Alloy wheel corrosion

[Cwoods1405]

Recently had the misfortune of suffering a puncture whilst camping. I was unable to get the wheel off due to corrosion btn the alloy wheel and steel hub. Had to call the RAC to put the spare on
Anyway I have just had all the wheels taken off, cleaned up and covered in copperslip! Glad I did because they were all stuck on and I would never get them off at the side of the road. Dont get caught out like I did!!!

 

[Loz]

Get yourself a tyre string kit, you can pop one in and re-inflate without removing the wheel.

 

[simplybikes]

Out of curiosity, having seen this thread, jacked the cali up while sitting on the drive and tried to remove one of the rear wheels. Managed with a bit of difficulty but not something I would like to have to do in the dark somewhere. Swinging out of the wheel while on the jack was very disconcerting. Definitely going to get the wheels removed and greased up. Thanks for pointing this out cwoods1405.

 

[DavidofHook]

Get yourself a tyre string kit, you can pop one in and re-inflate without removing the wheel.

Sorry to be dopey but what is a tyre string kit?

Having said that, having struggled with the huge hernia inducing spare, I am past doing my own wheel changes. (No one wants a huge hernia do they?)

 

[Loz]

Sorry to be dopey but what is a tyre string kit?

Having said that, having struggled with the huge hernia inducing spare, I am past doing my own wheel changes. (No one wants a huge hernia do they?)

Like a rubberised pipe cleaner, you thread it through a T bar that has an eye like a knitting needle and push it in the hole and the string bends in half as it goes in, give it a twist and pull the bar out quickly and the string stays behind. It has vulcanising compound and seals itself in.

 

[DavidofHook]

Like a rubberised pipe cleaner, you thread it through a T bar that has an eye like a knitting needle and push it in the hole and the string bends in half as it goes in, give it a twist and pull the bar out quickly and the string stays behind. It has vulcanising compound and seals itself in.

Aah, thanks Loz, you put it in the hole in the tyre, sounds neat but I guess that if you have a shredder then it won't work? Worth carrying for emergencies though. Get it from Halfords?
David

 

[SusiBus]

This subject has arisen on the Forum before and I have personal experience of having a wheel that was almost impossible to get off. I would advise everyone to remove their wheels and put a coating of copper ease between wheel and the hub. If you had to change a wheel beside the road, the force needed to get the wheel off while using the VW car jack could be seriously dangerous.

I also put a small coating of copper ease on the wheel studs, l know this is a controversial subject and not recommended by VW because it can affect the torque readings when tightening up studs, but I don't use a torque wrench to tighten my wheel studs up and I've been doing it for 50 years without problem, also seeing the way the wheel studs rust, I think it's another precaution that I could regret if I don't do it when stuck down some dark lane trying to change a wheel.

 

[WelshGas]

Interesting subject. I have had no problems taking my wheels off at all. Maybe because the vehicle is in use virtually everyday.

 

[Cwoods1405]

I don't think how often the vehicle is used makes much difference more how often the wheels are taken off. Mine has been on the long life service schedule which may have something to do with it. That said I haven't checked if they take the wheels off! More likely bung some oil in and tick a box then say that'll be £250 Mr Woods. Anyway I want to be able to put the spare on myself which is why I decided to get them done. Having changed a number of wheels over the years I was really surprised how stuck they were!

 

[Connelwilliams]

I had to change the wheel over the bank holiday. It took me the best part of an hour. Thankfully I was in a car park with plenty of room to move.

The wheel was well and truly stuck on and I had to hit it with a mallet a few times whilst raised on the jack before wiggling it back and forth to get it off. At first it didn't seem to be moving but as I rocked it I could start to feel it becoming more and more free until it came off.

Mind you, fitting the jack back into the toolkit and shutting the lid was almost as difficult....

Not an easy job but somewhat satisfying when completed. I was a little nervous about the Cali falling off the jack and would not want to attempt this on the hard shoulder!

 

[pjm-84]

Had this years ago on my Audi (and just after an £450 service where they checked the brakes). I even drove on lose wheel nuts to try and loosen the wheel. In the end sheer brute force and dangerously kicking from underneath the car managed to pop it off which resulted in minor damage to the rim when it landed face down.

I wasn't too impressed.

Audi advised me that they can check the brakes and discs without removing the wheels so not their issue and that I should have called the AA. (A bit difficult when you're in the middle of nowhere with no phone reception) .

