicking the tyres it was impossible to remove. The two metals had fused together along with Mr Rust and Corrosion. The AA man used a block of wood to protect the rim and a great big hammer.

Hintza

Thanks for all the replies.

When she was on the phone and asking her what she had tried the comment was " I have kicked the !!!!!! out of it".

I suggested popping nuts back on loosely and and running it gently into kerb (it there was one) but she had given up by then. But a good rocking sounds a better idea.

The one think I told her to do was ensure that the spare was under the car just incase it came off the jack!

Conor_3

Perhaps she should try having the car serviced and then the wheels wouldn't have been on so long that the alloys corroded onto the hub.

Each wheel needs taking off and the mating faces smeared with copaslip.

Hintza

Conor wrote: »

Perhaps she should try having the car serviced and then the wheels wouldn't have been on so long that the alloys corroded onto the hub.

Each wheel needs taking off and the mating faces smeared with copaslip.

The car is serviced.

goldspanners

as other have said,smack them with a big hammer to get them off,leave the nuts on loosly though so the wheel doesnt come flying off.
smear the inside of the wheel where it matches up to the brake discs and drums with copper slip,do the wheel studs aswell,saves them from siezing too.
good luck.

vikingaero

Conor wrote: »

Perhaps she should try having the car serviced and then the wheels wouldn't have been on so long that the alloys corroded onto the hub.

Each wheel needs taking off and the mating faces smeared with copaslip.

Most cars spend 20k between services and that can be a long time for some drivers.

I used Elite Tyres in Rainham, Essex and they had their apprentice go around each car with its wheels off with a paint brush and a tin of Copperslip. Whilst decent tyre dealers like Elite do this most garages including Mercedes don't. When I called out the AA it had only been about 3k since the last service from Mercedes.

saintjanet

It must be worth it for her to be in the AA,RAC,greenflag or one of the other breakdown companies.