# Wheels Stuck on the Hubs



## nickinont (Apr 30, 2005)

The rear wheels on my 2000 Maxima are stuck on the hub, bonded due to rust. I have always been able to release them before by giving the tire several good hard kicks but now they are stuck much more firmly. I need advice on how to release them without damaging the alloy rims. I guess I should also get advice on how to prevent such severe sticking in the future. Here's what I have tried so far. I have hammered (multiple times with a heavy hammer) the outside diameter of the rim using a block of wood (to protect the alloy rim) between the hammer and the rim. I also tried hammering from the back of the wheel (ie from underneath the car). This was not very effective because there is not much of surface area that can be hit from the inside of the wheel. Finally I tried lowering the car so the wheel (with all lug nuts removed) was resting on the ground. I tried this multiple times but even with the weight of the car on the wheel, it would not break the bond. I would just bring it to a garage but I am afraid they may use excessive force and I will end up paying for new wheel rims.


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## Twiz (Aug 24, 2004)

I had this problem before... I loosened all lug nuts on that wheel... just a bit, give the wheel a little bit of a play but Don't remove them! ... and I drove my car around the block once. If that doesn't work try to apply the handbrake at slow speed a couple of times with the lug nuts loosened.


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## nickinont (Apr 30, 2005)

Twiz said:


> I had this problem before... I loosened all lug nuts on that wheel... just a bit, give the wheel a little bit of a play but Don't remove them! ... and I drove my car around the block once. If that doesn't work try to apply the handbrake at slow speed a couple of times with the lug nuts loosened.


Thanks for the tip. Your method worked perfectly. I loosened the lug nuts until they were one full turn looser than finger tight. I drove around the block with the rear window down on the side of the car where I had loosened the nuts so that I could hear the wheel in question. In both cases, as soon as I went around a corner where the wheel with the loosened nuts was on the outside radius of the turn, I heard a mild rumble/grinding noise. I immediately stopped the car and re-tightened the nuts. When I got home the rims were free.


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

yup, that's the easiest way to do it. happens quite often on Nissan trucks as the wheels fit so tight against the hubs.

to prevent it from happening again, clean the surface of the brake rotor and the back of the wheel very well, then smear some anti-sieze or grease on the mating surfaces. that should prevent the rust from bonding the two together so it doesn't happen again.

you may also just want to make it a habit of pulling the wheels off once a month or so and cleaning them up so they never have a chance to really freeze together like that.


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