Punctured and failed to remove wheel

[bigmac77]

Remove your wheels once or twice a year they won’t be corroded on in that time and you get a bit of practice should you get a puncture. No grease required.

 

[flying banana]

Use of Copper based grease argument is slightly missing the point in that using it on the brake parts can be potentially lethal due to the grease melting and running onto the brake surface, especially if excess grease is applied.

What both myself and others are saying is that using it on the wheel to hub contact points is a way to preventing corrosion bonding the wheel to the hub. Used with moderation of course.

A good layer of wax polish to both the hub and wheel centre would be much better than nothing.

copaslip is designed for high temps

 

[Perfectos]

Copper grease is specifically designed for use in high temperature environments as has been used for many years on brake components made from ferrous metals.

I do not understand the comment regarding copper grease being dangerous! (From the OP) which is counter intuitive to what was being offered up as advice!

If used correctly there should be no issue with copper grease!

Copper is Not recommended for use on aluminium components.

There seems to be some misguided information being offered up to suit people’s preferred methods to justify to themselves why they prescribe a particular method they have used previously.

Wax as a preventative applied to high temperature areas ?

As I said I have no issue with the use of copper based products and they can be highly effective.

The information regarding the use of copper products on aluminium is factual and correct and recognised in metallurgy.
Whether there is sufficient evidence to suggest copper grease will have a “short term” effect or indeed “benefit” can be debated until the cows come home.

If there was no issue with copper being used on non ferrous metals, why would it be recognised as a potential issue?

ceramic products were invented and are marketed for the specific applications

Perhaps those that apply copper product to the aluminium wheels just experience a benefit from removing the wheels in so far as “maintenance” regardless of the product applied?

Fact: VW do not recommend the use of copper products on aluminium. Why?

Be careful when considering advice offered regarding “dangerous” applications and application of products not specifically designed for high temperature environment

DYOR




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Wesel]

Remove your wheels once or twice a year they won’t be corroded on in that time and you get a bit of practice should you get a puncture. No grease required.

I always changed my wheels 2 times a year, and nevertheless I had corrosion problems on my previous cars. Since I use copper based grease I did not have any problems anymore

 

[Walrus]

I always changed my wheels 2 times a year, and nevertheless I had corrosion problems on my previous cars. Since I use copper based grease I did not have any problems anymore

My experience was exactly the same as yours. It doesn't take much and the wheels don't seize.

 

[andyinluton]

In my opinion its not corrosion causing the problem, its some designs are a tighter fit over the hubs than others. from the posts above Davenports appear to have problems along with Dakars, whereas cascavels don't.

When I put the Dakars on the rear of my van, I can tell its a tight fit. If I push the wheel onto the hub it will sit there without falling off without the wheel bolts being in place. The original 16" myatö design need a bolt in to keep the wheel in place.

I also find that the rears are always hard to get off whereas the fronts are easy.
It also doesn't seem to matter whether I had the wheel off last week or last year they are always difficult.

 

[Mr & Mrs B]

Call the AA.

Meanwhile, until they arrive, use the Cali as it's designed to be used .... make a nice cup of tea

We've just had this problem too. Just about to leave campsite yesterday and noticed a bolt stuck in the wheel tread. As we weren't sure if if was loose in the tread or if it had pierced the tyre, we removed it and had a flat tyre in less than a minute. Called VW Assist and the AA came in about an hour to change the wheel - it took several thumps with a large hammer to release the wheel. At least we were still on the campsite and not the side of the road.

 

[Legin]

In my opinion its not corrosion causing the problem, its some designs are a tighter fit over the hubs than others. from the posts above Davenports appear to have problems along with Dakars, whereas cascavels don't.

When I put the Dakars on the rear of my van, I can tell its a tight fit. If I push the wheel onto the hub it will sit there without falling off without the wheel bolts being in place. The original 16" myatö design need a bolt in to keep the wheel in place.

I also find that the rears are always hard to get off whereas the fronts are easy.
It also doesn't seem to matter whether I had the wheel off last week or last year they are always difficult.

Its both. Corroded steel expands by about 10 x so thats what makes it lock on but there is also an issue of the tolerance ie fit. The main issue is still the corrosion.

 

[PeteS]

It seems Copper Slip is not routinely used on wheels. When I last changed my tyres at Costco i watched the fitter hammer the wheels off. I asked if he could use some Copper Slip and was told they they are not allowed to use it on wheels anymore.

 

[CALI FATE]

We had this problem in Ireland in the summer - but also compounded by the studs being on too tight. Our van is 2016 and it seems the locking studs have worn over the years too - so it was a nightmare. We eventually got the wheel off and replaced the tyre, but as soon as i got home i decided to get the locking studs replaced with normal studs and get the garage to torque up the studs correctly. One of the locking studs would not budge and it cost me £100 to get the thing removed with heat / welding.

For info - the spare will not come out from under the van unless the rear is jacked up - so its worth practicing the whole thing before you find yourself on the side of a wet dark busy motorway. We venture off the beaten track and cant afford to be left high and dry - i have just bought a bottle jack and a more heavy duty wheel wrench for peace of mind. The standard kit is hopeless.

