my wheel won't come off the car

A sledge to the back side on the rubber, rotate and hit again, anti seize compound on one of the mating surfaces will prevent future mishaps.

 

My tires are due for rotation this week, but it won't be happening soon, as I am still recovering from injuries sustained from a January ice storm.

I have not had any problems since I wire brushed the wheels and put on anti-seize compound. But, never pays to be too sure....

Hopefully, I will get this done in a couple of weeks.I just loosen the lugs and drive it back and forth a bit. Works fine without hammering on a tire that is up on an insecure jack.
kris

 

If you're raising the car on a smooth concrete slab, this might work for you, it has for me:

Half-loosen lug nuts (just so the tension is broken, but they're still wrench-tight)
Raise car and put in safety stands, aiming to have minimum clearance between tire and slab, say 1" max.
Remove all lug nuts and try pulling off wheel. If it's no-go:
Reinstall one lug nut, nearest top of pattern, very loosely, just a few turns on
Place a 4x4 timber block against the inside face of tire (two 2x4's will do in pinch, what I actually use)
Take your largest sledge hammer, lay it on the flat on the slab, at about the middle of the car, adjacent to the stuck wheel
Swing the sledge hammer into the 4x4 timber
If at first you don't succeed, try a little harder...

 

Once you get it off, Lucifer's suggestion about anti size will mean you never have this misery again. My wheels too, when I first removed them, took 2x4s and drilling hammer persuasion. After anti seizing them, no problem!

 

What anti seize are you guys using on the back of the wheels?

 

Permatex is what I've got, though it's super old. A little goes a long way, so it lasts forever.

 

Steel rims don't seem to glue on like this. I suspect it's aluminum rims on steel hubs that are the problem. And as the inside face of the aluminum rim corrodes it maybe gets a skin that reduces the gluing?

I try to avoid anti-seize, since I wash the rims when they're off the car, and I don't much like seeing a sheen running down the street to the storm drain. My sledge hammer method is the the naz, works every time.

 

Permatex. I have no sheen, but then I never wash the car.....Oregon weather does it for me.

 

With a regular-enough rotation schedule, mine don't seem to ever get all that bad. I like it that way, because should I ever want one off at the side of the road, I might not have a sledge handy.

When it gets a bit stubborn, something like a plier handle through the wheel to pry against the caliper bracket (the nonmovable part) seems to do the trick, with even less force than I expect. (I surprised myself once by succeeding with only my thumbs through the wheel against the caliper bracket; this after no success at all trying to just pull the wheel off, worrying I'd shake the whole car off the jackstand.)

-Chap

 

Good point, about roadside wheel removal. Maybe I'll put a sparing app of anti seize. As in put a dab and then wipe it off, rely on there being some residue. I'll be swapping out the snows for OEM wheels in a week or two.

 

With the anti-seize, I have not had a problem removing for flats or rotations for several years. I guess, if I were wanting to do worse case planning...but seriously, since the wire brush treatment/anti-seize, it is easy-peasy.

 

This is our daughter's Pilot, three out of four rims were glued on. I'll post a pic of my techonique. I applied a thin patina of anti-seize at the hub, and brushed it outwards too. Did the same thing on our Prius, when taking the snows of a couple days back. So, belts and braces. Anyway, a pic of what I do when they're stuck:


(Leave one lug nut on, very loose, at the top of the pattern. To prevent the wheel flying off or rolling away.)

 

Thanks, Mendel. Note the solid jackstand, folks!

 

Good point. This is really an in the garage activity, car on safety stands, place on solid bearing points. Either the front or rear, or the whole car. Also, the tire is best kept close to the slab, just clear.

 

I wipe some high-temp disc brake grease on the hub lip after rubbing off all the rust with coarse scotchbrite sanding pad. I also wipe some of the same grease on the wheel where it contacts the hub. This grease will not wash out, and my tires come off easily.

 

I'd be inclined to stick to a thin coat of anti-seize, more concentrated around the hub. The further out and more liquid the grease, the greater the likelihood of centrifugal forces migrating it to the discs?