Boomer80

Finally got a nice day in the 50’s here, so I decided to go ahead and replace the rear brake pads.
I got all the lug nuts off, but I could not get the wheel off the hub no matter how hard I tried. Tried levering, rubber mallet, muscle and no luck.
I have never in all my life found a wheel this stuck on in my life. I finally gave up, cause I was afraid I’d either hurt myself or the car and definitely didn’t want to rock the car off the jack and jack stands.
Any hints or clues or anyone else ever had this problem and how did you get it off? I’ve had the vehicle for just over a year (CPO) and this was the first time I’ve wrenched on it except for oil changes. My P dealer inspected it last month and said the rear pads would need changing but the discs were still ok, so I just bought all the parts myself instead of paying them the $800+ dollars they were gonna charge me.

Bxstr

I would try and jack up the corner that the wheel will not come off of. I would then just barely get the wheel off the ground and loosen all lugs, or remove all of them except one and just leave it loose and then kick the wheel. I will let others chime in though. You may just want to take it to a local shop though or your dealer to have them remove it.

Wondering if heat, either via driving the car a bit and taking some corners, or from a heat gun would help a bit too. Allow it to expand and contract.

garyypk

I had the similar issue with you. I can unload the wheel but I can't mount it. I discovered the hub was dropped once I removed the wheel. I need to jack up the suspension to mount the wheel. I am on air suspension. You may try to jack up the suspension and see if you can remove the wheel.

KBell

You are not alone.
Sometimes the aluminum wheel will seize with the steel hub.
Particularly in the salt belt.

Each time, I would beat on the tire, rotate it, beat on it, rotate it, beat on it.
Shake it. Sometimes it would take 5 minutes.
Try to squirt WD-40 where the wheel meets the hub.
Beat, kick, rubber mallet some more.

skinnytirez

I had this happen before- loosen the bolts to where they are just more than hand tight, backup down your driveway and slam the brakes.

if it doesn’t work the first try do a couple more/loosen the bolts a 1/2 turn.

LexVan

Once you get the wheels off, use a dab of anti-seize on the mating surfaces so this is avoided the next time.

ecobon

Backing out the lug nuts until they are hand tight and then braking hard from 5 mph breaks them free from the hub. Please make sure that the lug nuts are hand tight to restrict movement of the wheel as you only want it to free itself from the galvanic corrosion created by the wheel + hub, and nothing more. You might hear a slight noise as they separate. I used to have this issue when I lived in Denver during the winter and early spring months.

twodollardoug

Mine are tight too. Seams like they have loosened up some. I rotate my tires every 5k.

deilenberger

Exactly. You'll know when the hub releases the wheel. And on reassembly - clean both the hub and the bore of the wheel, then use a nice thin coating of waterproof grease on them so this doesn't happen again.

BenCD

Take a 2x4 or 2x6, or a 4x4x6 or 4x4x8' and from the other side of, and underneath -the truck, WHAM the tire all around its perimeter and the wheel should break free from the rotor.

Boomer80

Thanks all! I will give the “loosen lug nuts and hard brake” method as soon as I get a new floor jack. That was the other failure I had when I started the project. 😡