Lubing hub caps to ease wheel removal after winter is gone (was:lubing the bolts)

After having difficulty getting BOTH of the rear aluminum wheels off the hubs on my A4
I ended up lubing the hubcups with "copper" lube (same as "aluminum" lube I'm told)
when I put winter steel rims on.

Any bets how that would affect the ease of winter set removal in spring?

The grease is about gone and I'm considering whether to get some more.

Or soaking the hub with WD-40 for 24 hours or so would work equally as well
for unstucking the stuck wheel?

I'm hesitant to implement JB suggestion of loosening the wheel bolts and riding around
to get wheels loosened off the hub.

> wrote in message
...
> After having difficulty getting BOTH of the rear aluminum wheels off the
> hubs on my A4
> I ended up lubing the hubcups with "copper" lube (same as "aluminum" lube
> I'm told)
> when I put winter steel rims on.
>
> Any bets how that would affect the ease of winter set removal in spring?
>
> The grease is about gone and I'm considering whether to get some more.
>
> Or soaking the hub with WD-40 for 24 hours or so would work equally as
> well
> for unstucking the stuck wheel?
>
> I'm hesitant to implement JB suggestion of loosening the wheel bolts and
> riding around
> to get wheels loosened off the hub.

I've used anti-seeze for such purposes for decades and it
works flawlessly.

> wrote:
>After having difficulty getting BOTH of the rear aluminum wheels off the hubs on my A4
>I ended up lubing the hubcups with "copper" lube (same as "aluminum" lube I'm told)
>when I put winter steel rims on.

Anti-seize IS NOT LUBE. It is different.

>Any bets how that would affect the ease of winter set removal in spring?

What, copper vs. aluminum anti-seize? Probably no difference at those
temperatures.

>The grease is about gone and I'm considering whether to get some more.
>
>Or soaking the hub with WD-40 for 24 hours or so would work equally as well
>for unstucking the stuck wheel?
>
>I'm hesitant to implement JB suggestion of loosening the wheel bolts and riding around
>to get wheels loosened off the hub.

Loosen the wheel bolts, then drop the jack so the weight is on the wheel,
then jack it back up again.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 11/04/2013 10:24 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> > wrote:
>> After having difficulty getting BOTH of the rear aluminum wheels off the hubs on my A4
>> I ended up lubing the hubcups with "copper" lube (same as "aluminum" lube I'm told)
>> when I put winter steel rims on.
>
> Anti-seize IS NOT LUBE. It is different.
>
>> Any bets how that would affect the ease of winter set removal in spring?
>
> What, copper vs. aluminum anti-seize? Probably no difference at those
> temperatures.

Oddly, I inadvertantly just did this experiment on my car and I *did*
notice a difference. The first time I had the wheels off my car it had
nothing on the hubs, and required extreme persuasion to get them off. I
reinstalled with Permatex aluminum anti-seize. The next time I had them
off, they were much easier to remove but still a little stuck. In the
meantime, I had changed the spark plugs, and the FSM specifically
recommended copper based anti-seize so I tracked some down at NAPA (it's
apparently harder to find than aluminum anti-seize, but when you're
dealing with 'spensive stuff and there's clear and specific direction in
the FSM, who am I to argue with them?) and that is what I happened to
have handy when reinstalling the wheels. They came right off with no
issues this time around.

I don't know if that is because of the different anti-seize or other
factors (different seasons, less use of vehicle, who knows?)

>
>> The grease is about gone and I'm considering whether to get some more.
>>
>> Or soaking the hub with WD-40 for 24 hours or so would work equally as well
>> for unstucking the stuck wheel?
>>
>> I'm hesitant to implement JB suggestion of loosening the wheel bolts and riding around
>> to get wheels loosened off the hub.
>
> Loosen the wheel bolts, then drop the jack so the weight is on the wheel,
> then jack it back up again.

Doesn't do squat for a hubcentric wheel... need acceleration/braking
forces to bust it loose. Only other real option is to use a hammer and
block of wood from the inside of the wheel, under the car, and I would
emphatically recommend using jack stands and chock the opposite wheel if
you are going to do that.

I would caution the OP however to only apply the anti-sleaze to the hub
protrusion and not the face of the rotor hat.

Odd side note - the hats of the Centric Premium rotors that I installed
still had the black coating on the mating surfaces making clean up for
installation of winter wheels cake easy. A swipe with a shop rag and a
pristine surface!

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On 11/4/2013 9:34 AM, Nate Nagel wrote:
>
> I would caution the OP however to only apply the anti-sleaze
^^^^^^

Since you are in the Washington, D.C. (District of Criminals) area,
could you spray your leftover anti-sleaze on passing Congresscritters?

