Be careful....

I jacked up the wifes car to put some mudflaps on, fronts went on ok, but not enough room with the wheel on to do the rears

Jack that comes with the fabia isnt the best, so I eventually used the one from my Octy, a bit sturdier, but the wheels were quite firmly on to the hub.

Gave the wheels a kick to get them off, off they came and fell face first onto my drive

The wheels are shaped so that if this does happen, it generally scrapes every little bit of the alloy....

Next time I will remember to lay something for it to fall on, but for this time, its way too late, and the alloy looks a mess

Hopefully, this might save someone else from doing the same

(and yes, i should have thought about it before, annoyed with myself!)

Good tip, thanks.

Or just screw one of the bolts back in 2 or 3 turns.

Or just screw one of the bolts back in 2 or 3 turns.

+1

Make sure you put a smear of copper slip on the locating centre bore to stop it happening again (alloy and steel put together with cause a corrosion to take place - this is why they stick on)

This shows you where the copper slip needs to go:

Be careful....

I jacked up the wifes car to put some mudflaps on, fronts went on ok, but not enough room with the wheel on to do the rears

Jack that comes with the fabia isnt the best, so I eventually used the one from my Octy, a bit sturdier, but the wheels were quite firmly on to the hub.

Gave the wheels a kick to get them off, off they came and fell face first onto my drive

The wheels are shaped so that if this does happen, it generally scrapes every little bit of the alloy....

Next time I will remember to lay something for it to fall on, but for this time, its way too late, and the alloy looks a mess

Hopefully, this might save someone else from doing the same

(and yes, i should have thought about it before, annoyed with myself!)

Annoying but nothing a good wheel refurb wont fix. Better than dropping the car! :(

I'm lazy so i'd be leaving such things to my local dealer....that said i've never put mudflaps on any of my cars dont particularly like them.

The fault lies with Skoda!! They insist on not painting the rear drums/hubs (primer coat is not sufficient) and they dont put any protective coating/laquer/grease on the alloys or wheel hub. The result is that the alloy/hub is corroded and stuck firmly within weeks of delivery. I've even seen Fabias with completely rusted drums pre delivery.

For the average joe, if he waits 2 or 3 years, has a puncture, is on the hard shoulder of the motorway, there is no way to get that alloy off. Kicking or whacking the tyres with something large while using the standard jack is asking for a major incident. At best, the alloy gets damaged, at worst, the car comes off the jack and crashes down on the poor sod crouching around.

Cheapskates - even GM paints their rear drums properly.

Sorry but I have yet to find a manufacturer that uses grease or copper slip on the centre bore of the wheel or the hub, it's fine painting them but these things are meant to be a close fit, so therefore the paint will just be scratched off.

If you really need to blame someone then blame either physics or the owner for not ordering steel wheels

The fault lies with Skoda!! They insist on not painting the rear drums/hubs (primer coat is not sufficient) and they dont put any protective coating/laquer/grease on the alloys or wheel hub. The result is that the alloy/hub is corroded and stuck firmly within weeks of delivery. I've even seen Fabias with completely rusted drums pre delivery.

For the average joe, if he waits 2 or 3 years, has a puncture, is on the hard shoulder of the motorway, there is no way to get that alloy off. Kicking or whacking the tyres with something large while using the standard jack is asking for a major incident. At best, the alloy gets damaged, at worst, the car comes off the jack and crashes down on the poor sod crouching around.

Cheapskates - even GM paints their rear drums properly.

Think its rather poor than any of the Fabia's (perhaps bar the 3 cylinder variants) have drum brakes. All the current Ibiza's and Polo's now have disc rear brakes. Strange that other than the vRS the Greenline hatch seems to get rear discs, why is it necessary on a 75ps model yet none of the 105ps models have them?! No sense in that at all!

Yeah I noticed that when I picked up my Fabia that the drums on the rear of my estate were rusting and the car was only two years old.

Nothing a coat of smooth green hammerite can solve through.

Davy

Sorry but I have yet to find a manufacturer that uses grease or copper slip on the centre bore of the wheel or the hub, it's fine painting them but these things are meant to be a close fit, so therefore the paint will just be scratched off.

If you really need to blame someone then blame either physics or the owner for not ordering steel wheels

Well I've never had any problem in all the other cars I've owned over the last 40 years, about half had alloy wheels.

When I had to remove the rear wheels of my Mk 1 Fabia to change the tyres (car was about 3 years old), the tyre fitter had to use a sledgehammer (with wood in between) to get the alloys off the hubs.

So, no, I do blame Skoda for poor design/ poor execution.

i used a magnetic bit holder with a pair of pliers no need to raise the car or take the wheel off

For the average joe, if he waits 2 or 3 years, has a puncture, is on the hard shoulder of the motorway, there is no way to get that alloy off. Kicking or whacking the tyres with something large while using the standard jack is asking for a major incident. At best, the alloy gets damaged, at worst, the car comes off the jack and crashes down on the poor sod crouching around.

So to avoid this do it the easy way - jack the car, loosen the bolts and if the wheel won't come off pop the bolts back on but slightly loosely, lower the car and rock it to free the wheel off. Then raise the car again and you're sorted!

So to avoid this do it the easy way - jack the car, loosen the bolts and if the wheel won't come off pop the bolts back on but slightly loosely, lower the car and rock it to free the wheel off. Then raise the car again and you're sorted!

Thanks for the tip, will try that on this mk2 of mine.

Think its rather poor than any of the Fabia's (perhaps bar the 3 cylinder variants) have drum brakes. All the current Ibiza's and Polo's now have disc rear brakes. Strange that other than the vRS the Greenline hatch seems to get rear discs, why is it necessary on a 75ps model yet none of the 105ps models have them?! No sense in that at all!

Umpf, here in Sweden the 105hp DSG is delivered with exactly the same brakes as the fabia RS. Isn't like that in all countries???