Technical How to take wheels off

[aad4m]

Hi i have a grande punto which has standard 15" alloys.

This may sound silly but i cant take them off, i removed the 4 wheel bolts and it wouldnt come off, when i had a look in my boot under the mat i found a 3 inch grey plastic thing which looks like a locking nut and dont know what that is for.

However do i need some sort of a locking nut coz my wheels are standard.

Can someone advise me what i need and how i take my wheels off.

 

[iancookie]

once you've got all the bolts out, give it a good kicking, its probably corroded onto the hub...then apply plenty of grease/wd40 when putting back on so it doesnt seize up again

 

[martwho]

Agreed - a good kick and it will come off!

 

[Andy Monty]

your suffering from galvatic corrosion between your hub and the back of the alloy


jack and stand the car (DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GO UNDER THE CAR OR USE ANY FORCE SUPPORTED ONLY BY THE SUPPLIED SCISSOR JACK! )
you have a few options

remove nuts and hit the back side with a hammer protect teh alloy by using a block of wood


or

slacken the wheel bolts off then rock the car back and forth a bit the loose wheel bolts should allow the cold welding thats formed to break then jack up and see if its freed off




dont use normal grease when you put back together you want high melting point coppaslip and use a wire brush to clean the area of corrosion first

 

[jameshobiecat]

I haven’t looked at my Fiat’s wheels but my previous Peugeot had notches machined out of the mounting surface on the back of the wheel. The handle of the wheel brace fitted into these perfectly, it was then a case of stamping down on the wheel brace to lever the wheel off. It worked every time!

 

[Percyhahn]

when you get them off, if you have a wire brush attachment for a drill, use that!! if not your local diy shop will sell them for not much more than a pound or 2, i use them for removing rust/corrosion every time, and it works a treat

 

[dholmes2407]

a bit of copper slip on the bolts and hub wouldnt go a miss. i put my bolts back in dry and next time one needed removing it sheered in the hub couldnt remove it so had to fit a new hub.

Copper slip is the way forward

 

[aad4m]

Thanks guys for all your replies. i did the following, took 4 bolts off and gave it a good kick and that loosened it and came off. I was woried at first. but all good now.

Once again thanks for all your replies and have put my mind at ease.

P.S
This forum is wonderful and what makes it so good is to have people like yourself who are kind enough to take the time to reply and help.

Keep up the good work.