The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Stuck parts, need advice

I'm looking for some tips/tricks/ideas on getting a set of rims off a front axle. 46 1.5T, both front wheels are seized to the hub.
I have tried copious amounts of PB and maybe not enough heat and I can't get them to budge. I took a wire wheel and polished the wheel/center hub meeting area free of rust etc. As far as heat goes I have run the oxy/acc around the meeting point of hub and rim and out onto the dual mating surface of the rim. I got nothing to glowing hot, am I just not using enough?
The tires are no longer on the rims so no worry of burning them down but I am a bit concerned about cooking seals and such out of the hub.
Thoughts?

Thanks guys.

I had a similar experience with my '48 1Ton. Turns out a previous owner had stuck the wheels on to the hub with some adhesive that took months of pulling, hitting, heating, soaking and swearing before they finally came free. I had the best luck with Deep Creep penetrant from Seafoam. Best of luck!

How about taking everything off at the kingpins - wheels, hubs, spindles, etc. That will enable you to get it all up off the truck for better access with a pry bar, a hammer swing, or maybe get it in a press.

I have used a large bar as a hammer, endwise to remove stuck wheels. I hold the 1" round bar (5 feet long) in both hands while lying on my back under the truck. I move the bar back about a foot or two and ram it endwise into the strongest part of the wheel I can access from the backside of the wheel. I have never had one withstand this kind of a hit more than twice and find it much easier to control the bar than a hammer. Less chance of damaging the wheel of other parts.

The bar can be guided to the bottom of the bead area, much stronger than the outer edge of the wheel that a hammer often dents. For a front wheel I would try for the bottom so as not to shock load the steering linkage or box.

Beware of things that might bite exposed knuckles.

Leave a couple nuts on the end of the studs a few threads to contain the wheel when it pops free.

Same idea but easier to just remove hub cap and spindle nut to pull hub, drum, and wheel together.
Then you could put it in a press. Wheel might not be true and useable in the end.

Take the hub and drum off by removing the spindle nut, shim the wheel up with a few pieces of 4X4 wood, and use another piece of wood across the hub snout before using a sledgehammer to whack the wood. Even if you don't succeed, you'll get a good workout swinging the hammer!
Jerry

Hotrod lincoln has the idea. I have done that before.
Weight of heavy hub hanging down from rim held by wood and a wack from a sledge I think it will fall off fairly easy. Advice to leave on loosened lug nuts is also good for this method.
Mike

Well darn was hoping for some easy trick from those more experienced than I, thank you all for the responses.
I'm gonna try the bar method but I'm afraid it will be the removal of the whole assembly off the spindle that will end up working. I had a sneaky hunch it would end up going that way and even mentioned it to my helper, was just trying to avoid it.
In true "me" style I will try a couple other things brewing in my head then, after wasting more time than it would have taken to just take the assembly off the spindle, will end up doing that. I'll let you guys know if anything else works.

Try loosening the lug nuts a few turns, then double nut them and drive around at low speeds making lots of turns in different directions. This works on vehicles with alloy wheels that corrode in place. Also PB the backside of the wheel between the wheel and drum. Good luck!

Scary, but I bet it will work! Stop and check them frequently so as to not wallow out the lug holes when they come loose.

I like the thought of the loose lugnut drive.. Maybe a duckbill type portapower between wheel and drum?

I was going to suggest that also but the original post said the tires are no longer on the rims.

And to further complicate the loose lug drive, which does do wonders, the axle is no longer in the truck. It's all manual labor only. Portapower is on my list of things to try, hoping to not bend the hell out of the rims. I won't be using them but I know guys on here are always looking so trying to save them for others.
I'll hit it again Tues/Wed on my days off...will let everyone know what ends up working.

How about drilling and tapping a few holes between the lug nut bores (maybe for a 3/8" bolt) and using some Grade 8 bolts as a makeshift press? Some brake drums have those holes from the factory to help remove a sticky drum. It won't compromise the strength of the wheel at all. Just be sure to use a bottoming tap for the final pass when cutting the threads. If the back side of the hub is accessible after removing the wheel and hub assembly from the spindle, you could also thread the hub flange- - - -more thread engagement for a harder push that way.
Jerry

Both fronts were stuck on my 46. Used magic juice(may have found it here). Soaked lug holes and center alignment area with mixed acetone and marvel mystery oil. One required some physical encouragement. The other just fell loose after couple of hours.

Update: I got a few hours today to fiddle with this. I tried a modified version of HRLs idea. Since the axle is out of the truck I picked up one end with a set of forks, placed 2x4s under the rim and let the whole rest of the assembly hang while trying heating, beating, cursing, and PB Blaster. Not a hint of movement but I did bend the hell out of a chunk of 6" channel I was using to receive the hammer blows.

So, frustrated, I set the whole setup down again and while walking around it found that the other rim had started to come off.....few well placed blows and off it popped.

This turn of events of course renewed my interest in the side I had been fighting so I thought I'd try the loose lug drive thing....chained the axle to the bucket of my tractor by one of the spring perch holes and took it for a tour in the field on my property. Got some pretty funking looking "crop circles" in my field now but no loose rim. Before I gave up for the night I wire wheeled the hub/rim meeting point and resoaked in PB...….maybe tomorrow.

I do thank you all for the ideas, I may not be smacking the hub center hard enough yet I don't know.....worst case what is the more desirable part involved? Rim or hub.....I'm leaning toward destroying the rim if need be, I'm won't be using either so whichever is more useful for the masses it what I will try to save.

Update #2: Both rims are free. I was setting up to try some chemical rust remover and noted a gap between the rim and the hub thru one of the unused lug holes...few whacks around the rim and off it popped.

Thanks again for all the advice. Seems like clean/soak/beat rinse repeat was the answer.

Patience, persistence, and the vocabulary skills of a 30-year Master Chief- - - - -they're all necessary sometimes! Isn't one of the requisite skills of a true master mechanic the ability to spew vulgarities for 15 minutes without repeating oneself?
Jerry

It's amazing what a little well placed profanity can accomplish sometimes!

"There is no mechanical problem so great, that it can't be solved with brute strength and ignorance" Shackletts' axiom
A 12 lb. "field press", penetrating oil, and the patience of a BB stacker usually works. If all else fails it usually leads to some heat and profanity, and maybe sacrificing a chicken."
"There is no metal so strong, that it can withstand a weak mind" Shackletts' corollary

Glad you got it all loose, BBMan.

A caution for future reference to those reading this thread:

As stout as these spindles and steering arms look, it is possible to bend them with a long bar and a dose of Swedish Steam or a jack. If you bend one then you have the problem of finding another one or bending it back (not likely or safe). Even a change of a couple of degrees will cause problems. Even if you had to take a torch to the wheel and cut it off, it's probably preferable to risking bending irreplacible parts.

It's usually not hard or time consuming to remove the hub/wheel/tire assembly from the spindle if you can back off the brake shoes. Because it's too heavy to lift, you can take a piece of plywood on the floor, grease it, set the assembly down on the plywood so it's just barely touching, remove the spindle nut and slide the whole works out away from the truck. That's a time honored technique developed by truck mechanics whose boss was too cheap to buy a wheel dolly. Then you can put it in a press or use the HRL method (see previous post by HRL).