Seized rims on car

[trueblue4455]

I have a set of winter and summer wheels for my car. The summer wheels don't cause any problems but the winter wheels seem to seize onto the wheel mounting point which takes quite a bit of wheel wiggling to remove.




Is there some anti-seize stuff I can put on to prevent this? Didn't want to put on any old anti-seize stuff in case there's specific stuff that needs to be used as it's near the brake disc.

Thanks in advance

[LandieMark]

You need to clean both surfaces with a gentle abrasive. Copper grease in very small amounts will be fine. The US repair channels on YouTube favour Fluid Film which is a lanolin based anti rust fluid.

[MarkwG]

LandieMark said:

You need to clean both surfaces with a gentle abrasive. Copper grease in very small amounts will be fine. The US repair channels on YouTube favour Fluid Film which is a lanolin based anti rust fluid.

+1 - also, looks like someone tried already around the hub centre but didn't manage to get any where it matters.

[bearman68]

BMW?
Grease will do. I always wonder about using copper slip, as I'm not sure it's any good for preventing bimetallic corrosion.

[Hammer67]

bearman68 said:

BMW?
Grease will do. I always wonder about using copper slip, as I'm not sure it's any good for preventing bimetallic corrosion.

I use a thin smear of copper slip for this, have done for years on all sorts of vehicles.

Never caused a problem, never had a wheel stuck after using it.

[CraigyMc]

trueblue4455 said:

I have a set of winter and summer wheels for my car. The summer wheels don't cause any problems but the winter wheels seem to seize onto the wheel mounting point which takes quite a bit of wheel wiggling to remove.




Is there some anti-seize stuff I can put on to prevent this? Didn't want to put on any old anti-seize stuff in case there's specific stuff that needs to be used as it's near the brake disc.

Thanks in advance

use copperslip.

If you have a rubber hammer, you can whack alternating sides of the rim to make it vibrate and it'll ping off when you've undone the bolts.

[Sheepshanks]

Hmm...you're not supposed to grease the mounting faces. Drive to the wheel works by friction with the hub - all the wheel bolts are going is clamping the wheel to the hub. If you grease the interface there's a danger the drive gets transferred to the bolts and they're not designed for that.

Having said that, there's probably massive margins of error in the design.

[Krikkit]

Sheepshanks said:

Hmm...you're not supposed to grease the mounting faces. Drive to the wheel works by friction with the hub - all the wheel bolts are going is clamping the wheel to the hub. If you grease the interface there's a danger the drive gets transferred to the bolts and they're not designed for that.

100%.

Sheepshanks said:

Having said that, there's probably massive margins of error in the design.

Thankfully so!

Imho, clean the mounting faces up, deal with it.

[CraigyMc]

Sheepshanks said:

Hmm...you're not supposed to grease the mounting faces. Drive to the wheel works by friction with the hub - all the wheel bolts are going is clamping the wheel to the hub. If you grease the interface there's a danger the drive gets transferred to the bolts and they're not designed for that.

Having said that, there's probably massive margins of error in the design.

This is true. You aren't supposed to use copperslip (or similar).

But since it's very common and doesn't cause problems I'm going to say it won't cause problems.

If you die don't sue me.

[Hammer67]

Jag seem to think it`s ok to apply some grease.

[shtu]

In reference to the doom being mongered above, it's worth knowing is that copper "grease" isn't a very good lubricant.

Clean that crusty nonsense off the surfaces, a thin (thin!) coating of copper or similar anti seize, and it'll be fine. Been doing it for 30+ years and no wheels have fallen off to date.

[Sheepshanks]

Hammer67 said:

Jag seem to think it`s ok to apply some grease.

That's interesting - in that I've seen stuff from Land Rover that says specifically not to do it!

[sanguinary]

When mine have been properly stuck on occasion, I’ve loosened the bolts and just finger tightened them again before lowering the car and rolling back and forth a couple of times. That usually does the the trick for me.

[DickyC]

Another survivor of Copper Slip on mating faces here.

[rigga]

Yup copper slip has been my cure for sticking wheels since the 80's

And yes was in the trade too.

Never an issue.

[LunarOne]

A die grinder fitted with a cleaning pad. And a compressor to keep Super Sonic happy.

https://www.zoro.co.uk/shop/abrasives/surface-cond...

[gazza285]

A Stihl saw will soon clean that up.

[TTmonkey]

sanguinary said:

When mine have been properly stuck on occasion, I’ve loosened the bolts and just finger tightened them again before lowering the car and rolling back and forth a couple of times. That usually does the the trick for me.

This. You shouldn’t be banging or whacking a wheel that’s off the ground on a Jack. Just slightly loosen the bolts, and usually just dropping the car back to the ground and re jacking will be enough to loosen it. Failing that, a couple of feet back and forth will do it.

Seeing people kicking the hell out of a stuck wheel whilst the car is off the ground on a spindly Jack makes me shudder.

[Mr Tidy]

bearman68 said:

BMW?
Grease will do. I always wonder about using copper slip, as I'm not sure it's any good for preventing bimetallic corrosion.

Probably not as it has studs - all my BMWs have had bolts which, are a PITA to line up!

I swap twice a year on my BMW daily between summers and winters and have never had wheels stuck that couldn't be removed after a couple of whacks with the palms of my hands.

[donkmeister]

TTmonkey said:

sanguinary said:

When mine have been properly stuck on occasion, I’ve loosened the bolts and just finger tightened them again before lowering the car and rolling back and forth a couple of times. That usually does the the trick for me.

This. You shouldn’t be banging or whacking a wheel that’s off the ground on a Jack. Just slightly loosen the bolts, and usually just dropping the car back to the ground and re jacking will be enough to loosen it. Failing that, a couple of feet back and forth will do it.

Seeing people kicking the hell out of a stuck wheel whilst the car is off the ground on a spindly Jack makes me shudder.

Standard practice after lifting a car, give it a good few shoves from different directions to ensure it's secure, no?