Flat tyre, can't get the wheel off. Tried rubber mallet, tried forward/back and slam on brakes, now awaiting WD 40. Any thoughts - other than a kick up the arse for shite design
VM Transporter spare. wheel
- Thread starter Buchan
- Start date
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Med smøre, det gør
It’s the word…
It’s the word…
Off the axle or carrier,
terms "rim steel or ally" tire "rubber round bit"
road wheel "rim and tire"
If it is stuck on the "hub" then big bit of wood or hammer "steel" and beat the rim.
Assume you mean that you’ve jacked the wheel up & removed the wheel nuts/bolts & now can’t get an alloy wheel off the hub?
If that’s the case then odds are you’ve got galvanic corrosion between the wheel & hub.
As a first option I’d get a suitably sized piece of wood & a club hammer. Place the wood against the outside edge of the wheel near the rim (end on so you are hitting the end of the grain where it won’t compress as much) & give it a couple of good smacks with the hammer. Then move the wood to 180 degrees opposite & try again. Then back to other side but slightly further around the rim. Repeat all the way around & fingers crossed you’ll get it to free up.
I’ve had it happen once before on a Defender & in the end resorted to using ratchet straps around the spokes of the wheel with the other end attached to the tow bar of another vehicle. I then did the straps up as tight as they’d go to put some pressure on the wheel & repeated the wood & hammer trick.
Once you get it off, go over the hub with a wire brush & use a green kitchen scourer pad on the alloy wheel to remove corrosion. Then use a liberal amount of copper slip on the mating face of the alloy & hub as well as around the inside of the centre of the alloy if it sits on a spigot on the hub. This will ensure that next time it comes off a lot easier!
If that’s the case then odds are you’ve got galvanic corrosion between the wheel & hub.
As a first option I’d get a suitably sized piece of wood & a club hammer. Place the wood against the outside edge of the wheel near the rim (end on so you are hitting the end of the grain where it won’t compress as much) & give it a couple of good smacks with the hammer. Then move the wood to 180 degrees opposite & try again. Then back to other side but slightly further around the rim. Repeat all the way around & fingers crossed you’ll get it to free up.
I’ve had it happen once before on a Defender & in the end resorted to using ratchet straps around the spokes of the wheel with the other end attached to the tow bar of another vehicle. I then did the straps up as tight as they’d go to put some pressure on the wheel & repeated the wood & hammer trick.
Once you get it off, go over the hub with a wire brush & use a green kitchen scourer pad on the alloy wheel to remove corrosion. Then use a liberal amount of copper slip on the mating face of the alloy & hub as well as around the inside of the centre of the alloy if it sits on a spigot on the hub. This will ensure that next time it comes off a lot easier!
Thanks, that' what I'm doing, however interning the sterering wheel get a better angle to hit the rim on the inside, the jack collapsed, is now bent and u/s,
Great engineering VW, thanks
Great engineering VW, thanks
That makes 2 correct answers
I was still typing mine when yours landed - in fairness mine is a bit easier to understand & provides some advice on how to reduce chance of it happening againThat makes 2 correct answers
Don’t hit it on the inside! - just go round & around on the outside, it will come off eventually!
Another lesson you’ve learned the hard way is NEVER rely solely on a jack to support the vehicle especially on newer cars as they seem to be made of cheese painted black! I keep a 2 tonne trolley jack in the back & always slide the spare wheel under the car as soon as it’s jacked up then swap with the flat as soon as it’s off so that there’s always a wheel under the car to stop it if the jack fails
With my MGB I'm the same. But I'd ask the question of VW. How is my daughter expected to change a wheel at night when the system is so flawed? Rhetorical question obvs. I'll have to call the AA tomorrow as I don't have a 2 tonne trolley jack. Thanks thoughDon’t hit it on the inside! - just go round & around on the outside, it will come off eventually!
Another lesson you’ve learned the hard way is NEVER rely solely on a jack to support the vehicle especially on newer cars as they seem to be made of cheese painted black! I keep a 2 tonne trolley jack in the back & always slide the spare wheel under the car as soon as it’s jacked up then swap with the flat as soon as it’s off so that there’s always a wheel under the car to stop it if the jack fails
I thought it covered it well with fine details in just bash the **** out of it.I was still typing mine when yours landed - in fairness mine is a bit easier to understand & provides some advice on how to reduce chance of it happening again
It is in a long list of questions which has been asked multiple times on SD with top of the list.
What type of socks should I buy?
Skietindiekop
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately this is a very common problem due to the way the manufacturer determines servicing times. The less time needed for servicing means fleet buyers will save money.
Wheel removal for checking brake pads etc is non existent on all van models that I know of as the reliance on mirrors or a specific gauge is used instead.
Also not using any anti corrosion paste (more cost) between the steel hub and alloy wheel makes them almost as a welded unit over time.
Old school independent servicing and not main dealer service schedules is the only way to have any chance of changing a wheel with the tin plate jack supplied at the roadside assuming that hasn’t been swapped for a tin of foam repair
Wheel removal for checking brake pads etc is non existent on all van models that I know of as the reliance on mirrors or a specific gauge is used instead.
Also not using any anti corrosion paste (more cost) between the steel hub and alloy wheel makes them almost as a welded unit over time.
Old school independent servicing and not main dealer service schedules is the only way to have any chance of changing a wheel with the tin plate jack supplied at the roadside assuming that hasn’t been swapped for a tin of foam repair
Copper slip the mating surfaces once you get it apart
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Grease us the word, yes you’ve heard
. An ounce of prevention…
A lad I went to school with, I learned had been working under his unsupported Transit twin wheeler, in an isolated farmyard barn .... he was found a long while after it had collapsed onto him, stone dead.
Last edited:
Bo Diddley
Well-Known Member
Schoolboy error, not to support it with blocks or stands.
His family must have been devastated.
Same as someone I knew, working under a car on his driveway. His dad came round to see why he hadn't picked is son up from school
No good unless you do all 4, I run road tyres from March to "this year" November on the D-Max as it makes no sense to me scrubbing good off road tyres away for the sake of a 30 min pit stop, while they are "off" a look around the pads and front bearings etc.
johnnytheboy
Well-Known Member
Crack the nuts and put it back on the deck, give it wee drive back and forward!
Similar threads
