Hello...new Mini owner here...

Just purchased a used 2005 mini and was rotating the tires...passenger sides came off NO PROBLEM...

Went around to take off the drivers sides...and they WON'T COME OFF?!?!?

Lugs are all off...but the wheels are simply stuck on the hubs...am I missing some trick on the drivers side here?

HELP!!!

I don't want to beat on them to get them off...what could be possibly holding them on there with the lugs off?...

Any help would be appreciated to this new Mini owner...she's up on jack stands as I type...

THANKS!
joe.

 

Don't hit the wheels, as you could damage them. It happens, that the wheels [aluminum] meld themselves to the hub [steel]. So, you need to whack the tires with a dead hammer or a block of wood to free it all up. We used that nasty anti-seize gunk afterwards when we reinstalled them to hopefully keep it from happening again.

 

This can and does happen with wheels on any car. With the lugs off, I usually sit on the ground and give the lower tire a good firm kick or two - this will usually break it free. The wheel is being held on by a small amount of rust acting like adhesion - you just need to give it a shot to break the adhesion. Some folks have suggested putting the lugs back on but leaving them a little loose and then moving the car a little ways. Personally, I have never had to do this as the kick method has always worked for me.

 

+1 Just give a quick kick to the lower part of the tire and they should come loose. Anti-Seize paste will prevent it from happening again but most don't use it because kicking the bottom of the tire is a great stress reliever

 

hand tighten your lugs and do a slow figure8.

 

+1 to the plus one.
Can't say as it was a stress reliever for me though. Something about putting 100+ lbs of angular force on an object suspended by a couple of tiny jack stands...

I started with a dead blow hammer, and ended up kicking it off. Just a little grease on the hubcentric ring will prevent it from happening in the future.
"If at first you don't succeed, kick, kick again."
It's nerve wracking, but it's what must be done.

 

Happened to me a few weeks ago. I bought a set of 16" rims to replace my 15" stocks. They came from west coast, so it took a while, but finally UPS delivered them to my driveway.

I started driver's side front and after pulling the lugs sat there bewildered for a good 5 or 10 minutes. I mean, through my years I have run across a wheel that was a little stubborn coming off, but never anything like this.

I was sure that I must be missing a step somehow - like some secret BMW engineering trick - maybe a hidden setscrew that required some tech bulletin to find and a special tool to remove.

But I read the owners manual (there's a novel idea!) and realized that it was just oxidation holding them on. I had tried pulling with all my might and "thumping" with a dead blow hammer - nothing. Although I doubted it would work, I cursed mightily at the wheel.

No avail.

Finally, hoping no neighbors were watching, I scrunched my butt up to optimal force range and let loose. A couple of solid shots did it.

Turned out that the front left was the worst to remove, followed by right front. The rears were also stuck, but nowhere nearly as frozen on as the fronts.

Wish this thread had come up before I did it. Would have been nice to expect it. Still nice to know that others have run into the same fight!

 

Yeah...I tell you what...in ALL the years and ALL the tires I have changed and rotated...I 'thought' I was missing some secret set screw or something...although why the passenger side came off...I don't know...but in all my 42 years...I know one thing...when I force something I 'usually' BREAK IT! LOL

But as I thought...you guys came through...I got a rubber mallet and whacked the tires from BEHIND and rotated them (fronts out of gear and rears no e-brake) until they came off...MAN were these on there!...

I then took a wire brush and cleaned the 'rust' that was on there and after cleaning the brake dust off the insides of the wheels...I put some grease on the wheel center area rim and the hub rim...

I canNOT imagine being stuck on the side of the road trying to fix a flat with traffic whizzing by and having to sit down and KICK the tires! ... I am GLAD I ran into this while rotating the tires and hopefully have reduced the possibility of it happening again with the grease...

I too 'read the manual'...as a guy...I have to tell you that hurt! ...but it didn't mention anything other than remove the lugs and then the wheels...so...

THANK YOU to everyone that responded...job completed and hopefully problem resolved for the future.

Joe.

 

While you are rotating your wheels, remove the set screw holding your brake disk in place and apply anti-seize to it also.

