stuck on wheel - did I damage anything getting it off?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by jqmello, Apr 21, 2011.

  1. jqmello

    jqmello Junior Member

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    Ok,
    so my wife had a flat yesterday, pumped it up and drove to work, pumped it up again and drove home - I guess it was leaking pretty badly, because half the sidewall was black and half weathered when I got home to change the tire.

    The thing was corroded in place (just found the thread on setting the car back down / rolling & braking to jostle it loose) So I sat there and tugged on it, then did some minor tire kicking, and some light prying with a screwdriver. I finally found my rubber mallet and waled on it for 5 minutes and it popped free.

    The wheel spun freely when I jacked the car up, after removing the tire the hub had two spots where it bound per rotation. Did I damage something when trying to break the tire free?

    Also, the hub and trailiing arm showed quite a bit of rust. It's all under the paint on the trailing arm and big pieces were falling off at a touch. It doesn't seem very deep, just all over. Will a wire brush and rustoleum stop it?

    wish I took pictures to post, but I didn't.
     
    #1 jqmello, Apr 21, 2011
  2. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

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    You are likely not to have done any damage - the way that you got the wheel off was similar to what a repair place would do. I'd hold off on the wire brush and paint - it sounds to me that it might do more harm than good - I'm sure that someone will chime in with the correct answer on this.

    How often do you rotate the tires - this might be a wakeup call to do so more often - it will be a plus in the long run.
     
    #2 stevemcelroy, Apr 21, 2011
  3. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    You won't get all the rust off with a wire brush. Instead of paint like Rustoleum you should use a conversion coating that converts the remaining rust to a protective surface.

    Here is one that is made for chassis parts
    CHASSIS COAT BLACK-POR-15 Inc.

    You will still need to thoroughly clean the parts and remove wire brushable rust.

    I haven't used Por15 but have had good results with rust conversion coatings that aren't as highly rated as POR15

    I don't think you did any damage.

    Put a thin coating of grease or anti-seize on the wheel/hub mating surface and it shouldn't stick again, whether you paint the surfaces or not.
     
    #3 xs650, Apr 21, 2011
  4. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    Thinking logically, I don't see how you could have really damaged anything without knowing about it.

    Worst case would be some damage to the threads on the <are they called> studs. I did not notice any damage when I did this with my Prius.

    I think you are golden! Just wish the darn things would not stick in the first place. I really thought I had a major problem when mine stuck.

    Of course, we are all blaming my problem on Oregon rain. I would think yours would be due to the humid air blowing out of the House and Senate!
     
    #4 cyberpriusII, Apr 23, 2011
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