Wheels are stuck on my car.... help!

Doh!

Went to the track the other day and decided that my 4th-gen Camaro wheels I bought that I'm gonna put on my 91 (with spacers) had better tread on them, so I decided to swap my rear wheels for the traction.

So I bolt them up, no prob. I start driving and the car feels very wobbly, and my uncle in the car behind me tells me my rear wheels are wobbling. Ack, so I pull over at the gas station. Lugnuts are not tight at all. I figure I just didn't tighten it enough, I don't have a torque wrench so I didn't want to overdo it. So I tighten them a little more. Seems better but still have a problem. So I pull over again. Lugnuts are obviously loosened. What the crap? So we tighten them on REAL good with brute force. I make it to the track but it still doesn't feel right. So I decide to try tightening them again once more. The driver's side seemed pretty tight, so I didn't mess with it. The passenger side however, was fairly loose again.

Well, I try tightening it once more, and I about fall over and whack my head on the ground, because the lugnut stud broke clean off. Awesome. So I decide to take my car out of the staging lanes and not run. I go to remove the wheels and put my old ones back on since something obviously wasn't right, and as I'm taking another lugnut off, THAT stud breaks also! Well crap! We jack the car up to swap the wheels, but at this point we know we're gonna have to trailer it home. But get this, the wheels are stuck around the center hubs! I can't get the suckers off!

Now, this confuses me because I thought that Camaro and Firebird wheels are completely interchangable. The only thing I can think of is that I accidentally put the front wheels on the back of my car, but I thought that they wouldn't fit, not that they'd get stuck around the center knob. I'm confused and now I'm going to have to go home and try to pry the wheels off of my car without doing further damage to my car or the wheels.

Anybody have some insight as to what happened here? Also, how much do you think it's going to cost to repair my little problem? I have a cruise to go to next Sunday.... :cry:

The studs probably broke because the wheels were wobbling on them but as for being stuck I don't understand how they would stick and would have to see a pic if you can get one posted. I've owneda 92 and now own a 96 and I can't think how the wheels would stick in the center. Need pic.

I won't be able to get a pic until I get home from work, but I'm not really sure what the pic would tell you. The wheel looks completely normal, I just can't remove it. The hub is the only thing that it could really get stuck on and still turn.

a very small sliver of the wheel where the hub was kinda "shaved off" as well, as if the knob too big and the hole was too small (gotta hate when that happens... ;) )

COMMON PROBLEM!!

The rear hubs on the early 4th Gens are 0.03" larger in diameter than the fronts. They corrected this problem in 97 and later models. If you are trying to put a set of late 4th Gen wheels on an early 4th Gen, you need to sand or grind down the inside diameter of the holes in the rear wheels.

NEVER try to force a wheel on by over-tightening the lugs. You should have noticed when mounting the wheels that they were not fitting correctly. The fact that the hole in the wheel was too small for the hub made them fit on crooked, producing the "wobble" and causing the lugs to loosen. I can't believe you didn't notice this when putting the wheels on the car.

THANK YOU! Finally an answer!! I had no idea that this was the case.

Injuneer, the wheels did not appear to be crooked or not fit when I was putting them on the car. I am also surprised I did not notice a problem at first. I think what it was is that I just didn't put the lugnuts on too far (but it still was "tight" because of the diameter problem), and then when I drove it, it "wobbled on" some more, but not realizing that's what happened, I tightened it more, and repeat two or three times. I thought something was wrong with my lugnuts or the wheel, not realizing the diameter was the issue.

THANKS!

When you put the wheels on, "feel" how they slide over the hub. Make sure the mounting surface of the wheel is flush with the axle flange, with no pressure required to put it there. I guess I'm obsessive, but after I put the wheels on, and I'm satisfied that they are flush, I tighten them in 2 or 3 steps with a torque wrench. I really don't want to find out I didn't tighten them correctly when I'm going through the traps at 128mph.

And I hope the guy next to me was just as careful :D

Another question, I actually bought these wheels for my 91, am I going to have the same issue? Will I need to grind the wheels to fit them on the thirdgen?

The wheels should "bottom out" when putting them on with NO LUG nuts on. What I mean by that is you should feel a definitive hitting of metal on metal. If it feels "mushy" and you have to pound it on with your hand, that is no good :) So, in the future, you can avoid this by making sure you can feel the wheel hit firmly and be seated. You should also be able to tell because if you let go of the wheel once it is tight (with no lug nuts on) the bottom will usually tip out a bit. If the wheel "sticks" in place even after you let go of it, that could mean you are going to have the same problem again because the wheel is very tight on the hub... maybe too tight so as to not allow it to be fully mounted up in place! :)

Originally posted by Injuneer
When you put the wheels on, "feel" how they slide over the hub. Make sure the mounting surface of the wheel is flush with the axle flange, with no pressure required to put it there. I guess I'm obsessive, but after I put the wheels on, and I'm satisfied that they are flush, I tighten them in 2 or 3 steps with a torque wrench. I really don't want to find out I didn't tighten them correctly when I'm going through the traps at 128mph.

And I hope the guy next to me was just as careful :D

lol yes, understand... I'm typically very cautious about stuff like this but I guess I was in a hurry.