It you have not already done this, it is probably too late. You will need a hammer type impact driver to get the screws out. The screws do not have to be put back in at all, the only purpose they serve is to keep the holes in the brake disk aligned with the holes in the hub when you remove the wheel. I do put mine back, but never tighten them, actually I leave them very loose (snug, then loosen them about 1/4 to 1/2 turn. The wheel will keep the screw from backing out.

 

This is a better solution than kicking the bottom of the tire with all lugs removed - in an extreme situation, the wheel could fall off and the brake rotor could hit the wheel or drop further to hit the ground....

 

Ya know...after I posted the above...what WOULD you do if you had a flat?...in that situation...you can't drive figure 8's and you can't kick your TIRE...the ONLY option would be the wheel...seems like this is a 'common' issue on this vehicle...what would be the 'acceptable' thing to do?...I guess if you are stuck on the side of the road with a flat...ANYTHING to get the wheel off would be acceptable in my book...

But your thoughts just incase...THANKS!

joe.

 

Loosen the lug nuts several turns, but leave them on, lower the car back down, and shake the car sideways. This should break the wheel loose with no damage.

Has anyone every actually used the jack and lug wrench in the boot? I have not, I always use my big garage jack and a socket and breaker bar... mayhaps I should familiarize myself with the factory kit? You never know. At least I know MY wheels won't be stuck, hehe, flat tire maybe, but the wheel will come off.

YD

 

Hopefully you would have read enough on NAM to know about the stuck wheel syndrome. It was one of the first things I did after I got my used MCS home from across the country. Then again, with the MCS and runflats, I would have had to drive to a tire shop anyway, and let them deal with it.

so WRT your name, do prefer small freshwater game fish, or are you just not very good?

 

Eric,

Before posting...I did a search with varied key words but nothing obvious came up...so I posted...

I have to tell you though...I deadlift bout 450#'s...as I tugged and tugged on that tire with some good force...I thought to myself...this itty bitty LITTLE car is kicking my butt! ... But I thought better about showing IT for fear of breaking something... ...turns out I should have put more @ss into it...huh!


Well...on any given day...either of your descriptions are accurate!

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=112959 , before and after the fact.

 

Thanks...added to fav's.

During my search earlier today...I also added the brake pad swap thread to my fav's!

Great threads for sure...at least for me...

Thanks for the link.

joe.

 

If the car is on a jack, you can lower it enough to put some weight on the wheel and then just reach in the open driver's door and turn the wheel lock-to-lock. Just did this yesterday with a friend's VW that had seemingly welded on wheels. We did this with the most weight of the car safely on the hydraulic jack, just enough weight on the tire to make turning the wheel apply a decent amount of force (friction) and all the lugs off the rim... don't do anything under a car without jack stands etc if you can help it...

 

Rubber mallet to the rescue! I always have one in the tool box.

 

With my Excursion...I've got no problem hauling all the tools I can think of...and THEN SOME...

BUT...with this mini...well space is kinda limited!

A rubber mallet would be something I wouldn't have thought about :impatient

 

Dude, percussive maintenance is the way to go! Since this is the way to go might as well be with rubber!




Glad you got the tire off though.

 

Safest method, especially if you are dealing with a flat on the side of the road: Reinstall all the lug nuts on the affected wheel(s), but leave them loose about two turns each. Get into the car and drive forward a couple feet, then hit the brak firmly. Drive in reverse and hit the brake firmly once more. The loose lugs allow the wheel to twist slightly on the hubs, but the lugs keep the wheel from coming off. Jack the car normally and remove the wheel.

It's a good idea to remove all the wheels off of ANY vehicle you own that has aluminum rims and first clean the rotor/wheel mating surfaces before applying either anti-sieze or (my choice) a light coating of synthetic brake caliper grease to prevent future problems. I just got a new truck a couple months ago and this little procedure is on the short list of prep to do before winter sets in. This process keeps the binding issue from happening in the future and helps prevent wheel damage. Those who drive on salty roads a lot can end up with very serious amounts of corrosion, sometimes to the point of inadequate strength where the wheel face meets the rotor.

 

You can do what he said or just carry the BFH! :p

 

and walk...ur...drive softly? LOL

 

No doubt that a search wouldn't turn up anything, not a subject you'd expect to see - it was a surprise to me! Being a geek, I was on NAM for over a year before I got the MINI, so I'd seen a few threads on the subject over time.