# How to remove a tire from a S10?



## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

Keep working on the tires. They are rusted to the backs so will be difficult. Don't hammer them in a way that will destroy them but it may take some work. You might spray some rust stuff behind to help loosen up the crud. The pin comes off only when your ready to replace the bearing. Don't do that right yet. You may want to replace the bearings too since the rest is so stuck the grease and bearings may not be in very good shape. Also when your done and do get them off you should consider getting some clean rust free rims. When you put them on use some anti-seize on the back that touches any other metal to keep it free if you ever need to remove them again. Even 100 years from now. 

Pete


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

Thanks. I wonder why GM didn't spray a bit of that on the back of the rim or use a hard plastic spacer of sorts?


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## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

Had trouble with an 03 Kia Sorento. Damn thing rusted and it took forever to get it off but it finally did come off. Never again will it rust on. It will be removable even 100 years from now.


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## DIYguy (Sep 18, 2008)

I have a sneaky suspicion that those rims are the wrong ones and that perhaps the centre hole is slightly smaller than the hub and perhaps it was forced on. ????? Just a hunch...but does it look like it is tight fit there?

If you don't care about the rims. . . sledge hammer. . .


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

I think it would have come off or moved with how hard I am hitting it if it was a tight fit.

Is there some way to use leverage to break it free? Or should I just wait until I drive it down this one 'road' that has huge bumps in it? I just need to check the brakes, but as long as they work, I don't think I really need to remove the tires yet. I just feel bad for the tire places if they have to deal with this often.


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## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

I would have thought to but I could not work mine to hard because we still needed to drive the car. I would not have the lug nuts off. If you back off the lugs and drive on a rough road you do so at your risk but it may just do the job. Don't loosen to much but maybe just enough to allow movement from the jarring of the car. Be careful if you do decide to go that route. 

Mine took three days of banging but not so hard as to ruin any metal component.


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## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

And that was just one.


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

I tried one last thing, which was to bang the tire from the 'inside'. Basically swinging the rubber mallet under the car and hitting the tire on the backside. While it now makes more sense to me that this is what I should have been doing, it still hasn't budged.

I will be putting them back together tomorrow and waiting until it is rolling to do anything else.

On a side note, I do know that the parking brake works. I also was trying to make sure that the tires still spun by hand and the front ones did, but the rear ones did not. It took a few hours for me to think about the parking brake.


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## gojo (Feb 1, 2011)

I have an S10 and I have had to deal with those rims. They bind around the center. A little penetrating oil there, and then pry them from behind. 

Before replacing them, file the hole in the center of the rim just a little bigger. 

I have steel rims I use in the winter, and they don't bind, it is just the alloys that do.


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## DanGT86 (Jan 1, 2011)

You can sometimes get them to move by loosening the nuts just a bit then drive it a few feet with lots of clutch dumping or hard braking. I would not go out on the road just rock it back and forth a few feet. This is a last ditch option as the chance of damaging the studs is pretty good. 

I have always jacked the wheel up and hit it from the inside with a big sledge hammer. Inside out like you mentioned. You can try putting a block of wood on the wheel inside to protect it and hit that with the hammer. The tire soaks up most of the shock from the hammer but the wheel itself works better. 

If the truck has a trailer hitch you could put a strap on the hitch ball and pull sideways with another truck with the lugs loose but still on the studs. The side load might want to tip the wheels and help break them loose. Probably need to hammer while side loading it. 

You could also try jacking up the truck so either the 2 front or 2 rear wheels are off of the ground at the same time. Run a ratchet strap through the wheel spoke holes and around the bottoms of the tires so it pulls the two bottoms towards each other. Then hit from the outside in with the sledge hammer at the bottom of the wheels. Hammering works really well when combined with another force. 

Then there is always the torch for a second and then spray the hot spot with a hose to shock it and break the rust. 

Be careful not to hammer the truck off of the jacks or drop the truck when the wheel comes off. Lots of rust penetrant oil and time helps.


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## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

Yes, be sure your truck is securely on stands. So it's not really rust if they are alloy rims. It is that hole in the center that has taken hold tightly. So maybe a bit of heat would do the trick. Be sure not to catch the grease on fire if you use a torch. Yes, Hit squarely from behind using a block of wood on the rim but not in a spot where it would bend an edge. Be sure your wheel can turn and slowly move the wheel around so you give equal time to each section and get it wiggled off. Once off clean up the rims and take that advice and use a file to take just a smidgen off the inside of the hole. Not too much mind you. Just a smidgen. That may be your total issue. Guess it is more common of an issue than I thought. Well its at least not rust.


