Mark Doiron

Just wondering if anyone has ever seen a wheel stuck on the hub? I was driving down to Norman, OK to visit with my son and there was a JK with a flat tire on the side of the road. Stopped to help the gentleman out (he was dressed up pretty nicely for a Saturday--business-like, that is). He just bought the 2008 Jeep--still had paper tag. Anyway, after pulling the lug nuts we absolutely could not get the wheel off the hub. It was locked in place. In the end there were three of us trying (another fellow in a pick-up stopped). I offered to fill the flat tire up with air so he could drive it to his nearby home, but the air came out of the hole in the tire as fast as the PowerPlant could pump it in. :-( Anyway, I left him to call a wrecker. I did think of trying to yank the tire off with the Jeep/winch, but it was a very busy intersection and there was no where to get the vehicle off-road where we wouldn't block traffic. I was also a little worried that if I tried that something was going to move sideways--the wheel, or maybe the entire vehicle off the jack! On trail I'd try it for sure, but not on the edge of a big town.

rickz

if it's the front you can leave lug nuts on loose and with tire on the ground turn steering wheel back and forth ususlly breaks stuck wheel loose on the back have jacked up leave lugnuts on loose and kick the tire back and forth a few times usually breaks wheel loose

Jiblet

I had that happen while rotating tires. I had to really kick it hard to break the bond.

I like rickz idea of loosening the nuts a bit and letting the weight of the vehicle do the work.

u-joint

What would cause such a thing to happen?

EzK

Steel contacting aluminum, I guess. It was ridiculous on an f250 we rotated the tires on.. only the weight of the truck could break it loose, not even a 5lbs hammer was getting it done. Also happened on my friend Mini Cooper, seems very common.

gross1297

I had this happen before, nothing a few sharp blows to the tire with a 5lb sledge couldn't fix. Try it it works, just hit the tire not the rim.

trav87

That happened on my 07 focus. I managed to get it off with my framing hammer and a 2x4.

kingteddybear

Happened to me last weekend. 21,500+ miles. No salt on the roads during winter, no beach runs. Looked like dissimilar metal / galvanic corrosion to me, steel / aluminum.

Here is a link if you are curious:

http://www.corrosionist.com/Galvanic_Corrosion.htm

I guess it's a sign I need to rotate my tires more often

Synthetik

Happened to my TJ in on the rear drums once. Get a big freakin hammer and a block of wood. Got it right off.

pirate

If its your rig, then I loosen all the lug nuts on the wheel and go for a very slow and short drive along the shoulder of the road. It usually breaks free in the first few minutes.
Hitting the tire with a heavy hammer it seems like a bad idea to me. wreaks the side wall of the tire and you risk having the hammer bounce back and hit you, or worse.