My next expenditure is going to be a torque wrench. I should have one anyway. :o

Originally posted by Brent94Z
The wheels should "bottom out" when putting them on with NO LUG nuts on. What I mean by that is you should feel a definitive hitting of metal on metal. If it feels "mushy" and you have to pound it on with your hand, that is no good :) So, in the future, you can avoid this by making sure you can feel the wheel hit firmly and be seated. You should also be able to tell because if you let go of the wheel once it is tight (with no lug nuts on) the bottom will usually tip out a bit. If the wheel "sticks" in place even after you let go of it, that could mean you are going to have the same problem again because the wheel is very tight on the hub... maybe too tight so as to not allow it to be fully mounted up in place! :)

Yeah, I think that there was the problem, I didn't really take the time to "check", I just kind of hurriedly bolted the wheels up without really pushing/pulling on them or checking them. Live and learn...

And another question. I understand that replacing the wheel studs are a little more complex when one has traction control. :( What all am I going to have to do?

Edit: here's more info on my car:

95 Formula
A4
2.73 gears
ABS
TCS

Bump... more feedback appreciated... I'm currently out in the garage attempting to coax my wheels off.... :(

Originally posted by FyreLance
And another question. I understand that replacing the wheel studs are a little more complex when one has traction control. :( What all am I going to have to do?

Edit: here's more info on my car:

95 Formula
A4
2.73 gears
ABS
TCS

It's not much different but you do have to pull the axles I believe. Time to order ARP hardended wheel studs.

Looks like the next thing I am going to try is securing it on jackstands and whatnot, and buying a 2x4 and big mallet and pound the snot out of it until it comes off... :(

kick the bottom of the tire real hard when you get it ib the air. it will come off.

You are going to have to pull yhe axle and have the ring pressed off yo replace the stud. Do all the studs at once, most likely, they are all damaged.

Elaborate on what's involved in this please... I have never dropped the axle or messed with the rear end in any car ever.

First get the wheels off then drain the rear gear oil and take off the back cover. Inside the cover you'll see the ring gear to one side and then a carrier next to it. in the carrier is a 1" wide pin that runs all the way through the carrier. On one side there will be 5/16 bolt take that out then pull the pin out of the carrier it might take just a little persuasion to get it started. Be sure the carrier is turned so that the pin will come out toward you and not hit the bottom of the pumpkin. After the pin is out push the axles in from the outside and a C clip will fall off the inside end of the axle if it dosen't fall just push it off it comes off real easy then just pull the axle out of th tube.

Did you ever get the wheel off? I just put new wheels on today, the wheel wouldn't fit over the hub so I grinded it down, but not enough. I used the lug nuts to pull the wheel onto the hub. It wasn't that tight, just slight pressure on the nuts and it pulled into place. BUT, I then tried to take it off and I couldn't. There's no way I can pull it off. I'm afraid the car will fall off the jack if I yank any harder.

I thought of a way that I can use a metal plate and two C-clamps to pull it off, but I haven't tried yet.

Originally posted by Achilles97
Did you ever get the wheel off? I just put new wheels on today, the wheel wouldn't fit over the hub so I grinded it down, but not enough. I used the lug nuts to pull the wheel onto the hub. It wasn't that tight, just slight pressure on the nuts and it pulled into place. BUT, I then tried to take it off and I couldn't. There's no way I can pull it off. I'm afraid the car will fall off the jack if I yank any harder.

I thought of a way that I can use a metal plate and two C-clamps to pull it off, but I haven't tried yet.

Didn't your read what Injuneer said about NEVER pulling the wheel on with the lugs? Brent also reiterated this by saying the wheel should fit flat ("bottom out") with no interference.

Besides getting the wheel stuck, you can ruin the lug stud and nuts or maybe even warp the wheel mounting surface.

You're just going to have to find a way to pry them off. Be careful. Don't work under a car supported by only a jack. :eek:

Originally posted by FyreLance
Another question, I actually bought these wheels for my 91, am I going to have the same issue? Will I need to grind the wheels to fit them on the thirdgen?

I dont think your gonna have a prob with the 91 camaro. On my 84 z28 I have 2 inch spacers up front and 2.5 inch in the back. I have 94 z28 wheels on it which Is what was on the car when I bought it. Ive tried 97 z28 wheels and 4th gen ws6 wheels on the spacers with no fitment problems whatsoever :). The 94 ninja star wheels are my fav by far for my 84 :). The ws6 wheels are for the 84 trans am I gave m fiance , altho dont know if theyre gonna make it on it cause shes banged the car up a bit since I gave it to her. I must love here thats for sure :)

Originally posted by shoebox
Didn't your read what Injuneer said about NEVER pulling the wheel on with the lugs? Brent also reiterated this by saying the wheel should fit flat ("bottom out") with no interference.

Besides getting the wheel stuck, you can ruin the lug stud and nuts or maybe even warp the wheel mounting surface.

You're just going to have to find a way to pry them off. Be careful. Don't work under a car supported by only a jack.

I didn't know this hub size difference problem even existed before I put the wheel on. I did Dremel the wheel to make it fit better, I was able to push it over the hub, I just used the nuts to pull it back, I didn't apply much force at all. BUT, pulling the wheel off was a lot harder because I had no leverage because at the time of my post all I tried was tugging on the wheel as I sat on the ground.

I was able to get the car up on stands today and the wheel came off quite easily with a few kicks from the back.


Oh, when I had the car up only by the jack there was no way I was getting under it, I was just pulling on the wheel from the outside (which is why I couldn't get it off). When I get under the car, it's supported by jack stands, the jack is under there too, plus I stick my ramps under the frame. I'm paranoid.