I've had my Fabia VRS for a couple of months now and really enjoying it. As I like to make sure everything is O.K., I thought I would remove the back wheels and check the discs and pads etc. Straight forward job, or should be. However, firstly the wheel nuts were tightened to a torque somewhere off the scale, and then when I did get them off the wheels are seized on to the hubs. Don't want to damage the alloys with bars or anything, just wondered if anyone has come upon this problem and can offer a solution. I am also thinking some stage in the future of fitting the anti-roll bar kit to help with understeer, is this a good mod? Any thoughts appreciated.

They should come off with a good shock. Could try a block of wood and hammer, a good thump, or pulling and pushing on the tyre firmly at each end.

Edited 7 July, 201015 yr by anewman

Yep, hit the tyre a few times in various places it will come off. If it's seized tight then you need Plus gas the best stuff there is, not WD40.

Rubber mallet and bash the tyre inner sidewalls, helps if you rotate the wheel while doing this.. Or refit wheel nuts finger tight, and do a few gentle turns on a quiet road.

This has been covered before . Your wheels are corroded to the hubs .You should to able to get them off with a few well placed blows with a heavy hammer on to the back of the tyre with a "thickish" piece of wood in between the hammer & the tyre . If this gets a bit scary then you could apply a penetrating agent ( i.e. "plus gas" ) between the joint between the outer surface of the disc bubs and the inner surface of the wheel mounting hub . This should then be left idealy overnight. It's important that this is done very carefully to avoid getting any release agent on the discs. Once you've got them free the corrosion on the wheel and on the hub & disc needs to be removed and then given a smear of copper anti-seize paste on these surfaces to prevent further corrosion . Also wire brush the bolt threads clean and give the threads only a smear of the coper anti-seize. To clean the wheel hub & disc flat surfaces a small flat file is most useful or sharp scraper.

I always put copper anti-seize on these surfaces within a few days of ownership on my brand new car !

Edited 7 July, 201015 yr by vwcabriolet1971

Yep common fault with alloy wheels and steel hubs - on all marques.

A good smear of copperslip on the centre bore of the wheels where they locate on the hub and a tiny amount on the bolt threads will cure it.

As above, but do not get under the car whilst it is jacked up, especially on the jack supplied with it. Has it been dealer serviced?

I've had my Fabia VRS for a couple of months now and really enjoying it. As I like to make sure everything is O.K., I thought I would remove the back wheels and check the discs and pads etc. Straight forward job, or should be. However, firstly the wheel nuts were tightened to a torque somewhere off the scale, and then when I did get them off the wheels are seized on to the hubs. Don't want to damage the alloys with bars or anything, just wondered if anyone has come upon this problem and can offer a solution. I am also thinking some stage in the future of fitting the anti-roll bar kit to help with understeer, is this a good mod? Any thoughts appreciated.

scaffolding pole for leverage usually helps.

On a different note a lot of garages including tyre fitters they tighten the lug nuts using the air drill and do it about 400 torque. These people should not be allowed anywhere near it. Imagine having a flat tyre and trying to change it, you wouldn't be able to get the wheel off. Has happened to someone i know and they had to be towed to a garage who spent about 10 minutes trying to get the wheel off.

Edited 7 July, 201015 yr by newskoda

I used a length of 2" x 2" timber between the suspension arm and wheel, the wood is nice and soft and will not damage the wheel, just keep giving it a tweak and moving the wheel round until it comes loose.

Don't whack it with anything or you risk damage and keep clear from under the car - stick it on stands and put the spare wheel under the car so if it does get unstable it lands on that and not you.

Clean up the inside of the wheel and the rim hub and add some coppaslip so they dont corrode so much next time.

Otherwise you'll need to keep the timber with you in case of a puncture.

Echo what everyone else has suggested

Make sure you stick the car onto proper trolley jack, don't be doing any whacking whilst the car is on the factory Skoda Jack. The car will just topple off the jack and make a mess of you and or the car's body work.

Probably the safest method is the undo the bolts then tighten them back up lightly enough to hold the wheel on without putting tension on it.

then lightly drive the car around in a circle, that should be enough to crack the wheel lightly off the hub.

ive had two back tyres changed today first time ive had wheels off since ive had it and mate who did it found the same thing all it took was a rubber mallet on the back quite a few times n it jus comes off weird how it happens though on these never experienced it on anything else

If you are trying to take them off at home then put the kettle on and pour the boiling water on the centre of the wheel, not the hub, this will expand the wheel and it will come off a lot easier

Skoda servicing told me they don't remove the wheels just peer through wheel spokes to check pad thickness.

So when I decided do my own first service I had this getting-the-wheel-off-problem.

As suggested, well supported vehicle with wheel raised, strike wheel using block of wood and hammer, turning wheel around, did-the-trick.

Sand-papered centre wheel hub area, and wire brushed hub itself, smeared copper-based grease, never had any problem since.

Thanks for all the replies. Had another go this morning and with the help of length of timber managed to free them off the hub. Cleaned up the surfaces and smeared them with copper grease and tightened the wheel bolts to the correct torque. Now for the rear ARB!

Thanks for all the replies. Had another go this morning and with the help of length of timber managed to free them off the hub. Cleaned up the surfaces and smeared them with copper grease and tightened the wheel bolts to the correct torque. Now for the rear ARB!

Glad you sorted it mate!