The rear wheels on these trucks seem to get siezed on to the hub making them very hard to get off. Im afraid that if I get a rear flat somewhere I wont be able to pull the wheel off. When I am at home I use a steel digging bar to pry them off. I tried putting anti sieze where the rim fits over the hub and it did not help. What is the trick? The fronts come off no problem.

 

I used a flapper wheel on a straight grinder and buffed the inside of the wheel quite a bit then put a good amount of antiseze on wheel and hub. Hope this helps

 

these wheels are not hub centric, therefore you need to remove some material with a file or little grinder.........i had a ford that was that way.....

 

Thanks. I will try that.

 

Instead of using a pry bar to force them off, loosen the lug nuts until they are just a bit more than finger tight, go for a gentle stroll around the block with the truck and that should break the wheels free without damage, did this on my bros GMC with great success.

 

I used Kroil on mine and took a slede hammer and hit the top, then bottom of the tire then I hit th front of the tire and they would come off. Never sieze works well on them afterwards.

 

chock front wheel loosen lugs jackup rear tires starterup put in drive and hit the break, put in reverse hit the brakes. works on frozen drums too.

 

I can't tell where you're at, but I'm guessing the rust belt? In any case, the problem is corrosion on the iron hubs and the aluminum wheels. Dissimilar metals can fuse together like that.

The first step is to try and prevent the corrosion from starting in the first place. Use a wire wheel on the hub and the wheel, and get it nice and clean. Pay particular attention to the contact areas. I would not use a flapper wheel, I'd be afraid of removing good material. I'm just not that confident.

Mask off the appropriate areas, and spray it with a rust converter like POR-15, or Extend.

When you put the wheel back on, use just a light smear of anti-seize. Big gobs of it just make a mess and attract dirt.

 

I thought I read here in a broken stud w/aftermarket wheel thread that the factory wheels, at least the aluminum ones, are hub centric.

 

My stock wheels are hub centric.

From the factory, almost every vehicle has tinnerman nuts on 2-3 wheel studs. They're installed on the assembly line to hold the rotors/drums in place until it gets further down the line.

Factory wheels generally have a relief behind the hole, to make room for the tinnerman nuts.

Aftermarket wheels usually don't have those reliefs because it's an extra machining step. People are breaking the studs by installing aftermarket wheels with the tinnerman nuts still in place. That places the wheel at a slight angle, and puts lateral stress on the studs. And that's when they break.

Wheel studs are like grade 8 bolts - they're extremly stong in length and shear. But just a little bit of lateral stress will cause them to crack and break.

 

Normal. I usually have to hit the inside of the tire with a 4lb hammer(BFH) to get the wheels off of my truck.

 

Short piece of a 2x4 and a framing hammer. Put the wood up against the rim itself. A couple of wacks and it'll let go.