I run into this issue every season when I swap my winter tires. The wheel is a "hub-centric" design and it seizes on the hub . Check out this easy and simple method to remove it. Cheers, hope you enjoy!
Genius. I first tried penetrating oil, kicking, screaming, then before I saw this, lowering the wheel onto a piece of wood placed on the outside of the tire. Saw video and tried the inside of the tire, which makes more sense, and it worked first try on the next two tires. I also wire brushed the corrosion off the wheel and the rotor and covered the corroded spots with anti-seize compound, something I do whenever I remove a wheel, but this was a year old car and the first wheel removal. Other methods seem unnecessarily harsh or risky, namely, getting under the car to hit the inside of the tire with a heavy hammer. Thanks!
This is the best method. No kicking, no hammering, no driving your car with lose nuts or DIY special tools. Around 1:56 he said 'on the outside of the tire' but I guess he meant: on the inside, as the video shows. I used a 3/8" thick piece of wood and that was enough to do the trick. Thank you for this great tip!
I tried many ways to get my stuck FLAT tire off. Pulled it, Shook it, Kicked it, hammered it (on the bottom rubber with a hammer and baseball bat), rolled the car back and forth, drove on it a bit with loose lugs, greased it up - nothing worked - no movement at all. Tried this method as a last resort . I left 2 lugs on loosely, as advised. I lowered the full weight of the car onto a small thick flat rock positioned on the inner part of the tire. (The rock was half the size of a brick - it was all I had) It didn’t seem to work at first when fully lowered but as soon as I sat in the drivers seat - heard the POP! The Tire had become loose. Jacked it back up and the tire easily came off. THANK YOU for making this vid and the great advice! I only wish I had tried your method first!
Genius!! Thank you!! I was completely stumped and also on the verge of looking like a failure while teaching my 14 year old how to change a tire. At first it didn't work. . .we tried it a second time with a bigger two by four because the tire was flat. As my son jacked it down it popped off and we ended with both of us feeling successful. Thanks for the great tip.
If anyone is curious about the mechanics of this technique, I as a mechanical engineer will shed some light into how the seized rim comes unstuck from the hub. The technique uses a portion of the corner weight of the vehicle, applied at an offset perpendicular distance to the rim-hub mating plane, to generate shear stress and normal bending stress distributions in the unwanted corroded material that makes up the rim-hub interface. The goal is to produce enough shear force and bending moment in the mating plane about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, such that the maximum principal stress in said material required for force and moment equilibrium would exceed the ultimate tensile strength of said material. When this happens, a fracture quickly propagates through said material, causing the rim to separate from the hub with a sudden, distinct "pop". There are multiple factors that dictate the effectiveness of this technique. In order of relative importance: 1. The gage pressure of the air in the tire. If the tire is flat, then the sidewall that supports the rim on the shimmed side of the tread will act as a very soft spring, requiring a large amount of differential tread deflection to product just a little shear force and bending moment on the rim. If the tire is flat but can hold some air, then inflating it up even just a few psi will greatly increase the effective spring rate of the sidewall. The higher the pressure you inflate it to, the stiffer the effective spring rate of the sidewall, and the more shear force and bending moment it will transmit to the rim at the mating surface for a given amount of differential tread deflection. 2. The thickness of the shim or block being used to support the tire. The thicker the block, the more differential tread deflection you can produce before the non-shimmed side of the tire starts contacting the ground, and the greater the bending moment and shear force you can transmit to the rim-hub mating surface, thus increasing the tendency of the wheel to pop off of the hub. 3. The inside and outside diameters of the mating circles that bound the annular mating surface between the rim and hub. The smaller the outside circle and the closer the inside circle is to the outside circle in diameter, the smaller the area over which the applied shear force and bending moment will be concentrated, thereby increasing the principal stresses in the material required for force and moment equilibrium, and in turn increasing the tendency of the rim to pop off the hub. 4. The width of the rim. The wider the rim, the farther the perpendicular distance from the rim-hub mating plane to the line of action of the support force exerted by the shim onto the tire, and the greater the normal bending stresses that will be generated in the mating surface for a given amount of differential tread deflection. 5. The offset of the rim. The larger the offset, either positive or negative, the farther the perpendicular distance of the hub-rim mating plane from the farther of the inner and outer edges of the tire tread, leading to increased normal bending stresses being applied at the mating surface. To maximize the normal bending stresses generated in the mating surface, for positive offset rims, the shim should be placed under the inboard side of the tire, and for negative offset rims, the shim should be placed under the outboard side of the tire. For neutral offset rims, in theory the shim can be placed under the inboard or outboard side of the tire tire with equal effectiveness.
