Hi folks,

Decided to remove the alloys and give them a good clean

A kettle full of HOT water poured over the centre part of the alloy will help it come off a lot easier

A kettle full of HOT water poured over the centre part of the alloy will help it come off a lot easier

Finding a kettle full of hot water when stuck on the Moors, with a puncture, on a cold and rainy night might be a Tad difficult...................................

Gently hitting the rim itself (not the tyre!!) to remove the wheel with a wooden / rubber mallet should help to ease the wheel off (do it on alternating sides from behind the wheel).

Pop down to your local motor factors and get a tin of copper slip (aka copper grease). Smear some of this onto your hub when you put the wheels on (also put a bit on the threads of the wheelnuts too). Very useful stuff, although a tin of it will last you for the next decade.

Finding a kettle full of hot water when stuck on the Moors, with a puncture, on a cold and rainy night might be a Tad difficult...................................

You mean you DON'T tow a caravan

Yeah, it didn't take much to get the wheel off - a few swings of a copper-hide hammer on the tyre from behind, but I wouldn't have liked to have done that on the car jack - I had the car up on a trolley jack.

... Very useful stuff, although a tin of it will last you for the next decade ...

Rob, you're right - the tin I've got is years old and still half full.

You mean you DON'T tow a caravan

... but sods law says you'll have a puncture only when you're not towing

You mean you DON'T tow a caravan

eeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr.........NO..If I had my way caravans should only be allowed out on a Sunday between the hours of 01-00 and 01-15....................:sofahide: :peepwall: [hides from abuse].....ONLY JOKING.....

I've got half a tube [like a toothpaste tube] of Copper Slip dating from about 1972

Had the same problem on our first Octy - puncture at my brother in law's farm - we eventually got the wheel off using a 2x4 timber undereath from the other side of the car with a girt club hammer.

Mean to say they haven't sorted this problem out yet?

Would a squirt of WD40 round the studs and the rim of the hub help? Avoiding getting it on the disc of course.

Its a bad idea to put any lubricant on the studs (see handbook). The quoted torque (120Nm) for the studs will over tension the studs, if they are lubricated - the torque value is based in the assumption they are dry.

Its a bad idea to put any lubricant on the studs (see handbook). The quoted torque (120Nm) for the studs will over tension the studs, if they are lubricated - the torque value is based in the assumption they are dry.

Plus for enthusiastic drivers, lubrication like this plus heat on the fronts in particular = tarry glue. So you could now have over-tightened wheels and wheel bolts, glued on.

Never had a moment's problem with Copper Slip, and if WD40 used to remove wheel, it can easily be dried off with a rag before replacing wheel.

I thought Copper greasing the hubs was just common sense?

I'd be interested to see research on what difference lightly greased studs makes to tightening torques applied with a torque wrench. But in any case I think the Copperslip is more useful on the hub than the wheel studs. Don't usually have trouble removing the studs, it is just the initial dislodging of the wheel centre from the hub.

When I did my alloy repair spray job last week, the most obstinate bit was flicking off the central plastic wheel stud cover!!!

this is not an "issue" with skoda's this is just a fact of life. a well machined and sized wheel on an equally well machined hub +heat/salt/water will get stuck on unless greased. itsbeena problem for decades and always will be.

My friend had the same problem on his BMW 320d. Simply couldn't remove the left back wheel. It was on the motorway (flat tyre) and he was trying so hard that finnished with wheel partly removed on one side. He was so angry that he wanted to push it back and drive on flat tyre to garage. But no, it wouldn't go back in. Had to call road assistance to solve the problem.

Yeah, it didn't take much to get the wheel off - a few swings of a copper-hide hammer on the tyre from behind, but I wouldn't have liked to have done that on the car jack - I had the car up on a trolley jack.

Hope you left the wheel bolts on but loosened, before belting the tyre otherwise the wheel could come off in a rush and possibly hit the jack with dire consequences!

IIRC a much safer method is to loosen all the wheel bolts a couple of turns and jack the wheel up so it's just clear of the ground. Then belt the tyre using a lump hammer and piece of protecting wood from the outside at a point nearest the ground. This provides leverage against the bolts at the top and much less effort is required.

Another method (that I haven't tried) is to loosen the bolts about one turn and drive up and down a kerb a few times.

Certainly a smear of copper slip should be applied to the mating surfaces but not the wheel bolts.

This has actually reminded me that I've never checked the wheel bolts or wheel removal since buying the car four months ago. If it's not raining tomorrow............

Hope you left the wheel bolts on but loosened, before belting the tyre otherwise the wheel could come off in a rush and possibly hit the jack with dire consequences!

Good advice. Unfortunately about 10 years too late for me! I had the same problem with a Fiat. Alloy wheel wouldn't come off so I hit it with a wooden mallet. Still wouldn't budge so I kept hitting it harder and harder until it suddenly flew off across the garage and got a big dent in it shaped like the corner of the axle stand that it hit! I was not a happy bunny.:(

Its a bad idea to put any lubricant on the studs (see handbook). The quoted torque (120Nm) for the studs will over tension the studs, if they are lubricated - the torque value is based in the assumption they are dry.

Furby torque is also 120 Nm, but tyre places still tell me 120 Ft/lb(162 Nm) - just a word of caution .

Had to check this last week for Octy 2 and 120 Nm in ft lbs worked out about 88.5 I think.

I'd be interested to see research on what difference lightly greased studs makes to tightening torques applied with a torque wrench.

This book is terrific on this subject.

Amazon.com: An Introduction to the Design and Behavior of Bolted Joints (Mechanical Engineering, Volume 97): Books: John Bickford

In the offshore industry, shank tensions are specified for bolted joints (structural clamps, process pipework, etc), to make sure they perform correctly without yielding, working loose or fatigue. Torquing has now fallen out of favour because the shank tension is so sensitive to the bolt materials, finish, lubrication etc and the calibration of the wrench, so the method can't be trusted. Direct hydraulic tensioners are used instead, or measured turns.

I would imagine the wheel nuts have a massive tolerance for under-tightening (roadside repairs using the crummy wrench provided) and over-tightening (tyre fitter with an air wrench), but the target is 120Nm with dry bolts.

Makes sense to use copper-slip on the hub faces though.

Had to check this last week for Octy 2 and 120 Nm in ft lbs worked out about 88.5 I think.

Sounds good - I set my imperial wrench to 90ft.lbs.

Seeing as I just happened to have a pic of it on my laptop (don't ask) here's the stuff mentioned....

A kettle full of HOT water poured over the centre part of the alloy will help it come off a lot easier

Finding a kettle full of hot water when stuck on the Moors, with a puncture, on a cold and rainy night might be a Tad difficult...................................

S0d that, if I had a kettle full of HOT water (as opposed to pressumably a kettle full of COLD water?) I would simple make myself a brew with the jar full of TEA bags and the tin of CHOCOLATE biscuits and put my feet up infront of the LOG fire whilst I waited for the SkodaAssist to arrive with the big hammers (I normally leave the KITCHEN sink at home on short journeys).