I've never had the problem on any other vehicles I've owned and "rescued" a Seat driver, a few years back, at a petrol station with the same issue.

 

[dynamicstall]

Recently had the misfortune of suffering a puncture whilst camping. I was unable to get the wheel off due to corrosion btn the alloy wheel and steel hub. Had to call the RAC to put the spare on
Anyway I have just had all the wheels taken off, cleaned up and covered in copperslip! Glad I did because they were all stuck on and I would never get them off at the side of the road. Dont get caught out like I did!!!

 

[dynamicstall]

Copper slip may not be the best choice....electrovalent table.....dissimilar metals. I would have thought silicone grease in minute amounts may be preferable. As an extreme emergency measure, slackening the wheel nuts and driving a few metres is said to break the adhesion.

 

[briwy]

Copper slip may not be the best choice....electrovalent table.....dissimilar metals. I would have thought silicone grease in minute amounts may be preferable. As an extreme emergency measure, slackening the wheel nuts and driving a few metres is said to break the adhesion.

I prefer to jack it up, slacken the bolts and let it down again, usually does the trick.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Had the same experience as the OP while we were away camping this weekend. What should have been a simple wheel change turned into a 1.5 hour wait for RAC.

I'd tried every trick I knew to get the alloy to free off - rock the van on loosened wheelnuts (a bit iffy on the poxy little scissor jack), rubber mallet, a good kicking. It took the RAC guy quite a while even with his big iron mallet and a wooden block.

New pair of front tyres ordered for Wednesday - I'm going to get the garage to take them all off and copper slip all four.

 

[deccauk]

Loosen the wheelnuts a couple of turns from tight and drive forward and backward a few yards, braking to a hard stop. Worked for me.

 

[Gecko_Bioyag77]

I see this is an old post but I had the same issue as Cwoods1405 while on holiday in a very remote location with our 5 month old T6.1 which is driven everyday. I went out one morning and noticed a flat tyre and was pleased with myself that I had ordered a spare alloy/tyre so I set about jacking the car up and loosening the bolts. The alloy did not budge off the wheel hub, the car wavered on the jack so I lowered the Cali and put the bolts back on and slowly moved back and forward to see if this would release the wheel and jacked it back up but no success. I also tried using the spare wheel to 'club' the punctured tyre/alloy wheel to see if I could loosen the wheel but it was totally stuck. In the end I had to call road side assistance which arrived within the hour. Their solution was to take huge swing at the alloy on the inside of the wheel with a large bar. The alloy wheel came off after 2-3 blows but is now marked severely and is probably damaged. The lessons I have from this is that 1) if I ever need assistance at the side of the road again and some fella is going to take a swing at the wheel then put a mat on the inside to protect the wheel, and 2) I now always carry a decent sized rubber mallet which hopefully negates the need of request roadside assistance in the future.
I now have the offending alloy wheel and repaired tyre as my spare because I did not feel comfortable driving on it everyday after the trashing the wheel got from the iron bar, and this was significant because I had the tracking checked and it need to be readjusted.

I understand now that dissimilar metal corrosion is something that can occur so I will be removing all of my wheels and cleaning them up and applying copper grease or silicon to when the hub contacts the alloy. I have never experienced this before & I was really surprised that it could occur in such a new vehicle. I have questioned VW about this as part of the PDI and asked which they do not check and lubricate the hub before handing over the vehicle and they stated it was not done for safety reasons. Frankly Im not impressed.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

I see this is an old post but I had the same issue as Cwoods1405 while on holiday in a very remote location with our 5 month old T6.1 which is driven everyday. I went out one morning and noticed a flat tyre and was pleased with myself that I had ordered a spare alloy/tyre so I set about jacking the car up and loosening the bolts. The alloy did not budge off the wheel hub, the car wavered on the jack so I lowered the Cali and put the bolts back on and slowly moved back and forward to see if this would release the wheel and jacked it back up but no success. I also tried using the spare wheel to 'club' the punctured tyre/alloy wheel to see if I could loosen the wheel but it was totally stuck. In the end I had to call road side assistance which arrived within the hour. Their solution was to take huge swing at the alloy on the inside of the wheel with a large bar. The alloy wheel came off after 2-3 blows but is now marked severely and is probably damaged. The lessons I have from this is that 1) if I ever need assistance at the side of the road again and some fella is going to take a swing at the wheel then put a mat on the inside to protect the wheel, and 2) I now always carry a decent sized rubber mallet which hopefully negates the need of request roadside assistance in the future.
I now have the offending alloy wheel and repaired tyre as my spare because I did not feel comfortable driving on it everyday after the trashing the wheel got from the iron bar, and this was significant because I had the tracking checked and it need to be readjusted.