The technique uses a portion of the vehicle's corner weight to generate shear stress and normal bending stress in the corroded material at the rim-hub interface. Sufficient shear force and bending moment are applied to exceed the ultimate tensile strength of the material, causing a fracture and separating the rim from the hub. Factors affecting the effectiveness of the technique, in order of importance, include: Tire pressure: Higher inflation pressure increases the effective spring rate of the sidewall, transmitting more shear force and bending moment to the rim. Thickness of the shim or block: Thicker blocks allow for more tread deflection and increase the bending moment and shear force transmitted to the rim-hub interface. Mating circle diameters: Smaller outer and closer inner diameters concentrate the applied forces, increasing the principal stresses required for equilibrium and the tendency for the rim to pop off. Rim width: Wider rims generate greater normal bending stresses at the mating surface for a given amount of tread deflection. Rim offset: Larger offsets result in greater perpendicular distance from the hub-rim mating plane to the tire's inner or outer edges, leading to increased normal bending stresses at the mating surface. For positive offset rims, the shim should be placed under the inboard side of the tire, while for negative offset rims, it should be placed under the outboard side. Neutral offset rims can have the shim placed on either side with equal effectiveness.
Just used this trick on the side of the road with a completely flat tire. Found a brick (was looking for a rock) along the side of the road. Was blessed enough to have stopped on a paved driveway, which kept the brick from sinking. Anyway, worked great and got me back on my way in the middle of the night. Much appreciated!!!
My sons Camry had a flat and I tried the sledgehammer on the tire and was about to desperately attempt to roll the car with the flat tire and loose lugs to see if that would work but really wanted to avoid that as it could easily damage the wheel. I found your video and used a can of fix a flat to at least temporarily air up the tire to give it a surface of the 2x4 I was using. WORKED LIKE A CHARM! Thanks for posting this! I was at wits end!
This is a well made video. It presents by far the most elegant solution to this vexing problem, so far. I came in from the garage tonight tired and defeated, but I will go back out tomorrow morning armed with new confidence, thanks to Ryan sharing his brilliant idea.
You are the man!!! Last wheel of a 4 brake job...Nothing worked--dead blow on wheel, penetrating oil, loose lug nuts and lowering without your offset--no go. Was about to drive with loose lug nuts but I found your video. Simple piece of wood, offset as you show, applied the vehicle weight and there it went. Wish I would have found your video before I wasted an hour and a whole lot of energy. Your method is very important to know in the event of a flat tire. I will be telling my friends and kids about this. BLESS YOU!!
Lifesaver! Rage, kicking and PB Blaster were able to release my rear wheels, but the fronts wouldn't budge, and none of the online suggestions worked. Found this video two days in, grabbed a spare brick from my garage and tried it... no 'pop'. But, there was visible movement. By rotating the wheels 180 deg. between attempts, I was able to 'walk' the wheels loose and get that wonderful 'POP'.
Hey man I've got to say you're a lifesaver! I was in a parking lot with no tools other than a rubber mallet and two screwdrivers my tire had a giant knot on it but I had my spare tried and tried and tried for almost 3 hours no luck Rim was seized to the hub. Started scanning Google and found your video worked like a charm! By the way I subscribe to your Channel!!! I don't know if anyone has ever told you but your a Genius!!
Absolutely brilliant! Less is more for sure...both my rear wheels were seized, was ready to give up (wasn't about to pound on them) when I watched your video. Worked perfectly! Thanks! So appreciated!
Brilliant! I am currently removing the tires on my two vehicles to add anti-seizing grease around the lug nut holes on the inner portion of my rims to help prevent this corrosion seizing. Your system on removing seized tires has turned a miserable 2 hr per vehicle job into a 1 hr job for both. Thank you so much.
I saw the other video about driving with loosen lug nuts to get the seize tire, very leery about it. Really glad that your video autoplayed afterward, I followed your tip by putting a choke under the seized tire, worked like a charm for the tire. Turned out the other three tires were seized as well, followed the same procedures and changed them all. Thanks for the amazing tip!
Ryan, this tip really helped me out of a pinch yesterday. Short story is, I had a blow out on the freeway! Made it safely off, but when I went to change out to my spare I found the wheel seized. I'd never encountered this before. What to do? You tube! Your technique worked beautifully (with a slight modification-I had to use a chunk of asphalt I found on the roadside). It saved me so much time and frustration. Thank you, thank you!
Thank you for showing this clever method that avoids damage to the wheel. My car had 2 hub centric rings stuck on one wheel after a poorly executed tire rotation. Wheel was really stuck tight, but using this method I was able to work the wheel loose. Plan to watch closely at next rotation to ensure rings are set properly.
