I've got about 15,000 miles on the odometer, and I finally decided to rotate my tires today. Yes, I know I'm way overdue.

The first problem I had is that the lug nuts were evidently tightened by the Mazda Gorilla -- the same one that puts the oil filter on. But after finding a six foot pole to slip over the wrench for more torque, I was able to loosen them up. Both front wheels came off, but after I got the lug nuts off the rear wheels, neither one of them would come off.

What's up with THAT?

I tried pulling on them as hard as I could without yanking the car off the jack, but they wouldn't budge.

Anybody know what might cause this? Better yet, anybody know how to fix it? If I take it in to a tire place or a Mazda dealer, will they be able to pull them off with special tools? Maybe that gorilla could do it.

 

Here's a possible answer to my own question:
http://www.njbmwcca.org/Bulletin/phi...forum5-99.html

Seems that alloy wheels sticking to steel hubs is not a rare phenomenon. Sounds like the only solution is brute force.

Yuck.

 

as Jesse mentioned....a good swift kick usually works....sit on the ground next to the car with it jacked up and the lugs off and kick the tire on ONE side....this usually works to pop the wheel off....yes the alloy wheels sitck to the hubs....BUT, if you will rotate your wheels more often.....this won't happen. :{D

 

I use anti-seize around the hub to prevent this.

 

HOWEVER....MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU DO NOT GET ANY ON THE STUDS!!!!

if you do....you will find your lug nuts constantly getting lose. putting anti-seize on the studs is a BIG no no.

but putting it on the face of the wheel where it mates to the rotor/drum is fine....and will prevent the afore mentioned problem.

 

if you kick real hard with all the nuts off, there's a chance the wheel will go flying off, the car will fall off the jack, and you'll be pinned under the car. i leave the nuts threaded on the bolts just a bit, so if the kick causes the car to fall off the jack, the wheel is still in place to hold up the car. i spread just a thin film of wheel bearing grease on the hub or wheel to stop it seizing together. a thin film of WD 40 has no effect at all, they'll still seize.

 

I put anti seize on the wheel studs also. Never had a problem with the lugs loosen up.

 

Following the excellent advice posted here, I was able to kick my tires off and rotate them. What a difference in tread wear between the fronts and the rears!

I put anti-sieze on the hubs and wheels but not on the lug nuts or bolt threads. We'll see, in another 15000 miles, if that makes it any easier to remove the nuts!

The anti-sieze compound I got is a pretty silver color, but kind of stinky.

 

I just rotated today at 14,000km's.

I noticed that the rear wheels were the only ones to exhibit the "stuck on" problem, what would be the reason for that. I just used a rubber hammer on them, a few nice taps and they came off.

I also had time to throw a few coats of "Ford Red" engine enamel on my calipers. Looks SWEET!!! I'm pumped, just in time for the big road trip to Calgary...

 

DBR has a good point....IF you are silly enough to be doing this with the car ONLY on a jack....I STRONGLY recommend NEVER EVER doing anthing like this with the car on a jack....it should always be on stands.....however....if you were doing this because you were on the side of the road and had a flat....leaveing the nuts on but loose is good advice.

something else DEWEY,....waiting 15,000 miles between tire rotations is WAY too long...you will end up prematurely wearing out your tires...if you look in the manual...it recomments every 3750 miles for the stock tires.....for me....the easy thing to do is just rotate them when you change the oil...after all...you already have the front half of the car up in the air....just put up the rear and rotate the tires...takes all of an extra 15 minutes.

Eric....all I have to say about the anti-seize on the studs....if its never happened to you...consider yourself lucky....nuff said.

 

Not lucky, just good. J/K Seriously though, when I used anti seize, I just lightly coat the threads. I also always hand torque the lug nuts to 75 ft/lbs. I've been doing this for quite a few years with out any issues, so I just thought I'd give another perpective. Living in the Chicago area on the other hand, I have had many issues with various rusted/frozen nuts and bolts over the years, so now every time I remove something I give it a light coat of anti seize to hopefully avoid the kind of problems I'm having on my other car now.

 

yes steel and alloy are not best of friends. This is why you always use a healy coil. but cant use those on rims..

 

Also coming from salty roads, and having had many lug nuts needing some extra persuasion, I agree with Eric that coating the stud threads with anti-seize can prevent problems. I never had a wheel fall off! When I frequently autocrossed an RX-7, it really helped the wheel changes, and seemed to prevent thread wear, which can really make lugs loosen up.