FAST HELP! RR wheel stuck on hub

[sonare]

This morning I encountered a RR tire with almost no air. No problem, I thought-- I'll put the spare on, have the flat fixed-- problem solved!

I broke the lugs loose with the car on the ground, jacked it up, removed the lugs and .... nothing. It is as though the wheel is welded to the hub.

Any suggestions for breaking this loose without a hub puller?

Rich

2000 528iT Sport Pkg

[pauljcl]

This morning I encountered a RR tire with almost no air. No problem, I thought-- I'll put the spare on, have the flat fixed-- problem solved!

I broke the lugs loose with the car on the ground, jacked it up, removed the lugs and .... nothing. It is as though the wheel is welded to the hub.

Any suggestions for breaking this loose without a hub puller?

Rich

2000 528iT Sport Pkg

I had the same issue with my 330. I kicked very hard, many times, at different places around the wheel.rim (rotate the wheel as you do so), and finally the wheel broke loose from the hub. Until it lets go, it seems it never will.... Good luck!

[DUDMD]

Looks like you need to start using anti-seize if your wheels are welding themselves to the hub. I suggest kicking the crap out of it. If anything, wd40/pb blaster on the hub where it's stuck might help.

[TechWrench]

If none of the above suggestions work, try this. put all the lug bolts back on, but leave them about 1 turn loose (no more). Lower the wheel/tire so that it has good contact with the ground. Rock the vehicle from side to side by pushing against the rear fender above the wheel. Unless it is 'welded', the side to side motion should break the wheel loose from the hub. Once loose, jack it back up, remove wheel, make repairs. When ready to reinstall wheel, clean center of wheel and hub of any rust/corrosion and coat lightly with never-size to keep it from happening again. This method has always worked for me with stuck wheels.

[Cliche Guevara]

It's definitely a lot harder to get a seized up wheel of the vehicle when its tire has no air because the flat tire will absorb the blows a lot more than an inflated tire. If you can get some air into the tire that should make it easier. If you don't have a compressor near by and you can't get it off by hitting/kicking it from the front then thread one of the lug bolts half way in, grab a hammer of some sort (the bigger the better) and start smacking it from the back.

After you get it off make sure to buff the hub and the mounting surface and center bore of the wheel pretty thoroughly. There's probably a good amount of built up oxidation on there. That can cause a wheel to stick on like your experiencing, but even worse it can create an uneven mounting surface when you're bolting a wheel back on and risk a wheel-off. That's why we buff every single hub on the vehicle at my work.

[Bjkearns]

put in one of the lug bolt and get a dead blow hammer and hit the tire
put the bolt in tight but at the same time kinda loose
take hammer and smack the tire in a circle
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-lb-neon-orange-dead-blow-hammer-41800.html

[EMC]

If none of the above suggestions work, try this. put all the lug bolts back on, but leave them about 1 turn loose (no more). Lower the wheel/tire so that it has good contact with the ground. Rock the vehicle from side to side by pushing against the rear fender above the wheel. Unless it is 'welded', the side to side motion should break the wheel loose from the hub. Once loose, jack it back up, remove wheel, make repairs. When ready to reinstall wheel, clean center of wheel and hub of any rust/corrosion and coat lightly with never-size to keep it from happening again. This method has always worked for me with stuck wheels.

:alrightIf the tire will hold air for even a little bit, you can leave the lugs a little loose and slowly drive up and down the street once. That should be enough to break them loose!

[agentrnge]

I had a very stuck wheel yesterday as well. Kicked it, settled the car weight on the wheel with loose bolts, drove it back and forth a few feet. Wouldnt budge. One of my friends mentioned this trick. He told me to use another wheel and tire. Swinging that into the stuck on wheel finally broke it loose. If a BFH cannot be had and you have an extra wheel and tire around, that worked really well for me.

Re: Cliche Guevara
Good point about buffing the hub surface smooth. I didnt do that, but did lightly scrub the surface with the rough side of a kitchen sponge. It seemed ok. Everything feels right on, smooth at speed.

[TechnicalNinja]

Had the same problem with the rear wheels on my M3. All the posted methods are good but if you use a large hammer on the back side os the wheel put a wooden block (2X4 works fine) between the wheel and the hammer. Wood will deform BEFORE the wheel lip will. Hold the block firmly to the wheel and apply solid blows slowly and rotate the wheels after every second blow. Didn't take to many hits for me (10 approx each wheel) make sure to have some lug nuts 1 to 2 complete turns from tight on the wheel or you could launch the wheel into the concrete...

[BlueStreakHouTx]

Had the same problem with the rear wheels on my M3. All the posted methods are good but if you use a large hammer on the back side os the wheel put a wooden block (2X4 works fine) between the wheel and the hammer. Wood will deform BEFORE the wheel lip will. Hold the block firmly to the wheel and apply solid blows slowly and rotate the wheels after every second blow. Didn't take to many hits for me (10 approx each wheel) make sure to have some lug nuts 1 to 2 complete turns from tight on the wheel or you could launch the wheel into the concrete...

Hey, hope this helps me. I just had MISERABLE time removing the stuck front MPars on my 01 740i sport. Finally got them off by kicking them until I am goign to need knee replacement, i think.

Both rear MPars are stuck worse, no amount of kicking was going to help, so tomorrow morning I am going to try the wood block behind the wheel from the inside and beat the snot out of it until they let go. I am cleaning the hubs with 400 grit untl they SHINE before I put the new wheels back on it.

[TechWrench]

Hey, hope this helps me. I just had MISERABLE time removing the stuck front MPars on my 01 740i sport. Finally got them off by kicking them until I am goign to need knee replacement, i think.

Both rear MPars are stuck worse, no amount of kicking was going to help, so tomorrow morning I am going to try the wood block behind the wheel from the inside and beat the snot out of it until they let go. I am cleaning the hubs with 400 grit untl they SHINE before I put the new wheels back on it.

Just be sure to have vehicle secure on stable jackstands before trying the hammer and block method because you have to be underneath vehicle to do it. I have had much better luck using the vehicle weight to break stubborn wheels loose. I loosen all the lug bolts/nuts about two turns, and lower vehicle back to ground. I then push on vehicle side to rock it back and forth. Using the vehicle weight and the side to side motion, the wheel will loosen from the hub, but because the lug bolts are still in place, the wheel can't fall off and cause damage. And, after cleaning both the inside of the wheel hub center and the vehicle hub, I use a light coating of anti-seize to help prevent it from happening again.

Good luck.

[BlueStreakHouTx]

Just be sure to have vehicle secure on stable jackstands before trying the hammer and block method because you have to be underneath vehicle to do it. I have had much better luck using the vehicle weight to break stubborn wheels loose. I loosen all the lug bolts/nuts about two turns, and lower vehicle back to ground. I then push on vehicle side to rock it back and forth. Using the vehicle weight and the side to side motion, the wheel will loosen from the hub, but because the lug bolts are still in place, the wheel can't fall off and cause damage. And, after cleaning both the inside of the wheel hub center and the vehicle hub, I use a light coating of anti-seize to help prevent it from happening again.

Good luck.


Success! after spraying PB Blaster into the hub bore of the rears and letting them sit overnight, I was able to kick them off from the outside without going after them from behind.

[TechWrench]

Success! after spraying PB Blaster into the hub bore of the rears and letting them sit overnight, I was able to kick them off from the outside without going after them from behind.

Good to hear. Another item to consider, I use a large rubber head mallet to hit the tire/wheel when trying to break a stubborn one free. It is easier to aim at a specific point on the wheel, and is much easier on the foot (don't ask me how I know :banghead: ).