I tried rotating my tires this last weekend, but I was unable to get my wheels off! I jacked the car up with a set of floor jacks and removed the lugnuts, but the wheels were stuck to the hub. I gave one a few "light" whacks with a mallet, but it still didn't budge. I didn't want to hit it too hard becasue I was afraid of messing up my allignemnt. I also tried to pry one off by inserting a prybar bewteen the wheel spoke & the brake disc, but that didn't work either. Any ideas?

 

Easy way is to have vehicle on the ground, loosen the lug bolts about two (2) turns, drive the vehicle a couple of feet and hit the brakes hard. This should do the trick. Before re-installing the wheels, clean the hub area with a wire brush and apply some antiseize to the hub area (NOT the mounting surface where the wheel meets the back plate). This should make removing wheels easier next time.

 

Sounds like some rust holding the back of the wheel to the hub. You should be able to loosen it by kicking the tire sidewall in several different places. This will knock it loose.
You should not have to worry about knocking out your alignment. Your car takes much more abuse just by driving it.

 

I had the same problem when I installed a rear swaybar. I tried the braking trick but even at higher speeds foreward and reverse, it wouldn't come loose. We eventually just started wacking the inside of the tire with a rubber mallet and it slowly worked itself loose. It was really stuck on there good.

 

Yep, Just requires elbow grease. PULL really hard, or whack it as said above.

 

at 5000 miles I did the same thing and used the mallet method. It made me really uneasy, but it worked. Now I always use a liberal amount of antiseeze and loosen the lugs three or more turns. the wheels just pop a little. the safest is the lug trick.

 

I saw some thin discs that go between the hub and the wheel..
sounds like a good investment.

 

A trick we used to use in the days of spline mounted wire wheels, real knock-off hubs and chasing Mastodons out of the parking lots so we could hold a gymkhana was to loosen the hubs (in your case the lug bolts) and drive the car in a tight circle. Driving in a counterclockwise circle would pop the passenger side wheels and driving in a clockwise circle would pop the driver's side wheels.

South of the equator or in Britain, Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia it works in the other direction, I'm told.

 

I had the same problem... a few swift kicks around the tires did the trick. I didn't think a/b the alignment thing Just don't knock it off the jack/jack stands.

 

I used a large wheel (i.e. gear, pulley etc) puller from Sears. Worked fine on Slites (which had corrosion at the center hub).

 

I too had the same problem. I just pulled really hard. Getting the new wheels on was a pain aswell. Lining those damn holes up. Oh and dont forget about all that freaking brake dust on my hands!

 

This happens all the time unfortunately. Just hit/kick the wheel from the inside and it'll loosen itself. Just make sure you are solid on the jacks

 

I suffered through this last night on my dad's custom powder-coated wheels.

We were installing a rear sway bar, and were unable to beat the back wheels off with a mallet. I got under the car and kicked really hard: no dice. I put WD40 behind the wheel face (on the rotor hat), walked away for 10 minutes, and kicked the heck out of it. Popped right off.

On the other wheel, I broke the head off the mallet. That one required an hour of WD40 penetration before a very violent kick would take the wheel off.

 

Happened to me, too.

A little WD-40 and a couple of whacks with a rubber mallet were all it took to get them loose.

I've thought about adding thin (3mm) wheel spacers just so I won't have this problem.

 

I always lay a 2x4 on the wheel lip and hit it with a hammer to get them off. That way you are hitting it hard to get it off, but the 2x4 takes the damage and not the wheel lip. Good luck.:smile:

 

But seriously folks, I like the sound of this ancient secret method....being careful, of course, to not overdo the bolt loosening bit.... A mallet has worked for me so far, but with a car on jackstands the "bigger hammer" method isn't practical (or safe).

 

Great idea!
I wonder what would happen if instead of driving in the other direction, one were to drive in reverse counterclockwise and clockwise....

 

Although I had done them once before by myself, this happened to me couple of weeks ago, too. I wailed away on the rears with a rubber mallet and pulled for all I was worth, to no avail. Scared of knocking it off the stands, I gave up. Took it to the guys who had installed the tires in Feb. and they rotated them for free. It had been to the dealer for rear brakes between then and now, btw. Only problem was I didn't get to wash/wax then as I wanted to. Oh well.
I may have to spend the $20 for those discs from Moss...
http://www.mossmini.com/Shop/ViewPro...eIndexID=46627