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

onegreenev said:


> .......... if you use a torch.........


If you put a torch on that wheel, take out the valve stem first. We had a farmer killed by an exploding tire using a torch on a wheel like that


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## dragonsgate (May 19, 2012)

If you use a torch the grease in the hubs will most likely melt out and may catch fire so take precautions. Get some BP penetrating oil and soak everything for a day or two then start with the heat and beating. The rims in the picture look like steel. Aluminum that has been on for a long time gets electrolysis corrosion and can be hard to remove. When you get the rims off check everything you can because the wheels rusting on is a sign of poor maintenance. If it was me I would do new wheel bearings on general principals while it is apart.


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## skooler (Mar 26, 2011)

I have used a hub puller on rusted hubs before...


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## TigerNut (Dec 18, 2009)

Having the aluminum wheel and cast-iron hub, drum, or rotor corrode together is pretty common if you live in a climate where it's wet in winter (and especially if salt is used on the roads). Pretty much the only recourse is to clean off all the corrosion from both surfaces, make sure it goes together cleanly (no forcing), and THEN to apply anti-seize compound to both sides before finally assembling the wheel back onto the hub.

To get it apart, forget about heating with a torch. The aluminum hub will absorb everything you can throw at it and just radiate it away again, and the only thing you might accomplish is to heat stuff locally enough to catch the grease on fire or to wipe out the heat treating of the aluminum. Or, in the worst case, you might blow the tire off the rim as Major suggested. You could try (first deflating the tire) and then using a parabolic space heater, aimed at the whole wheel and leaving that for an hour or two; the differential expansion between steel and aluminum will help you then, but it's unlikely to heat things so much as to cause a fire.

Long term soak with penetrating oil of some sort, followed by heating and firm (but not too firm) prying between the rotor and inside/backside of the wheel should get the wheel off. Driving on loosened studs/nuts should only be done if you intend to replace all the studs afterward.


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

I would have thought that there would be a hub pulling type of tool.

What if I took the truck in to get the tires rotated, what would the shop do? There has to be some trick that they use, unless just by driving it it would normally break free.


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## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

Caps18 said:


> I would have thought that there would be a hub pulling type of tool.
> 
> What if I took the truck in to get the tires rotated, what would the shop do? There has to be some trick that they use, unless just by driving it it would normally break free.


Call a tire shop and ask them what they would do? All they can do is say no or bring it in or tell you.


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## TigerNut (Dec 18, 2009)

Caps18 said:


> I would have thought that there would be a hub pulling type of tool.
> 
> What if I took the truck in to get the tires rotated, what would the shop do? There has to be some trick that they use, unless just by driving it it would normally break free.


It's not the hub you want to remove, it's the wheel FROM the hub. There isn't a tool specifically for that. Tire shops employ big guys that know how to use big pry bars, to deal with these kinds of problems.


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## Wolfswagen (Jul 2, 2012)

I have an S10 also, and that was absolutely the worst rim/rotor design from GM. When I worked in a junk yard, we would use a full size sledge and hit the tire from the outside HARD - as long as there's air in the tire and the vehicle is up on solid blocks. It can cause a bubble on the sidewall, but we only cared about the wheels...


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## DanGT86 (Jan 1, 2011)

Caps18 said:


> What if I took the truck in to get the tires rotated, what would the shop do? There has to be some trick that they use, unless just by driving it it would normally break free.


I worked at a tire shop for a while. They have a lift which enables you to get a better swing at it with a giant hammer. 

You could use a generic three or four jaw puller to put pressure on it while you smack it with the hammer. It would have to be a pretty big puller. Might be able to rent one from a tool rental place. Just need to put something on the center of the hub so you dont cave in that dust cap in the center. 

Some people swear that Cola will break down the rust. I have not tried it myself but its pretty cheap to try. Just sticky.


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

DanGT86 said:


> Some people swear that Cola will break down the rust. I have not tried it myself but its pretty cheap to try. Just sticky.




I don't drink the stuff, but if it eats through rust, I can't imagine what it does to people's insides. 

At this point, I don't have a real pressing need to remove the tires. I know that the e-brake still works as it took me a few minutes to figure out why the back wheels weren't spinning when up in the air... But, I know that the brakes will need to be looked at, and in about 10,000 miles the back tires will need to be replaced.


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