Ever have an aluminum wheel -stuck- to a hub?

[pphat]

Blew a tire, jacked the truck up, popped my lug nuts off and... the wheel won't come off the spindle/studs.

I'm thinking it's the aluminum mag + steel hub/spindle + very very salty air in my neighborhood = electrolysis/glued together.

I hit it w/ some penetrating lube.

Anything else I can/should try before I start hammering on the rim w/ a sledge or pulling it off w/ a bottle jack and straps to break the adhesion?

Hoping to not trash the wheel/hub/spindle!

[steveG]

Can you hit the hub with a large hammer without damaging it? You could also try hitting the wheel on the face where it sits against the hub. Even if it isn't driving the wheel off, the impact might break the wheel loose and allow you to pull it off. You could also try heating the hub then letting it cool. The expansion and contraction might help.You can try the same on the wheel.

Good luck!

[RocketMan]

leave the lugs off or loose and lower the wheel on to a piece of wood 4" x 4" ,4 x 6 etc. and see if the weight of the vehicle will break it loose(don't lower it all the way for safety just a little preasure to start maybe more if a little doesn't work) my superduty wheels are way tight to the studs and wheel hub and this has worked for me...

[Wayside]

We get this all the time at work. We just use a big rubber mallet/hammer to get then off. Don’t forget to clean off all the crap leftover on the hub and back of the rim with a little grinder or wire brush. If you don’t your wheel may come loose even though you torque it (happened to me). To prevent this from happening again just spread some anti seize on the hub.

[Porboy]

I helped a guy change a flat at a gas station and this same thing happened. I tryed beating on the wheel for awhile with no luck. I felt kinda bad as here I was bashing on this total strangers shiny rim. I finnally found a fence post on the side of the gas station and used that to pry it of. Leverage is your friend. I had to pry a little at a time on each side until it popped right off. Just FYI.

[Scooterinvegas]

Had this problem once. Beating on the tire didn't work, so I put the lugs back on finger tight and backed them off about three turns and slowly drove the truck about 200yd down the street and turned around and came back. Jacked it up and the wheel was lose.

[BRINGTHERUCKUS]

We recently had this problem, it took a puller to do get em off.

[ML Racer]

I had a problem that was just the opposite, bought brand new aluminum wheels and tires for my boat trailer. Left Laughlin to head home, got to Barstow for bite to eat, made my customary walk around my truck and trailer amd make sure all was well and when I got to the left side on my boat trailer, my thought was "I know I had (2) wheels and tires on this side":confused: I looked at my buddy who had been behind me the last 100+ miles on the I-40 and said "you didn't happen to see a brand new wheel & tire roll past you on your left did you?":eek:

Lesson: Make sure you torque your new aluminum wheels after installation!:o