Help Me Get My Tires Off!!!

[Ulfhedinn]

I am sure this is a stupid question but here goes, is this thingy in the center some type of wheel hub lock thingymajigg?? I cannot get my tire to come off fpr the life of me and then I noticed this after contemplating kicking and hammering the crap out of it.

Topic

[Ulfhedinn]

Apparently I cannot upload a photo for some reason either. I have a Hyundai Elantra GT 2003 and there is a weird looking thingy in the center of the wheel that has about 6 notches in it. Is this a locking mechanism for the wheel itself, ive seen lugnut wheel locks before but not this, I am obviously a car noob.

[Ulfhedinn]

Here we go, lets try this link for the image…

[Donnie]

That would be the Axle nut. You don’t take that off to take the wheel off.

The 4 nuts that surround it are what you want to take off.

Once those are loose, you can (once the vehicle is lifted off the ground) kick the side of the tire, and it should break loose if it hasn’t been off before. Your spare tire change stuff in the back, should have a wrench/socket thing that will fit on those.

[Ulfhedinn]

Ok great thanks just wanted to make sure, I took off the lugnuts, lifted the vehicle and could not for the life of me get the tire off. The tires have been off before, I am going to try a trick a friend of mine told me to do where I put the lugnuts back on but not all the way and then try and drive it forward and back a little to help pop the tire loose. Thanks for the verification, it is much appreciated!

[Robert]

Don’t drive the car with lose lugs that asking for trouble just setting the car down on a wheel with lose lugs should lose the wheel up, and or if its the front wheel turning the steering wheel back and forth. If you live in the rust belt, I hope you have a better time than I did with rotors rusted to the hubs on the Elantras

[Kris]

take 3 nuts off, leave one a few threads and smack it with a rubber mallet then whip some anti seize on the hub

[wafrederick]

Pry it off from the back with a good heavy duty prybar.When off,take a die grinder with a carbide bit for non ferious metals and clean the center up good.

[talhab]

when i come into a situation like that i usually spray penetrating oil around the hub it self, then take a pry bar and brace it on a suspension component and pry it off.

[Kaz]

I usually raise the vehicle, put on stands, make sure it’s sturdy. Use penetrating oil on the wheel-hub juncture. Use a sledge hammer and smack the rubber bit of the tire.

[Donnie]

This may help a little more. Forgot to post it in my reply above.

The information you want starts at about 7minutes.

[Ulfhedinn]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Just wanted to update with what worked for me (better late than never). I decided to go the penetrating oil route first, I had just picked up some PBlaster from the local autoparts store, sprayed that around the hub part and where the wheel meets the rotor area. Loosened the lugnuts, raised the vehicle, then removed the lugnuts and was then able to simply shake the wheels loose the rest of the way. PBlaster is a beast, that stuff also helped me remove some really rusted bolts that WD40 did nothing for. I am going to buy a case of this stuff now!!

Thanks again everyone!

[jj]

i did a 2009 bmw brakes and the tires wont come off till i kick the side of the tire………smack the rubber and it should break loose

[Author]

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