Stopping wheel-to-hub rusting

I bought a spray can of zinc oxide from an auto repair supplies catalog. I use it on the brake calipers and rotors, and on the wheel hubs. I never have to kick or cuss at tire rotation time - the wheels always fall off in my hand as the last lug nut comes off. An annual or semi-annual light touch-up is all that's needed after the initial application.

 

i have the problem too but turns out it is my alloy wheels, not my steels. rubber mallot helps

 

I'm leary about putting lubricant on any part where it's spinning and centrifugal force might cause it to migrate onto the discs and/or pads.

Our aluminum rims stuck royally the first few times. There's a guy on on YouTube, Eric the Car Guy, with all sorts of good tips. Fine tuning one of his tips, when you've got a stuck rim, and the car's securely raised with the wheel an inch or so clear of a slab:

1. leave one lug nut on, near the top of the pattern, on loosely. (just so the wheel doesn't go flying )
2. place a scrap of 2x4 on edge, behind the inside face of the stuck wheel, against the tire.
3. lay a sledge hammer (bigger the better) on the flat, maybe 3 feet behind the 2x4
4. just sliding it across the slab, swing it into the 2x4 at bottom/centre of wheel, with a goodly amount of force

This invariably works first time for me.

I believe it's disimilar metals, ie aluminum and steel, causing the sticking. It's are alloy rims that are sticking prone, never a problem with the steel rims of our snow tires.

And over time I think the problem has eased: the alloy rim (mostly aluminum) builds up a thin corrosive crust, and then sticks a lot less.

 

Oh cool, I thought I was the only one with this problem!!! My rims get corroded/stuck very badly. The first time I removed them to put on my winter tires, I thought I was going to have to bring it in to a tire shop.

To get the wheels off when they are stuck, I: Loosen the lug nuts but not too much. Maybe 5 turns. Then I jack that end of the car up off the ground and then slowly let the jack down. If it doesnt go POP and come loose then, I get in the car and move it back and forth over a hump in my driveway. This has always worked for me.

I take marine grease that I use for my boat (water resistant, VERY sticky) and spread a light coating on the back of the rim where it meets the hub or the rear drum. I cannot comment about its efficacy yet though.

 

^ I used to use the lower the car with loosened lug nuts method. It's pretty dependable, once in a while I had to lower and kinda bounce the car with my weight too. But it's a hassle: if you've just got the car up on jackstands, to have to undo all that. I like the sledge hammer method now: also very dependable, and you can leave the car on the jackstands.

 

Its always worked for me very well. Good luck!

 

When I take my wheels off the first time on any car I own, I clean off all the rust from the raised circular lip on the hub with a Scotchbrite pad and scrub the inside of the wheel where it hits the hub. I then smear a light coat of disc-brake wheel bearing grease on the inside of the wheel where it hits the lip on the hub. That treatment will last for years and the wheels will never lock on.

 

Car polish seems to help too. And no chance of migrating onto brake pads.

With snow tires on separate rims in our regimin, one set or the other is always sitting the garage. I make a point of polishing the off-the-car set each time, and wax a bit on the interior portion as well, just the contact zone.