Neighbor learned the hard way

[Cup of Joe]

In case you haven't seen CNN or the Weather Channel lately we had a bit of a blow here on the coast of VA/NC. On friday during said storm my neighbor discovered a nail in his tire which left a rather large hole. His spare needed a new tire so he might as well have had 2 flats and he actually had to go to work, unlike myself. I loaned him 1 of my vans for the day since he was already late for work and he needed a tire mounted just to change the flat. After an hour trying to get the rim off the axle he gave up and went on to work, dropping his spare off on the way.

When he got home after applying more PB blaster and some motivation from a sledge hammer it eventually came off. The rim and hub had built up enough corrosion to keep the rim on the axle. When he brought my van back and told me the whole story I told him to apply some axle grease to prevent corrosion and that wont happen again. He has 3 kids what would happen if his wife got a flat with 3 toddlers in the car and the rim won't come off? I don't know anyone that keeps a sledge hammer in the emergency kit of their car.

I clean and apply grease to the hubs and rims when I have my rims off. I have never seen any of the tire shops in the last 15 years apply anything when they change my tires so I know I need to be doing it.

What is everyone else using on their rims and hubs to prevent corrosion?

 

[DeeAgeaux]

I don't know anything about snow living in Los Angeles but if you rotate your tires like you are supposed will wheels still bond to the axle?

 

[XCELERATIONRULES]

I run two sets of tires every year,changing from summer to snows.
No reason to lube the hubs.

 

[daves87rs]

Wow...

 

[oilboy123]

It's wet out this way, but never have that type of problem thank goodness.

Sometimes I take a little bit of anti-sieze on the hub surface/drum or rotor. I spread it around very well then wipe
it off so there is just a little bit on the metal to keep the rust down.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I brush 'em and hit it with some zinc antirust spray. I used to be guilty of lubing my lugnuts ...

 

[PF52]

We have a fleet of Ford Rangers here at work; after a couple-three years they are IMPOSSIBLE to remove the wheels from the hubs. I keep a sledge with me which helps a lot particularly in front where you can easily spin the wheel to whack it in multiple locations. But every few months or so, a call comes in from one of our guys in tears unable to get change a flat tire.

Things have improved lately, however, now that we send the trucks to an actual shop for servicing rather than using our own staff. The wheels actually get removed from time to time now for balancing/brake inspection.

 

[rcy]

Originally Posted By: oilboy123
It's wet out this way, but never have that type of problem thank goodness.

Sometimes I take a little bit of anti-sieze on the hub surface/drum or rotor. I spread it around very well then wipe
it off so there is just a little bit on the metal to keep the rust down.


I use anti-seize as well, where the wheel and the hub make contact.

 

[andyd]

Yup,your friend had an easy life lesson. I just use plain old chassis lube. Everywhere on the contact area of the hub and wheel. Lugs too. I keep a decent spare and tools in the trunk too. The worse your tires are, the more likely you'll need to do this dance

 

[labman]

I use a little antisieze on the studs and also between brake drums and the hub. I don't think I have ever had to do more than maybe kick the tire to get the rim off.

 

[Gary Allan]

The problem showed itself most with alloy wheels on cast drums. Rotor hubs ..not as much. I apply Neverseize on them just to avoid the hassle. A deadblow hammer was required at the tire shop to get them loose on the rear. I really don't see how someone can avoid bimetal corrosion. The best you can do, short of the liquid barrier, is to assure that you take them off often enough. That would vary with environment and would have a survey length not unlike doing UOA to find your max OCI

(tire rotations due to mileage = always variable)
Well, I went to take them off at 6months ..seized
Well, I went to take them off at 5months ..seized
Well, I went to take them off at 3months ..seized

I finally gave up and have them rotated every two weeks.

..or apply anti-seize and forget about it.

 

[Cup of Joe]

Originally Posted By: DeeAgeaux
I don't know anything about snow living in Los Angeles but if you rotate your tires like you are supposed will wheels still bond to the axle?


Snow here is very rare. This was just a wind and rain event, still made the national news though. They love sending a reporter to the OBX hoping to catch a home getting washed into the ocean. We have rain lots of it and humidity to spare.

Quote:
..or apply anti-seize and forget about it.


An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the hammer.

 

[The_Jeff]

I also use antisieze. Funny you mention about the drums, I always figured since my rear axle gets less brake maintenance and fewer tire changes that was why they were stickier.

A pressure treated 4x4, 6 to 8 feet long, is my weapon of choice for sticky tires. With the brake off, the first hit usually puts a bit of a spin on the tire so the subsequent whacks hit in random spots.

 

[severach]

Here in the middle of the rust belt the rust can fuse as you mount the rim so no frequency of tire rotations will keep them easy. I wire wheel the rust off and apply little anti-seize.

 

[mechanicx]

Supposedly if you don't have a big hammer and kicking the tire isn't freeing it, you can drive the car slowly back and forth with the lug nuts off (or loosened) to loosen a stuck wheel, but I'm not sure if that would work if you had a flat tire.

 

[onion]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Supposedly if you don't have a big hammer and kicking the tire isn't freeing it, you can drive the car slowly back and forth with the lug nuts off (or loosened) to loosen a stuck wheel, but I'm not sure if that would work if you had a flat tire.


That method works well on large agricultural and construction equipment- even when the wheel has been mounted for 20+ years. But don't remove the lugs all the way- just loosen by a turn or so. Not a good idea with a flat tire, though.

On my own vehicles, I put antisieze on the hub so that both the wheel and the drum or rotor will come off easily. Never had a problem once antisieze has been applied.

I also put antisieze on my lug studs. Yeah, I know... I'm gonna burn in [censored] for it 'cause it increases stress on the stud (and one couldn't POSSIBLY just reduce the torque by 10%). But I don't care. It works well for me.

 

[PT1]

I use anti-seize on the hubs on all vehicles. I have had them stick on even with a 5000 mile rotation schedule. I also use a small amount of anti-seize on the studs but back off the torque 5 ft lbs. to compensate.

 

[labman]

I go with 80% torque with antisieze. No studs twisted off or loose lug nuts.

 

[CivicFan]

Anti-seize here, too.

 

[mechtech2]

Clean any corrosion of the wheel and hub, then apply a light grease coating.
Anti seize is used, but it is the wrong product .
But bacon grease is better than dry!