What? I have axle WASHERS holding the wheel on?

[Flyin4stroke]

Take the lugs out of the rim and hub. Then kick the top bottom and sides. Like you r checking the pressure but harder.

[fitsbain]

changed a tire for a lady in he church parkinglot (newer cavalier).

Had to jack up the car, take off the lug nuts and then use a jack from another car to force the wheel off.

[blake4591]

The front Steelies can seize on the hubs pretty good if they haven't been taken off for a while. I think it's from the heat cycling of the front non-vented rotors. Sort of the same thing that makes exhaust manifold nuts impossible to remove. If you loosen the lug nuts a little and drive around I would do a couple panic stops at about 25 mph to force the wheel to break loose from the hub. Also pick up a 3 or 4lb mini sledge, they do a fantastic job of removing seized wheels.

[mikemounlio]

Just gotta hit the rim hard. Over time the rim will STICK to the drum. Festivas tend to stick more then other cars. My 1st festiva took a week to get the wheel off! I gave up on getting rims for that car. I didnt want to spend a month getting rims off.


Put your back to the car. Kick the left side right side top then bottom and again and again.

You can make up some cheap oil to soak the area with. acetone and ATF fluid 50/50%. Its like pb blaster but better and cheaper.

[firebush357]

The thing of it is- this is a Florida car- and there's no rust underneath at all-

I'll probably try the driving slightly with loose lugs if the WD=40 and oil haven't freed it before that.
the car hasn't moved since out of the shed last summer. Should I be able to turn a drive wheel in neutral? This wheel won't budge.

This is wearing me out. 62 and not getting any stronger.

PM me your Address and I might be able to come take a look at it after work one day or maybe this Saturday after I get out of school.

[Greywolf]

If the wheel won't turn in neutral (this is a separate issue) there's a good chance the caliper slides are rusty and won't release the outer brake pad.

I did a video on that recently, and in Florida you're bound to pick up beach salt in odd places. The slides are protected by rubber dust boots, but they can still get to rusting inside - never seen it fail.

Here's the vid for what it may be worth:

Pure common sense maintenance, always remember that nature sides with the hidden flaw, or either:
"Anything that can go wrong - WILL go wrong"

"Never leave anything to chance"
~Ralph Earnhardt 1928 - 1973

[harpon]

Thanks for the offer Firebush, but I don't think that"ll be necessary ,

I moved the car out of the shed- the 20 feet or so didn't do it yet- but now I can solvent from other angles. Yes- one of the reasons I want to get the wheel off is to check the front pads and calipers- if it was rusted to the pads it's not now, It's so hot and I have other things to do- I'm going to try and let the solvent do the work, but I may drive it around the yard a bit, or try the other side now too and I hope it's not the same thing!

I'm glad I bought that cheap floor jack last winter- at least the jacking is not difficult and I've turned loose the lug bolts all the way around. Eventually I hope to get the tires on the back steelies transferred to the alloys, cause they're practically like new. Someday I may even get the thing on the road!

[firebush357]

No Problem, The one we just picked up for my little brother was rusted to the hub really bad, had to beat the crap out of it for about 10 minutes while spraying it with Brake Parts Cleaner and WD40 before It finally popped loose. I live out in Middleburg and travel all the way over to Pritchard Rd. for work so if you need help just let me know.

[harpon]

I think I got t busted loose finally- but not off yet. It started when I thought I'd try the other side and with luck , that side would be normal- NO SUCH LUCK.

It was stuck on there too- so then with two front wheels with loose lug nuts I drove around the backyard a little bit- I felt that something had come loose. It was the passenger side- and I got the wheel off- then the new alloy wheel didn't want to go on.

So I think the problem is with the concentric axle dimension- I greased and filed it and finallt got the alloy wheel on, mostly using the lugs when I could get them started- I'm sure it now won't easily come off either. the brake pads aren't so great and I'll probably try to change them soon. I'm wishing I had filed the axle diameter more than I did the heat got the better of my patience.. I don't know- the old '88 was never such a problem nr has been my aspire.

I drove the other side around then some more- It seems to have come loose, but called it quits for now- I'm gonna file the hub AND run a grinding drill bit around the alloy center. At any rate, guess I could now do the same on the side of the road by droving with the nuts loose, so I learned something.

I hope the back ones aren't so bad- the tires are much newer so they've probably been off more recently. In other pleasant news, apparently some possum crawled under the car to die last winter. He's not "playing possum" unless he can do it by vanishing all but some fur and bones and teeth- yuck!

[bhazard]

Use a wire wheel or cup on a drill motor and clean the crap out of the hub center and face. On the car and the wheel.

[tooldude]

"Necessity is the Mother of invention". That is one of the tricks I came up with through the years as I had no connections for outside advice. Unless the wheel is welded on it's going to come off eventually. The ideal situation is to have enough room to drive in a circle with gradually increasing speed, turning away from the problem wheel to put the most force against it at the lowest speed. Jogging the steering and/or bumpy ground can help also.

[firebush357]

Use a wire wheel or cup on a drill motor and clean the crap out of the hub center and face. On the car and the wheel.

We had to do that to my little brothers Car but I used light pressure with an angle grinder to speed things up a bit rasm Afterwards I took some flat black rustoleum and sprayed a quick coat over the face of the hub to try to keep it from rusting again. We also had to clean up the Lug Bolts with a wire wheel because the ends of the thread were rusted as well.

I think the main problem with his car is it looked like it had been sitting in a swamping yard for a while and the tires that were on the car were from 2004...

[Greywolf]

There's one bright side anyway - on both of mine I had to fight a war just to get the lug bolts out!

I've got a seriously tuff 1/2 inch impact, and it had trouble until I gave them a day in the sun with PB Blaster soaking in. Things went so far that I used a 3/4 drive T-handle and a length of pipe on them, and broke two 3/4 to 1/2 inch adapters...

Seriously consider getting a bottle of anti-seize compound, I swear by that stuff! Remember the old biker saying:
"First time shame on you, second time shame on me"

I only fight things like that once - and then I make sure I never have to again.

* A single bottle will last for years and is usually less than five bucks