I understand now that dissimilar metal corrosion is something that can occur so I will be removing all of my wheels and cleaning them up and applying copper grease or silicon to when the hub contacts the alloy. I have never experienced this before & I was really surprised that it could occur in such a new vehicle. I have questioned VW about this as part of the PDI and asked which they do not check and lubricate the hub before handing over the vehicle and they stated it was not done for safety reasons. Frankly Im not impressed.

My local tyre centre advised me some time ago against applying copper grease. He suggested that it can make matters worse. Not sure if he’s right?

 

[Defender90]

My local tyre centre advised me some time ago against applying copper grease. He suggested that it can make matters worse. Not sure if he’s right?

No he’s wrong a small wipe over on the wheel and hub face stops the problem

 

[Velma's Dad]

I see this is an old post but I had the same issue as Cwoods1405 while on holiday in a very remote location with our 5 month old T6.1 which is driven everyday. I went out one morning and noticed a flat tyre and was pleased with myself that I had ordered a spare alloy/tyre so I set about jacking the car up and loosening the bolts. The alloy did not budge off the wheel hub, the car wavered on the jack so I lowered the Cali and put the bolts back on and slowly moved back and forward to see if this would release the wheel and jacked it back up but no success. I also tried using the spare wheel to 'club' the punctured tyre/alloy wheel to see if I could loosen the wheel but it was totally stuck. In the end I had to call road side assistance which arrived within the hour. Their solution was to take huge swing at the alloy on the inside of the wheel with a large bar. The alloy wheel came off after 2-3 blows but is now marked severely and is probably damaged. The lessons I have from this is that 1) if I ever need assistance at the side of the road again and some fella is going to take a swing at the wheel then put a mat on the inside to protect the wheel, and 2) I now always carry a decent sized rubber mallet which hopefully negates the need of request roadside assistance in the future.
I now have the offending alloy wheel and repaired tyre as my spare because I did not feel comfortable driving on it everyday after the trashing the wheel got from the iron bar, and this was significant because I had the tracking checked and it need to be readjusted.

I understand now that dissimilar metal corrosion is something that can occur so I will be removing all of my wheels and cleaning them up and applying copper grease or silicon to when the hub contacts the alloy. I have never experienced this before & I was really surprised that it could occur in such a new vehicle. I have questioned VW about this as part of the PDI and asked which they do not check and lubricate the hub before handing over the vehicle and they stated it was not done for safety reasons. Frankly Im not impressed.

Sorry you had to learn by experience. I wouldn't bother with a rubber mallet, for an alloy that's seized on you need a big lump hammer and a wooden block.

IMO there's a lot of bolloxy 'safety' advice given out about not using copper grease in case "it gets onlt the wheel studs". It's an anti-seize grease, not a lubricant. But no point trying to argue that with some kid in a tyre shop whose boss has just told them "no greases on stud threads, ever".

 

[Lee.Van.Cleef]

Shouldn't taking the wheels off be undertaken as part of an annual service? Surely popping them off once per year should spot & resolve any issues?

 

[Velma's Dad]

Shouldn't taking the wheels off be undertaken as part of an annual service? Surely popping them off once per year should spot & resolve any issues?

Don't know about VW vans specifically but most modern car service schedules don't involve taking wheels off. They check disc and pad thickness with wheels on. And anyway plenty of people will only be having their vans serviced every 24 months.

 

[Lee.Van.Cleef]

Don't know about VW vans specifically but most modern car service schedules don't involve taking wheels off. They check disc and pad thickness with wheels on. And anyway plenty of people will only be having their vans serviced every 24 months.

My experience was with a Focus about 15 years ago. I missed the service schedule as money was tight and mileage had been low. Garage chap was grumpy about wheels (had to drill one bolt out) and recommend popping them off at least once per year.

 

[Gecko_Bioyag77]

Shouldn't taking the wheels off be undertaken as part of an annual service? Surely popping them off once per year should spot & resolve any issues?

I would expect that was the practice in the past, but in my experience most garages won't swap the wheels unless you tell them. In my case it was a brand new vehicle and has not been serviced yet as it was only 5 months old. Either way Im told it's normal, so I have to just suck it up and put it down to experience. Wiser now, so I will ensure that all the wheels are checked, and won't be waiting for the next service.