Front wheel will not come off ?

[G McCall]

I have a flat front tire on my 1999 era Kubota M 4800 tractor.

I removed all lug nuts and wheel will not come off. I beat on the back of the rim with a board but wheel still would not budge.
What is holding the rim on ?

What am I doing wrong ?

 

[mattman]

If you have the tractor jacked up and supported to keep from falling. Take a sledge hammer and hit the tire. The wheel tire should fall right off. It has probably rusted, full of dirt around the hub area. The sledge hammer should do the trick.

 

[zzvyb6]

I suggest you put the lug bolts back in, but pretty loose. Then make some hard figure 8's while driving the machine to cycle some sideforce on the wheel/tire. It ought to be ready to come off after a few patterns of this.

 

[radioman]

I suggest you put the lug bolts back in, but pretty loose. Then make some hard figure 8's while driving the machine to cycle some sideforce on the wheel/tire. It ought to be ready to come off after a few patterns of this.

yeah this is what i had to do with my truck once. The wheels was rusted to the hub . I put the nuts back on but left it loos. did a few hard start and reverse driving in driveway and it popped right off. for just follow zzvyb6 advice and it will loosen up the rim from your tractor axle.

 

[G McCall]

I suggest you put the lug bolts back in, but pretty loose. Then make some hard figure 8's while driving the machine to cycle some sideforce on the wheel/tire. It ought to be ready to come off after a few patterns of this.

Sounds easy enough but the tire is flat so will this method not do any damage to the tire ?

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

Sounds easy enough but the tire is flat so will this method not do any damage to the tire ?

Its either that or beat the inside of the rim with a sledge hammer. I would try the sledge first.If it is a slow leak air the tire up first then drive it.
Bill

 

[JohnDeere4300]

Jack it up and take all lug nuts off but one, turn the wheel so the

lug nut will be on top, get a hard block of wood (crib block) lay it at

the bottom of the rim, you may have to lay something down to get

your block up to the rim, depends on how high you have jacked it up.

Get you a long handle 10 pound sledgehammer and hit at the bottom of the rim.

By leaving the one lug nut on top, that puts pressure on the top

and with the bottom being loose and hitting the bottom it should break loose.

I have done it and see it done at auto repair shops all the time.

 

[Ford850]

Sounds easy enough but the tire is flat so will this method not do any damage to the tire ?

If it's a tubeless tire, try to use a tire plug first. Even if it doesn't hold for long, you can leave the lug nuts loose and use the tractor until the wheel breaks free on it's own. Plugs might hold and you won't need to pull the tire either.

 

[Gary Fowler]

If it doesnt move, get a bigger hammer. It should come off with enough persuasion.
Also try putting some liquid wrench or WD-40 on the rim/tractor hub interface and letting it soak in for a while before sledging it. If you still cant get it off, try warming the rim with a propane torch. NOT hot enough to burn the paint, but a little warmer than the hub will make that connection a slight bit larger than the hub. Warm the rim, cool the hub with some ice and it should pop right off. Do the WD-40 and sledge hammer as suggested first to see if that works before resorting to the flames. Needless to say if you have to go the flame route, protect the tire and bearing hub from the flames AND dont get it really hot, HOT TO THE BARE HAND TOUCH should be enough.

 

[zzvyb6]

By all means, beat it with a huge hammer. Since the rim flange is high strength steel (i.e. brittle), the resulting microcracks coupled with fatigue cracks from rotational loading will eventualy contribute to slow air leakage and wheel failure. This will require wheel replacement and that is good for either the Japanese or Chinese economy.

 

[Bedlam]

Id go with the jacked up and lugs left loose to keep it from flopping off. and then use a hammer on the tire part after filling it if possible. turn the wheel to distribute the force. and the penetrating oil if possible. Hard to imagine it could not come loose with this technique

 

[RobS]

A friend just described a method for loosening front axles to widen/narrow, and it may work here too.

Put the lug nuts back on, loose. Drive to a tree or other immovable object. Use the steering (power?) to turn the wheel into the tree. The force of the steering should break things loose without impact force. He said this is a very old trick for rusted front axles.

 

[G McCall]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I am away from my tractor but will try again this weekend to remove the wheel. It looked like my rubber valve stem was damaged as air was leaking from behind the stem. In any event I need take the wheel/tire off and take it in for repair.

 

[Bedlam]

I wonder what could be put on for future use of keeping them loose never cease?
Ive used just straight grease but found it didnt help much (on auto wheels) Always wondered about a piece of plastic.

 

[Soundguy]

I'm not a fan of beating on the rim either.. one.. it can bend the rim.. 2, i'ts abusive to the steering bushings and bearings in the hub and all the way up the line.

I'd put the lugs back on . a hair loose and drive it inthe 8's and see if that helps.. has always worked for me.

After that.. hit the hub to wheel center with a wire brush, and then some never seize when you reinstall it.. then wipe the excess off after re-installation ..

soundguy

 

[jimmyj]

I have had this problem with my pickup. I hate hammering the heck out of the rim so I usually had to hit a block of wood against the rim. It used to take an 8 or 10 pound sledge to knock the wheel off.

Now I always slather the surfaces with grease before I put the rims back on. Rotate the tires more often would probably be good for the truck too I must admit

Let us know what happens.

 

[G McCall]

Success ! in removing the wheel.

I applied liquid wrench, replace one lug nut on loosley and hit the back of the rim with a 4x4 post. Once the rim broke loose, I removed the one lug nut and hit the back of the rim all around untill the rim came off. It is a very tight fit.

A small town Farm/tire shop replaced a damaged tube/damaged tire stem and added slime for $30. Price to repair the flat tire seemed resonable to me.

Thanks for the advice here.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

Success ! in removing the wheel.

I applied liquid wrench, replace one lug nut on loosley and hit the back of the rim with a 4x4 post. Once the rim broke loose, I removed the one lug nut and hit the back of the rim all around untill the rim came off. It is a very tight fit.

A small town Farm/tire shop replaced a damaged tube/damaged tire stem and added slime for $30. Price to repair the flat tire seemed resonable to me.

Thanks for the advice here.

Glad you got the wheel off.

It might be a good ideal to take wire brush and clean up where the wheel goes.

 

[G McCall]

Glad you got the wheel off.

It might be a good ideal to take wire brush and clean up where the wheel goes.

Yep did that and added heavy oil to the obvious contact spots, as that is all I had on site.

 

[john_bud]

Yep did that and added heavy oil to the obvious contact spots, as that is all I had on site.

Never seize would have been a much better thing to put on it. There's an old saying that every nut and bolt should either have loctite or never seize. That is probably good advice.

jb