Hi I tried to rotate my tires but when I tried to take out the rear tire it just would not come off. It is like stuck or glued there. What to do now?
Loosen each lug nut on that wheel 3 or 4 turns, put your emergency brake on and attempt to drive the car forward and backwards a few times. Just a quick tap on the throttle each time. Be sure you don't forget and drive the car away with the nuts loose.
I do a variation on the above: loose lug nuts and just lower the car. So far, evertime the tire gets half-planted on the floor, even before it's fully bearing, it breaks loose. Put a little anti-seize compound on the faying surfaces (contact surfaces): it may make the difference for next time.
I ALWAYS use anti-sieze on my lugs and on the rims contact patch. Used sparingly, it can save you a lot of grief later. It's also not a bad idea to evenly torque the lug nuts to whatever the factory spec happens to be when you remount the tire(s.) I don't have those fancy color-coded torque sockets, so I have to use a torque wrench. It's not ultra-critical----they just need to be pretty close to evenly torqued. The G3 has 4-wheel disc brakes, and I've seen brake rotors on other econo-boxes warp from unevenly torqued lug nuts---especilly flimsy...(*) er, I mean "weight-efficient" rotors.
DO NOT USE ANY LUBS or SPRAYS> This surface must remain clean and dry of all lubes... Always wire brush the wheel surface contact area and the contact of the drum or rotors. Mate them back with super clean surface. WIRE BRUSH THEM> Take the weight of the car off the wheel. Remove all the lugs. Hit the side wall of the tire gently. I have seen the techs kick the side of the tires . this method work. Make sure you torque to OEM specifications. and re touque after 25 miles of service . . . again to OEM specifications....
Why? I've done self-maintenance for 30 years. OK...so the ET in ETC(SS) stands for Electronics Tech, and I'm nobody's example of a "real" automotive technician, but I HAVE been using anti-sieze on the lugs for everything from a Geo Metro to a HMMWV, and none of them seem to have suffered any ill-effects. Maybe I'm a tragic accident waiting to happen??? However...(comma) I am a newbie to the land of Prius. I'm here to learn, so somebody please explain to me what the difference between a Prius wheel and the more pedestrian ones that commoners use---besides the fact that for some reason Toyota is the only manufacturer that I know that puts plastic covers over alloy rims. Waiting for wisdom....
Anti-sieze acts as a lubricant which means when you torque your lugnuts to the rated torque, you are putting more tension on the lug bolt. You are putting a higher tensile strain on the bolt than was intended and a higher distorting force on the hub Here is an article with info on the topic Use of Anti Seize on Vehicle Lug Nuts "Lubricating" the wheel-hub interface isn't an open and shut case. You can find references that say don't do it, then you can find manufacturers shop manuals that say do it. My VW shop manual called out a VW wax to spray on the wheel-hub interface to prevent corrosion causing the wheel to stick on. All that said, thousands of people use anti-seize, oil or grease on their lugs and real world problems are rare to non-existent. If you keep the interface between the nut and the wheel dry and carefully just get the anti-seize on the threads, you only get about 1/2 the extra tensile load. That's a good thing and you should consider doing it that way.
Thanks. I'll read the article. I'm opinionated, but I'm always willing to read and learn. I always use anti-sieze on the threads only, and very sparingly. Same with the wheel-hub interface. I'm thinking for now that the "higher tensile strain" argument could also be said for cooroded surfaces as well....like I said. I'll read the article. Thanks.
