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Picked up a mint set of WRX wheels and set about putting them on yesterday. After a two hour search for lugnuts, first finding them in all sorts of neat colors but not chrome, I installed three of them, and then...

The left front wheel won't come off. Now, I've removed certainly hundreds of wheels, some of them pretty stuck, but this takes the cake. The screwy thing is I have a receipt for a front rotor job that was done on this car in January, and indeed the rotors appear fresh. The lugnuts were also a biotch on this hub, and normal on the others.

Two hours of beatings, swearing, pry bars and all manner of unwise things and nothing.

Its pickling in penetrant right now and I just went out into my plant and got the huge gear puller assembly, which should fit in the little holes in the steel wheel. Tonight it dies !!!

I must say the WRX wheels look better than I though on the wagon, I first wanted GT wheels but have changed my mind, the WRX wheels look larger and more bold. I also noticed that the RE92 rubber is very narrow compared to Bridgestone 205/55 that I have on the BMW, the Bridgestone RE730 ZR's. Big difference in effective treadwidth. I think the RE730 would rub the spring perch in the back, probably; the RE92 are fine.

Wow, that's weird that it could freeze to the hub before the rotor even starts to look old.

It sounds dangerous and stupid, but if all else fails you might install the lug nuts loosely (maybe just finger-tight) and then drive the car in a figure 8 slowly. That has a good chance of breaking the wheel loose.

Do the threads on the lug studs appear damaged at all?

yes the studs look slightly teaked and there was a bit of metal shrapnel from the threads, they'll clean up OK.

I suspect a grease monkey just jammed the wheel on crooked with the air wrench, then turned up the air to ram the lugnuts home. There is probably a big burr on the hub center holding things on.

I had bad vibration in the front at speed, the wheel in question may have been installed crooked rather than it being bent, given what I now know.

One thing for sure... its bent now !!!

Oh and I did drive it around a bit with loose lugnuts to no avail

Hmph.

Blue wrench? (also sometimes called a "torch")

I had the same problem with my RS wheels on my prior car, I ended up kicking the piss of them and having foot pains. Just takes time and lube.

sounds to me like you need to start doing your own brake jobs

yet another reason why no-one except me touches my cars

I'm bout to do my own brakes, too..
I'll have to post about that, but meanwhile.. i'll take good care of my lug studs and lug nuts.

and yea by the light of the moon and a wave of the necromancer's staff was the evil orb vanquished...

in otherwords the big-ass gear puller pulled it right off.

I agree on the no-touchy thing, the previous owner had seen fit to get a complete four-wheel brakejob, and replace the clutch before giving up and selling me the car for $1. $1100 worth of work since
january.

and I had to adjust the clutch, the pedal still squeaks in spite of my best attempts, and the brake system feels full of air. I guess you do't get bleeding for your $500 brake jobs.

It's rediculous and these are such easy brake jobs. I don't know how a so-called mechanic couldn't do them perfectly.

Steve

Congrats on getting it off!

I had the same problem, only it wasn't as bad as yours. Mine just took some kicking to work it loose.

I had to use a 2X4 one time to get one off my old toyota truck - luckily I had one - or is it, I just used what I had.