Removing Summer Tires Always a Pain?

[scottyt24]

Just was outside trying to switch out my summers for winters. Got all the lugs out of the back left, but could not get the wheel off...any tips for getting the wheels off if they have become stuck? Mallet?

Tips are greatly appreciated.

[Orient330iNYC]

its galvanic corrosion between the iron/steel hub and the aluminum centerbore of the rim.

to get it off, you can alternate kicking at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock, remove the hubcap and spray the hub-wheel interface with PB Blaster penetrating oil, and whack the tire with a mallet untill it lets go. if you use pb blaster, you want to remove the oil from the hub and the wheel with a degreaser


to prevent it from happening in the future, wire brush the corrosion off both the hub and the wheel (it will be a white or orangish white crumbly substance)
and then apply a coat of antiseize to the centerbore and hub mating surface. i use permatex antiseize in the grey bottle, you can also use high temp moly caliper grease.

[MrBones]

its galvanic corrosion between the iron/steel hub and the aluminum centerbore of the rim.

to get it off, you can alternate kicking at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock, remove the hubcap and spray the hub-wheel interface with PB Blaster penetrating oil, and whack the tire with a mallet untill it lets go. if you use pb blaster, you want to remove the oil from the hub and the wheel with a degreaser


to prevent it from happening in the future, wire brush the corrosion off both the hub and the wheel (it will be a white or orangish white crumbly substance)
and then apply a coat of antiseize to the centerbore and hub mating surface. i use permatex antiseize in the grey bottle, you can also use high temp moly caliper grease.

I've already put on my winters, not knowing about the anti-seize. I'm guessing it's not worth the effort to do it now, but I will when I put the summers back on. Is this problem unique to high performance cars? Because back in the days of my youth I swapped winters/summers yearly on my '77 Celica, and never had any problem getting the wheels off.

[wingspan]

Just was outside trying to switch out my summers for winters. Got all the lugs out of the back left, but could not get the wheel off...any tips for getting the wheels off if they have become stuck? Mallet?

Tips are greatly appreciated.

1) 2 and 1/2 lb dead blow hammer and a block of 2 x 4 on the back side of the wheel FTW
2) Loosely re-attach the lug bolts, and then gently lower the car onto the ground. The weight of the car may/should break the wheel loose.

I usually use 1), but had to use 2) a while ago.

As a previous poster indicated, once the wheels are off, use anti-sieze paste on the hub landing to avoid the problem in future.

[Orient330iNYC]

I've already put on my winters, not knowing about the anti-seize. I'm guessing it's not worth the effort to do it now, but I will when I put the summers back on. Is this problem unique to high performance cars? Because back in the days of my youth I swapped winters/summers yearly on my '77 Celica, and never had any problem getting the wheels off.

you may have a struggle to get them off in the spring.

its more of a problem of hubcentric alloy rims on iron hubs, especially in places that had road salt usage. were the wheels on your celica lugcentric or hub centric?


dissimilar metals will corrode when in contact with each other. its the same reason you cant use the chrome plated brass bmw logo valves caps on cars with TPMS. in that case, brass and aluminum corrode.

[scottyt24]

Finally got them off....took quite a bit of force, but they are off and the winters are on!

[Orient330iNYC]

Finally got them off....took quite a bit of force, but they are off and the winters are on!

hope you cleaned the hubs and got some grease or antiseize on them. or else you're going to have some more kicking to do in the spring :D

[Alarbus]

I had the same issue. Tried both the hammer and 2x4, and lowering the car. Neither worked. Started making some estimates, and guessed that the original owner never actually had the wheels OFF. :yikes:

I dropped it off at the dealer to have them swap the wheels over (Props to the Automaster in VT - they got it sorted out quickly despite being super busy). I was not only under time constraint for holiday travel, but I really didn't want to crack a rim. Now that I have a bit more time, I'm definitely jacking it up this weekend and thoroughly cleaning each hub!