Having spent a good amount of effort kicking the life out of a flat tyre and having given up - I saw this video and tried it out. Had to use the end of my wrench instead of a wedge but worked brilliantly even with the flat tyre. Genius. Thank you!
Decided to change the front and rear wheels on the Audi. Both rears stuck fast! Watched a lot of videos on how to free it and this idea made sense. Thank you for the idea as it worked on both my rear wheels. Now cleaned and high melt compound applied if I have a flat they should come off.
I tried everything to get the wheel off my BMW until I came across your video. Took four tries but it popped loose on the fourth attempt. Excellent tutorial that saved me money. Thanks very much.
Ryan Murphy and Robert Angel. Thank you both very much for your help. I have a VS commodore which is not presently drivable. I did the sledgehammer routine to no avail. I followed the advice from both of you, combined with a touch of my own innovation and got it off almost immediately. Ok here is my experience. The car is sitting on soil. I put a metal plate underneath the jack and wheel to keep things level and solid. I put a 2 inch thick paver under a quarter of the inside of the wheel to help the wheel tilt. I put 2 lug nuts loosely up top. I dropped the jack quickly. The wheel dropped and simply lay on the paver. I thought it may do so because this wheel just would not come off. The wheel of course was still under pressure. I decided instead of bouncing the car l would apply further direct pressure to the area by pulling the wheel from the top. It came free straight away. A sledgehammer was ready just in case. Thanks again guys and l hope this helps someone else.
Trying to change a flat tire in a parking lot, I was getting real frustrated by videos with the car on a 4 post lift and then banging the tire from the inside. I used vice grip instead of wood or plastic, but it worked and I got the flat tire off. So thank you for showing a way that doesn't require any real tools beyond what you probably carry with you!
This technique helped me today. My situation was more difficult because I was taking off a flat tire that was punctured. I inflated the tire with an air compressor and it held air long enough for this to work!
Can't thank you enough, both of my trucks rear tires where seized and the passenger caliper was locked onto the rotor. No clue when the previous owner serviced them either. Your method, plus hitting the inside top of the tire with a dead blow hammer got the job done.
Thank you, thank you! I had one tire on my 2014 Civic that was stuck, I kicked it, pulled on it, hit it with a 2x4, struck the tire with a hammer --- nada. Then I saw your video, I jacked it up loosened the lug nuts about 1/2 inch each, put a brick under the very inside of the wheel, released the jack (I have a hydraulic jack so I can dump it fast) and 'POP' - wheel free. You have the best solution on the internet, thank you so much. I wire brushed the inside of the wheel and the mounting side, wiped WD40 on each and put it back on, maybe it won't stick again, but if it does I now know the trick.
Try it today and work like a charm on all four of my wheels. If it doest break just rock the car and it will pop no doubt. You are the best!! Thank you for this video!
Excellent video! Of all the videos I've watched concerning this problem, yours is the best AND safest! The comments are also helpful as my tire was completely flat and all I had is a jack similar to yours. I didn't feel comfortable kicking, using a rubber mallet, etc with the cheap jack that came with this vehicle.
Hello Ryan, thank you so much for this video, it was of great help for me. It was time again to swap my 4-season tires to winter ones, but last time it was done at the garage and the guys didn't put anti-seize so of course the fun was mine to deal with three rust-stuck wheels out of four. I managed to undo one with my arms, another by kicking it from under the car but then I realized what I was doing was plain dangerous. Then I found your video and your trick worked perfectly. I will now for sure do it every time from now on. It is not only simple to do, but without danger. Thank you so much again.
This is my first review ever but this really helped me with my Audi A3. Soft Mallet and kicking at different angles for over an hour...very comical for my family watching but super frustrating. Watched other videos and stumbled upon this. Seemed too easy and it was. Left the opposite side bolts on hand tight. Dropped it onto a 2x4...pop. Too easy. Thanks for sharing this.
I just used this on a flat tire that wouldn't come off using a random rock on the side of the road and it worked amazingly! Thank you so much for this video!
I’ve been working on vehicles my whole life and I’ve never heard of that trick. It worked awesome thanks bro. Thanks for taking the time to make this video
Ryan - I've been trying to get both rear wheels unseized from my 2009 Mazda 3 for 4 days now, and after watching a bunch of videos with different techniques, yours seemed to be the easiest and safest method. I'm happy to say that your technique worked like a charm for me. You just saved me a trip to the mechanic! Thank you!!!
Man when i say i can't thank you enough.. I ran over a hook yesterday. Rear driver side. I had it jacked and was not about to lower it and drive it around again lol. THANK YOU for this method! It worked instantly!!! Thank yoh again from South Carolina.
this video just saved my life!!! it worked on my car Hyundai Accent 2012. just jacked it up, put a piece of wood blocking and lower it down. popped!!! one of the passanger rear wheel didn't come out tho, but i used a sidekick method for that one and it popped. i'm sure the force from this tricked helped a lot too.
