Dumbest Question Ever?
 

I cant get the wheels off my X5 to put my snows on. All lugs off and it wont move. I put block of wood on the inside of the wheel and beat the block w/ my small is sledge hammer - think its 4lbs. I slowly let the X back down, putting its weight on the wheel w/o lugs w/ my big craftsman jack and no dice. Had this happen w/ my M3 before but usually the sledge hammer & block trick work. My only thought is to spray something at the hub and or get a bigger sledge hammer and block. Wheels were off about 4 mos ago at dealer when it got its last free brake and coolant flushes.

Its an 01 X5 4.4 w/ 46k.

Thanks,
Chuck

Put in one of the lug bolts about half way and get a bigger hammer. Once off, use a wire brush to clean the hub and brush on some anti-sieze.

Rob_

Rob_ is The Man!

Oh hadnt thought about leaving a lug bolt 1/2 way in, I could have launched an 18" wheel into my M3!

:iagree: Shoulda seen my hubs when I took off the wheels for the first time, sheesh! I took the wire brush attachment for the impact wrench and spent about 5 mins on each hub.

JV

I can tell you one thing, the 18" wheel would win that battle. :(

Rob_

chuck, its easy but requires some good footwork.

what i do is turn my back to the X and use my foot/heel to kick backwards onto the lower edge of the tire (sometimes quite hard) to break the oxidative links that can form. the wheel will then loosen and fall off. sometimes requires 2-3 good kicks...

This is just what I had to do. Back to car, hold on to rim of wheel arch and kick the lower part of the rim, then kick the upper part. I`m a big bloke and it took two kicks to get mine off.

The kicking lower ledge thing works 99% of the time on my M3. I just have not ever pulled the wheels off my X5 4.4 before. I tried the kicking thing before I went to the sledge hammer and block. I'll get a bigger sledge today and hopefully that will do it.

I had to get a friend out and help me rotate the wheel until it was loose and then we could pull it off. good luck.