Why did my alloy wheel stick...how do I get it off?

Conclusion to the problem...

I tried rocking the truck with TC on with the nuts just slightly loose...Nothing (I was not able to rock much in any case.)

I tried dropping the wheel with slightly loose nut while jacked up about 1-1/2 inches off the ground...Nothing.

I tried the sledge hammer...Success!

I had some Permatex anti sieze, so I used it on the inside mating surface. Very light coat and wiped it smooth.

Will see how it works next time the wheels have to come off.

Thanks for all the help!!

d3500ram wrote:

I Fish 2 wrote:
..I took off all the wheels, and smeared Nevr Seez on the mating surface. I never had any problem getting them off again.

The term "smear" sounds as if a liberal amount was used. it does not need a whole lot of film coating.

I use only a very, very light coat just barely enough to prevent the chemical interaction of 2 dissimilar metals.

Yes, I smeared it on. Probably more than I needed, but, oh well, I've never had that problem since.

I Fish 2 wrote:
..I took off all the wheels, and smeared Nevr Seez on the mating surface. I never had any problem getting them off again.

The term "smear" sounds as if a liberal amount was used. it does not need a whole lot of film coating.

I use only a very, very light coat just barely enough to prevent the chemical interaction of 2 dissimilar metals.

Sorry this is kinda late. The first time I had this problem was about 3 am in a small S.E. Minnesota town, thanks to a 4 inch long lag bolt going through. Every time I hit that tire, it sounded like a 20ga going off. I had some woman yell out her second story window to knock it off. I yelled back I was trying. 5 minutes later, the cops showed up.

I ended up putting the nuts back on, not quite finger tight, and lowering the jack so the weight of the truck basically forced it off. When I went to get the tire fixed, I had them rotate the rest of them. They were all stuck. I told them how I got the flat off, and, that's what they ended up doing to all of them.

When I got back home, I went to a buddy with a lift. I took off all the wheels, and smeared Nevr Seez on the mating surface. I never had any problem getting them off again.

Someone asked about FluidFilm earlier:

I personally wouldn't use FluidFilm between wheel and mating surface (for reasons explained above). However, I do use it as an anti-corrosive on undercarriage.

I've been using it for 9.4 year now on all our vehicles. I always spray the undercarriage on our brand new vehicles immediately out of the showroom. 2 sprays during 1st year, then 1 spray every year thereafter. It takes me about 40 minutes to do the entire undercarriage of our 21 foot long 2500HD. It is quite good. They package it in 55 gallon or smaller (down to the spray can size). Use a professional sprayer and re fill from 1 gallon pails for economics.

If you own a battleship, tank or fleet of HMMWV vehicles, then buy the WRO-EP MIL-PRF-18459 C (39 LB drum) spec FluidFilm; if not, and you have just 1 vehicle to do, the brush-top or spray cans will do :B

There are many, many tests and multi-year amateur FluidFilm trials and how-to's on Youtube...check it out.

Steelhog wrote:
Ford uses a hub centric design which relies on a precision fit between the wheel center bore and the hub. Here's a solution I found on the Diesel Stop forum...loosen the lugs a turn and a half, not jacked up, with the wheels on the ground. Now, shake the truck laterally (side to side). This is what the service adviser at the dealer told me to do when I couldn't get the wheels off to rotate the tires. After you break the "seal" jack the truck up and remove the wheels. When you put them back smear a coat of grease on the mating surfaces of the wheel and hub to keep them from freezing together again.

That is it in a nutshell,If it were me I would disregard all other "remedies"

Brute force and ignorance gets it off every time. (:

(Comment not directed to any previous suggestions. Just an observation.)

DWeikert wrote:
Just wanted to inject a word of caution regarding use of lubricants on the mating surfaces. Between the wheel and center hub shouldn't cause a problem, but between the wheel and the mating surface behind the wheel could. Keep in mind that it is the friction between those two surfaces created by the clamping force of the lugs that allows the wheel to carry the rated load. Doing anything to reduce this friction will have an affect on the load carrying ability of the wheel. You may never have any problems, but it's difficult to say just how much you're reducing your load carrying ability. Also, be very careful if you use antisieze or something similar on the lugs since friction is a major component in the torque. Reducing friction but using the same torque can significantly increase the axial force. Change the friction by 10% and you can get a 100% change in bolt tension with the same setting on the torque wrench. See the table at the bottom of this page. If you use antisieze on the lugs, be sure to apply it only to the threads and not the nut/wheel mating surface.

Aye, this is why I simply suggested a wood block a sledge hammer, protect the rim, but allow for the thumping the rust seal will need to break loose.

I always keep a tool box in the truck, so there's always wood blocks and a sledge handy along with a number of other tools needed to do any emergency roadside repairs (within reason).

Just wanted to inject a word of caution regarding use of lubricants on the mating surfaces. Between the wheel and center hub shouldn't cause a problem, but between the wheel and the mating surface behind the wheel could. Keep in mind that it is the friction between those two surfaces created by the clamping force of the lugs that allows the wheel to carry the rated load. Doing anything to reduce this friction will have an affect on the load carrying ability of the wheel. You may never have any problems, but it's difficult to say just how much you're reducing your load carrying ability. Also, be very careful if you use antisieze or something similar on the lugs since friction is a major component in the torque. Reducing friction but using the same torque can significantly increase the axial force. Change the friction by 10% and you can get a 100% change in bolt tension with the same setting on the torque wrench. See the table at the bottom of this page. If you use antisieze on the lugs, be sure to apply it only to the threads and not the nut/wheel mating surface.

Ford uses a hub centric design which relies on a precision fit between the wheel center bore and the hub. Here's a solution I found on the Diesel Stop forum...loosen the lugs a turn and a half, not jacked up, with the wheels on the ground. Now, shake the truck laterally (side to side). This is what the service adviser at the dealer told me to do when I couldn't get the wheels off to rotate the tires. After you break the "seal" jack the truck up and remove the wheels. When you put them back smear a coat of grease on the mating surfaces of the wheel and hub to keep them from freezing together again.