Thanks for the advice - I'll give it a rattle!!

I have heard of this with steel wheels, but should this really be hapenning
to alloys after just 18 months on the road?

My 12 year old renault didn't do this and my Fiat Marea didn't do this after
4/5 years!

Should I be complaining to my garage - the car is still under warranty and
had its first and only service at the Alfa garage last Oct/Nov?


Incidentally, these factory fit firestones seem to go on forever - that's my
front set worn just over half way at 18.5k miles - they look like they might
do 25-30k. I don't hang about on corners or accellerating! The tyres on the
rear still have the little rubber bits at the side and the stripe of paint
through the tread! I have used Michellin Energy tyres and they used to last
about 15k on the front of my Marea, which was a lighter, less powerful car!



"Steve Knight" > wrote in message
...
> > I have just tried to swap the wheels front-to-back to rotate the tyres
on
> my
> > 52 plate 156 2.0JTS, but I can't get the wheels off!!
> >
> > The wheels look normal - 5 nuts (1 locking). I can't see anything
special
> > on the wheels and the handbook doesn't give any special instructions.
Its
> > not like I can't change a wheel, but this has me stumped!! In attempt to
> > sound slightly less silly - yes I did jack the car up and yes I did
remove
> > the wheel nuts!
>
> Corrosion has occurred between your alloy wheel and the hub, locking one
to
> the other; this is very common and doesn't damage either but is
inconvenient
> when you want to change a wheel.
>
> If you gently let the car down off the jack (without replacing the wheel
> nuts) you may successfully part the wheel and hub, otherwise, buy a rubber
> mallet from a DIY store and give it a whack!
>
> To prevent this from happening again, coat the inner surface of the wheel
> (where it touches the hub) with copper grease (available from car
accessory
> shops); use it sparingly and don't get any on the brake disc or pads.
>
> --
> Remove Xs to reply direct
>
>