--
T0m $herm@n

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 12:10:58 AM UTC-6, T0m $herman wrote:
> On 11/4/2013 9:34 AM, Nate Nagel wrote:
>
> >
>
> > I would caution the OP however to only apply the anti-sleaze
>
> ^^^^^^
>
>
>
> Since you are in the Washington, D.C. (District of Criminals) area,
>
> could you spray your leftover anti-sleaze on passing Congresscritters?
>
>
>
> --
>
> T0m $herm@n

I will supply some Anti Sleaze.

Nate Nagel wrote:
> On 11/04/2013 10:24 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> > wrote:
>>> After having difficulty getting BOTH of the rear aluminum wheels off
>>> the hubs on my A4
>>> I ended up lubing the hubcups with "copper" lube (same as "aluminum"
>>> lube I'm told)
>>> when I put winter steel rims on.
>>
>> Anti-seize IS NOT LUBE. It is different.
>>
>>> Any bets how that would affect the ease of winter set removal in spring?
>>
>> What, copper vs. aluminum anti-seize? Probably no difference at those
>> temperatures.
>
> Oddly, I inadvertantly just did this experiment on my car and I *did*
> notice a difference. The first time I had the wheels off my car it had
> nothing on the hubs, and required extreme persuasion to get them off. I
> reinstalled with Permatex aluminum anti-seize. The next time I had them
> off, they were much easier to remove but still a little stuck. In the
> meantime, I had changed the spark plugs, and the FSM specifically
> recommended copper based anti-seize so I tracked some down at NAPA (it's
> apparently harder to find than aluminum anti-seize, but when you're
> dealing with 'spensive stuff and there's clear and specific direction in
> the FSM, who am I to argue with them?) and that is what I happened to
> have handy when reinstalling the wheels. They came right off with no
> issues this time around.

I always figured if the heads, (or wheels), are ALUMINUM to begin with,
then using ALUMINUM anti-seize was counterintuitive...so I use copper

GW

On 11/6/13, 4:49 AM, Geoff Welsh wrote:
> Nate Nagel wrote:
>> On 11/04/2013 10:24 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>> > wrote:
>>>> After having difficulty getting BOTH of the rear aluminum wheels off
>>>> the hubs on my A4
>>>> I ended up lubing the hubcups with "copper" lube (same as "aluminum"
>>>> lube I'm told)
>>>> when I put winter steel rims on.
>>>
>>> Anti-seize IS NOT LUBE. It is different.
>>>
>>>> Any bets how that would affect the ease of winter set removal in
>>>> spring?
>>>
>>> What, copper vs. aluminum anti-seize? Probably no difference at those
>>> temperatures.
>>
>> Oddly, I inadvertantly just did this experiment on my car and I *did*
>> notice a difference. The first time I had the wheels off my car it had
>> nothing on the hubs, and required extreme persuasion to get them off. I
>> reinstalled with Permatex aluminum anti-seize. The next time I had them
>> off, they were much easier to remove but still a little stuck. In the
>> meantime, I had changed the spark plugs, and the FSM specifically
>> recommended copper based anti-seize so I tracked some down at NAPA (it's
>> apparently harder to find than aluminum anti-seize, but when you're
>> dealing with 'spensive stuff and there's clear and specific direction in
>> the FSM, who am I to argue with them?) and that is what I happened to
>> have handy when reinstalling the wheels. They came right off with no
>> issues this time around.
>
> I always figured if the heads, (or wheels), are ALUMINUM to begin with,
> then using ALUMINUM anti-seize was counterintuitive...so I use copper
>
with the roads becoming increasingly muddy this month it's a moot point.
The wheel and the visible part of the hub are uniformly covered with
dirt now.

My 1971 Chevelle than my Dad bought me to beat around in when I was 16 had the original tires & wheels on it from the factory. That means they had been on the car for 15 years!

One AM I woke up and noticed a flat, thankfully in our driveweigh. And I'll look you straight in the eye: Between my father's and my efforts, that tire iron had a permanent BEND in it from the attempt to remove one of those nuts! lol!!

On 11/24/13, 7:02 PM, wrote:
> My 1971 Chevelle than my Dad bought me to beat around in when I was 16 had the original tires & wheels on it from the factory. That means they had been on the car for 15 years!
>
> One AM I woke up and noticed a flat, thankfully in our driveweigh. And I'll look you straight in the eye: Between my father's and my efforts, that tire iron had a permanent BEND in it from the attempt to remove one of those nuts! lol!!
>
that's why I carry an extention with me to pry stubborn wheel nuts off.

though the last tire iron I've bought was telescopic to begin with to
deal with this exact problem. got an impact wrench socket to go with the
wrench as I have already busted a cheap soft chinese made 17 or 19mm
socket in the process of removing a stubborn wheel nut once