 

[Perfectos]

Ceramic grease will do the job as well as copper slip (applied to the hub)

 

[chockswahay]

I spent a while yesterday trying to remove the rear right wheel ……. I gave up on the end! (my plan was to change wheels front to back to even out tyre wear……. I had all the problems previously stated on this and other threads.

So I think I will take the van to a tyre centre and ‘pay the man’ ……. hopefully the price I have to pay will be worth saving my knuckles and not having to suffer even more stress and anguish.

Just wondering what the latest thinking/opinion is regarding the use of grease/lubricant etc?

 

[Corradobrit]

I spent a while yesterday trying to remove the rear right wheel ……. I gave up on the end! (my plan was to change wheels front to back to even out tyre wear……. I had all the problems previously stated on this and other threads.

So I think I will take the van to a tyre centre and ‘pay the man’ ……. hopefully the price I have to pay will be worth saving my knuckles and not having to suffer even more stress and anguish.

Just wondering what the latest thinking/opinion is regarding the use of grease/lubricant etc?

You need a longer lever and maybe some penetrating solution.
Regarding the grease/lubricant, I think its a bad idea, and NOT recommended by the carmakers, unless you plan to check and torque them on a regular basis. You want all the studs to stay in place.

 

[sidepod]

Jack it up so the tyre is just clear of the floor. Loosen the nuts. Put a lump of 4x2 against the rim on the floor and hit it with a lump hammer/sledge hammer. Done.

 

[B J G]

I've used silicone grease on some hubs (sparingly) and put a good layer of polish/wax on both the hub and wheel hub on the others which left untouched for a year resulted in the wheel coming off easily with no corrosion deposits with both methods. Polish method seems the future method that I'll adopt..

Clean hub and wheel centre thoroughly prior to using any method of protection.

 

[chockswahay]

So, here's the thing. I was just doing a little research online about swapping wheels front to back. A cunning plan suggested by many is that it's cheaper to have 4 wheels balanced at the same time (just put back in different places) than a specific price to swap the wheels only! I had a butchers at Halfords and they charge £7.99 a wheel so for less than £32 job done and balanced!

Edit: I haven’t done this yet, just mentioning it as a possibility

 

[Perfectos]

? The wheel is balanced off the vehicle and is specifically weighted accordingly to the run out on the rim,
it make little difference when switching axle positions, the wheel remains balanced regardless of its axle position

 

[chockswahay]

? The wheel is balanced off the vehicle and is specifically weighted accordingly to the run out on the rim,
it make little difference when switching axle positions, the wheel remains balanced regardless of its axle position

Ah, the point I didn’t make very well is that tyre fitters (apparently) charge more if just wheel change…… but for balancing the computer say yes! All I want is wheels changed as cheap as possible so if that is the way they can ‘allow it’ then it seems better value

 

[Perfectos]

Local Indi tyre fitters will probably charge you about £20 cash to swap wheels front to rear

 

[Hawthorn37]

At the first chance I use Copperslip on the wheel hubs to stop corrosion and aid removal. Just need a thin coating. Experience from maintaining ships deck machinery.

 

[WelshGas]

One advantage then for 4Motion.
Over 8 yrs, 120,000 miles and 4 sets of tyres. Wear front to rear and L to R has been equal so never rotated the wheels.

 

[pjm-84]

At the first chance I use Copperslip on the wheel hubs to stop corrosion and aid removal. Just need a thin coating. Experience from maintaining ships deck machinery.

Just a smear and give them a clean. Never had a problem with the California but I did with "the" Audi I owned. Ironically it had its first expensive service the week before and it noted on the bill remove road wheels and check brakes for wear - brakes ok, clean and refit. I did question how the wheel happened to sieze in a week and they confessed that they hadn't removed the wheels. Took me 30mins kicking it to free it. Did all the others when I got home.

 

[mikej100]

I've just experienced the siezed-on alloy wheel issue on trip in far north of Norway. Phoned my local Merit tyre who agreed it's a common problem: kick at the top of the rim, or hit with mallet from under vehicle outwards. Neither worked for me.

What did the job was using a timber post 6ft 2x2" from the underside bottom of wheel using ramp to rest the timber at the right height. Might be useful option.

I had previously asked Merit to release all the wheels to prevent the problem but they didn't think it would help much. I will alway carry a fence post buy a bigger mallet and store in the spare, and try the aluminium anti size on the hubs for future.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

I had the same problem when I bought a new set of alloy wheels at around the 2 year mark.
I had to jack up the van then sit it on wooden blocks and use a 14lb sledgehammer to get the seized original wheels off.
After that I cleaned the alloy and applied the tiniest amount of copper slip with an artist brush. Ive changed them around twice a year since then and the wheels come straight off now. And no bleeding of the grease any further than where I originally put it. I feel sorry for the poor sod that gets a flat on a dark country road in the middle of nowhere at night in the poring rain and forgot to renew the recovery.

 

[B J G]

Experimented with various methods and found that applying wax polish to both wheel centre and metal axle hub the wheels just dropped off after 14 months. No corrosion on either surface.