/2011 R55 with 10k. Went to rotate my tires and I can't get the wheels off. Yes I removed the lug nuts but wheels will not budge. On jack stands and pushed, pulled, beat with a rubber mallet, no luck.

Any suggestions?

 

Beat harder with the rubber mallet, from the inside lower part of tire.

 

pour some hot water onto the gap and wait for one minute. It will be much easier to detach it.

 

Get a piece of wood that goes across the lower back of the wheel and beat it like it owes you.

Edit: maybe get a bigger hammer

 

I usually turn around, brace myself, and kick hard with the big muscles of my leg driving booted heel.

(I do not recommend doing this in sneakers.)

 

Lol, I just did this last week with my brothers 2010 R56, I thought I broke my big toe!

 

common with 'hub centric' wheels. The hole in the wheel center fits snuggly to the hub and CAN rust and stick. Not unique to MINI, had a neighbor come ask for help first time he tried to rotate tires on his Tundra too. Ended up on my butt on the garage floor and with both legs just wailing on the wheel for 10 minutes!

When you do get them off - b4 you put back on clean up the hub face and apply some anti-seize anywhere there was rust signs, especially around the lip the wheel sits on . . . things will be MUCH easier next time!

 

Clean all 4 hubs with Brillo, or wire brush, sandpaper, etc After they are clean and dry, use Brake Caliper spray paint from Autozone and paint the hubs to prevent rust buildup.Anti-sieze is messy if you put too much and may get on the brake pads. I painted all my hubs and my rims come off easily now.

 

I just anti-seized my wheels last week. The left rear didn't want to come off. Will be easy next time.

 

Like he said.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/21618871?w...308396&veh=sem

 

Yes everyone that works on cars needs a BFH.

 

Can also try this:
Loosen all 4 lug nuts a little (1-2 full turns at the most).
Drive the car back and forth a little a few times at the curbside or
driveway, stopping very sharply; do this with the wheels turned at least a little.
This will often break the seal between the hub and the wheel.
Don't do this, fail, and give up and go on to drive the car normally without
re-tightening the lug nuts, or you could be in for a nasty surprise.

 

I did once use this method. Dodge 3500 Cummins and could not get a wheel off. It worked. Since then I use anti-seize all of the time. My truck has 305,000 miles and have never had a problem getting the wheels off since then.

 

I second this method.

That or a swift kick to the tire often breaks them lose.

I just rotated the tires at 6K on my car.

I found "greased" hubs on the passenger side. Wheels came right off. Drivers side, rusted hubs, had to kick both wheels off.

Cleaned off the rust, applied a little grease.

Worrysome that production was done like this.

 

I had a similar problem with a flat tire. Three men trying at one time. Only a very long extension bar with a socket did the trick, thank God a local garage had the tools. The next day I bought a Gorilla extendible lug wrench. With the extra extended length I got all of the lugs off and then correctly torqued them by hand. I think some cowboy had used a pneumatic gun set far too high when the tires had been rotated. Now I insist on doing them all by had myself. I put a Gorilla lug wrench in both of our MINIs, just in case.

 

You need to use a hammer with more weight to it. I use a five pound sledge, just choke up on the handle and only hit the rubber of the tire from behind.

 

We sprayed a little liquid wrench, let it sit for a couple minutes, a lot easier to get wheel off.

 

Buy a can of Aero Kroil it is amazing stuff & will get your wheels off.

http://www.kanolabs.com/google/

 

Thanks everyone, I figured I just needed to hit harder but wanted to be sure.

 

Best to leave on ONE loosened up lug while banging the inside with a mallet so the wheel doesn't go crashing onto the cement floor......

 

My father in law and I call it a "Persuader"!

When this happens on our cars, which is rate any more because I coat the hub with gold anti seize, I tend to have the best luck with using the heel of my foot to kick the top of the tire, trying to not kick the rim as much as possible. Also, the more you rotate them, the easier this task will be each time you do it.

 

And one cannot emphasize enough: heel, not toe! :-)

 

A word of advice on the Karate method (which happens to be my weapon of choice) thread the top lug in by hand a few turns and then give them bottom a good hard kick from the inside.

 

PB Blaster the heck out of the hub area, waited 15 minutes, banged on the wheel a few time with a rubber mallet, wheel comes off. Like others have said, clean the hub and apply antisieze before remounting.

 

Thanks for the advice? or Thanks, I hit it harder and got the wheel off? Curious if you were successful yet.