I have an '89 Suburban that has been sitting idle for 2 years. I tried to remove a rear tire that was flat and found the rim was apparently rusted to the brake drum. Spraying with WD40 and PB Blaster and tapping with a small sledge hammer have failed to loosen it. I can’t drive it to a shop because the tire is flat. Any ideas ?
Replace the lug nuts, but leave them a full turn loose. Lower the car off the jack, and roll it gently forward and back until the wheel ‘pops’ loose from the hub. You can use the engine to roll the car, just do it gently.
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Leave them about 4 turns loose…
If the above doesn’t work, get a 2x4 that’s long enough so you can reach the back of the wheel without being under the Suburban, and give it a couple good whacks from behind while that wheel is jacked up off the ground and the lug nuts off. Worked very quickly and easily for me on my aunt’s Lancer when all the other tricks didn’t, especially on the rear wheels where there’s less weight. It’s an old tow truck driver’s trick.
Heating the nuts with a propane torch often helps. Other tricks are the use of an impact wrench.
It’s the rim stuck to the hub, not the lug nuts stuck.
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Another thing that I’ve done once is if you can adjust the brake shoes from behind, you can back the brake shoes off and you can take the drum off with the rim still attached to it. After that I just picked up the wheel and dropped it onto the cement and the drum popped right off-- I was amazed it worked!
Oops-- that posted twice.
If you have enough body weight around, try the loose lug nut technique but rock the vehicle back and forth from side to side. Is the tire really flat with a big leak or just very low? If the latter, it might be worth it to get a pump and inflate it. That way you can move the vehicle with the lug nuts loose and put on the brakes hard. That usually works best for me.
I’d blast
Thank you so much for the idea. You just saved me a towing fee. Kudos to you!
Sorry. I misunderstood.
A 3 pound sludge after soaking overnight with lots of penetrating lube is the only way I know.
I think you will find two threaded holes in the drum, they should take a 12mm bolt. Get two bolts and screw them into the drum and it will work itself off.
Okay, this has happened to me before and I never remember what I did but this time I will. After trying whacking dozens of times with a against a 2x4 with a large long-handled sledgehammer and spraying with PB blaster - and cursing and praying,
Finally I did the ultimate thing that worked - kudos to my friend Jeff and his dad who gave me the idea:
I put a 10’ 2x4 against the inside bottom of the rim and ran it under the truck to the other side - I got the sledgehammer and hit half as hard as I did the dozens of times and the tire came right off - easy as pie.
Ah, I didn’t realize this is what you were - saying, this is the answer - the 2x4 from the inside, I always forget this trick and have to look it up.
This worked for me! Thank you so much! Now I’ll be able to get to work on time.