Another one to add to the 350+ comments - absolute genius and works a charm, especially for large wheels with low profile tires where a mallet isn't an option
I know it's just random chance that I came across this of all videos but... Thanks! You're a lifesaver! Had to do this on all four wheels but it worked perfectly.
Oh my god, thank you so much for this! My tire was shredded, so none of the other solutions were working/possible, but this got it done in less than 5 minutes.
This worked like a dream! No hammering No crazy shit......1st time BOTH back wheels came off in seconds.....cleaned them up and put on anti seize....this was great!!!! Thank You
Well done I will definitely use it in the morning. And/or definitely use it when I'm out on the road. Which was my biggest concern if I did have any compromise tire. Again, well done.
You are a genius Sir. Made perfect sense after I watched but had never thought of the physics that way> Good job explaining as well. Spent a fruitless hour before your video, then all of them came off just as you described. Thanks.
Thank you . This saved the day . I had a flat tyre that couldn’t get out . I just used a brick and it popped out first try after hours of trying to do other methods .
This excellent and very clever method worked for me! Using the weight of the car to do the "heavy lifting" or hard part for us!!! In my case, I made a large wooden wedge to put under the inside of the tire and that did the work. Thank-you!!!
After struggling with other methods trying to get a flat tire off my Tacoma, I tried this one and it worked! You, sir, are a steely-eyed missile man. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing! Tried brute force for over an hour with no luck. Wish I’d turned to RU-vid sooner! Wasn’t sure if this trick would work with a flat tyre but it did first attempt (using a brick). Cheers!
I _CAN_ believe I never thought of this. Just saw another vid which I thought was great but thought I'd watch another one ..or two -- there can't be that many fixes, right? Saw yours and am astounded, dumbstruck, etc. I've never had a stuck wheel before; stuck hub yes (removed after 3hrs with winch around hub and anchored around a tree, a point on hammer drill, and bucket of mini digger dropped over side of bonnet to prevent tipping). But I never would have thought of this. Why don't they have Nobel prizes or at least Oscars for such brilliance? Just tried it three attempts, block 1 1/2" thick. Trolley jack. Fail ... Will keep looking. Thanks all the same and my comments stand.
Got a flat on my Z4 and couldn't get it off for love or money. This worked like a charm after I piles up enough wood so the flat didn't take most of the force. Thanks!
Thank you! I tried everything else that didn't work. Then I tried your recommendation. I did not have a piece of wood, but I was able to find a relatively flat rock and it worked. Thank you!
Brilliant I have the exact problem and watched Ericthecarguy and had thought of the loosening the bolts and driving it till it popped but this is a much better idea - well done lateral thinking.
That's briiliant, tried it right away on my Honda, 1 wheel came off right away, the second one after playing with position of wood. I was using a short length of 2x2. Thanks, you made my day
Worked on one not on another. PB Blaster and letting it sit on the block of wood (on inside of tire as prescribed), hopefully, will work. Those Toyota Hylander tires are rough to remove. Thanks for the brilliant idea.
Very smart, I will be trying this tonight. I have been hitting my F150 tires with a block of wood and a sledge hammer and am not feeling good about it. Haven't been able to loosen it yet but maybe tonight with this method !
This worked amazingly. Tried so many different other RU-vid’s videos like kicking and whacking and beating, but this method is great. Had to use something larger (knife block) to knock the wheel off but it eventually worked after an hour. Thank you!!!
This works. I put a short piece of 2 x 4 on the inboard edge of my wheel and lowered the vehicle to the ground. I had to wiggle on the vehicle a little to get the wheel to break free. This is so much better than beating the tire with a mallet.
Tire was completely deflated and thus method still worked! I had to use what i had.. About a 3in brick lol but it definitely works.. Just remember to place like 2 lugs on before you do this or your tire well fall completely forward and it will be HELL to raise. Thanks again!!!
Fantastic tip, thanks, it worked a dream. By far the smartest most elegant way to do this in a safe and controlled manner. Who needs a big hammer when you have a heavy car and gravity do the grunt work.
great video!, out of all the ones i just watched on youtube, this is the best one!, simple, quick and easy. no driving around with 1 lug nut or anything ( which i didnt like). Just did it on my Tacoma and it worked just like on your video. I'm going to keep a short piece of 2x4 with me "just in case" this happens while on the road. but I always have a plug kit and a air compressor with me, since getting 2 flats in 1 weekend while away from home....on a 4x4 trail in the middle of no where.
