Wheel removal

S

SimonRage

Member
Hi... I'm new here. In fact, this is my first post. I have NO idea how/why this is happening and figured only a group of mazda experts can explain it. I have an '02 P5 with 5 spoke wheels. My tire has run flat on the passenger rear and I went to change it tonight and had a really confusing experience. I jacked the car up, removed ALL FIVE lugnuts, and the wheel will still not come off of the wheel hub. I can't figure out why, though! My wife's old car had these goofy locking hubcaps, but I don't see a way to remove the small cap on these wheels and they don't seem like locking caps. Can any of you guys shed some light on this issue? I removed the lugnuts, couldnt find anything else holding it on, kicked the hell out of it to see if it would pop off, set it down with all lugnuts loosened, and even tried the other side. Both of the wheels will not come off. I'm sure I'm completely missing something totally stupid.... can anyone offer a suggestion? I even consulted the manual (which said to pop off the wheel cover and undo the four lugnuts... lotta help that was).

Below is an image of my car with the wheels in question:
car.jpg
 
Aye, I've tried that... I kicked it hard enough to nearly sprain my ankle and almost rocked it off of the floor jack I was using. I even had my dad give it a few kicks.

**EDIT**
forgot to mention: when we set the car down with all five lugnuts on but LOOSE, we tried rocking the car back/forth and left/right to try to loosen it.... no luck there either.
 
Try hitting it with a rubber mallet on the "inside out". It's pretty common to have two dissimilar metals (aluminum of the wheel, steel of the rotor) bond together.

Brute force is sometimes the key; otherwise, finnesse gets it done too.
 
damn man your ****** lol...I have msp and the same thing happen to my back wheel but I just kicked the s*** out it about 10 or 15 times and it came off
 
put some anti-seize compound on the hub and it will prevent the wheel from sticking next time.
 
sucks.. you rusted it onto the rotor or whatever. use a pipe, stick it through your rim somewhere and use that to try to get it out. You'll get more torque that way.
 
l2eedy said:
damn man your ****** lol...I have msp and the same thing happen to my back wheel but I just kicked the s*** out it about 10 or 15 times and it came off
Click to expand...

Yea... I'm beginning to feel that way. I guess tomorrow I'll give it another go and hope for the best.... I must've kicked it at least 25 times... each time it was like the wheel was still bolted down tight. I don't think I'm too much of a pansy to put a hurting on the wheel, either... I just can't explain the force with which it is stuck on there! I DO have an air compressor that I can fill the tire up again with... you guys think the 'highly trained' technicians at NTB or a tire chain can help better than I could? I ask because I had a buddy who worked at NTB... the dude couldn't tell his ass from a hole in the ground but somehow landed a job working on other people's cars.
 
SimonRage said:
the dude couldn't tell his ass from a hole in the ground but somehow landed a job working on other people's cars.
Click to expand...

Most of the people that work at those places can't.
 
hey,

I work at kal-tire and let me tell you these cars are the worst for this problem. I had the same problem when I took my wheels off my personal car as well as 4 other customers now. Basically, with air in the tire still, I lie on the ground with a bead axe (big ass hammer used for breaking down semi truck tire beads) and hit the tire from under the car towards the outside till the wheel pops off the hub. Put them back on with a little bit of silver anti-seize on the inside of the wheel where it sits on the hub and you are good to go next time

Matt
 
Replace lugnuts on offending wheel(s) loosely using your fingers only (i.e. leave a little play between them and the wheels).
Lower the car and drive slowly backwards and forwards (if you have the room, it helps to turn the steering left/right as well).
Eventually, you will hear a loud "clunk", which is the wheel breaking free from the rotor.

Trust me, I had the same problem and kicked the sh*t out of all the wheels to no avail, and this was the only thing that broke the cruddy seal.

Using antiseize will help for next time, but even with it, they need a good kick to get off.

Good luck.
 
hahaha, do you live in Iowa City?

I used anti-sieze on the hubs and it still need kicking the next time... stubborn wheels!
 
same thing happened to my friend, and the rubber mallet worked perfectly to knock it off, and anti-sieze is a miracle worker!
 
This may be beating a dead horse but....

When I put my springs on a month ago I had this problem. I had to get under the car w/ a 2x4 and a big ass hammer. I put the 2x4 across the wheel/tire from the inside and smacked the s*** out of it for like 2 minutes solid. Finally came off.
 
falsedawn said:
Replace lugnuts on offending wheel(s) loosely using your fingers only (i.e. leave a little play between them and the wheels).
Lower the car and drive slowly backwards and forwards (if you have the room, it helps to turn the steering left/right as well).
Eventually, you will hear a loud "clunk", which is the wheel breaking free from the rotor.
Click to expand...

I was going to recommend same thing. This is the *easy* way to go. You can add braking somewhat hard to the above suggestion :)
 
....this really sucks with the stock protege rims. get yourself some new rims! that will solve the problem.....

-R
 
I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it (unless I missed it).. hot water.

It is what I have to do every spring when my winter wheels (the stock wheels) come off. Take a glass of hot water to the offending wheels and pour it between the wheel and the rotor hub. It has worked like a charm for me.
 
Protege52003 said:
....this really sucks with the stock protege rims. get yourself some new rims! that will solve the problem.....

-R
Click to expand...
so getting new rims will scare the old ones into submission? :p

I've had issues w/ em after auto-x's (heat + different metals = bind), but nothing a swift kick (or 2 or 3) couldn't fix. Anyway, I think the rubber mallet would be a good ideeer, but I've never tried the water thing. Could do the trick!
 
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