**HELP** Flat tire---can't get the flat off
 

I apologize if this is a stupid question but I'm in a huge hurry and when I went outside from work today my rear-driver's side tire was flat. I don't know what's up, but I got it up on a jack and got the lugs off. But now it won't pull off. I've almost pulled it off of the jack trying to pry the wheel off. The book's no help. anybody, please!?!

Try lowering the truck back down on the ground, and really quickly and shortly gas it, moving only just a few feet. It should break the bond and then you can jack it back up and get it off. May want to loosly put on a few lugs just in case.

Is that the best thing? I'm not trying to be a jerk, it's just that I went out to find it snowing like mad and I had a flat. I don't want to cause any damage or anything. This totally sucks. Plus laying on the ground in the snow eats.

BTW, thanks a lot for your input.

Just kick the rim in a cross pattern, like 12/6/3/9 on a clock, keep repeating until it comes loose... A little WD40 on the inner hole will help...

Like he said, kick the tire, and use some sort of spray lube. If you can get a pry bar in there, try that.

But, you shouldnt hurt anything by putting the truck back on the ground.

Okay. I tried Adam's idea. Unfortunately, I'm stuck outside an office building with no access to WD40. . .I'll keep trying. Gotta love doing this in the middle of a snow storm. Thanks all for the inputs. Hopefully this round works.

Bump. Still no luck. I'm just going to call roadside assistance.

The most effective (but dangerous) way is to kick the tire from underneath the truck outwards. Be sure the truck is securely on the jack and make sure you are not under the axle in case it does come off. I have used this technique many times and it is very effective but again be careful when using it.

What about fix-a-flat? Does anybody know anything about this stuff? Right now I'm in a real bind. With this weather all of the people that they would dispatch are tending to accidents and the lady told me she called 23 different people and the wait was 3-6 hours. I'm stuck.

Some places will charge you extra to deal with a spray can tire fix because the gasses involved are flammable. Just an FYI...

It does work but it makes a real mess of the tire/rim inside and makes it a pain to patch later.

At this point I don't care. It's either call my wife and ask her to pack up my 3 month old and come get me in this snow storm or just try the fix-a-flat. Obviously I'm not going to call her and maker her do that. This sucks so bad.

Hope this catches you in time. Put all the lugs on loosely (tight and back off 1/2 turn) lower the truck and drive backward and forward a couple of carlength's. This will break the rim free of the hub. Jack back up and change the tire.

try fix a flat. it will work well enough to get you somewhere to get the tire repaired.

If you have alloys, they usually get stuck around the center hub. If you don't want to try the drive it loose suggestion, this might work. Put the lugs back on, but leave them loose a couple of turns. Drop the vehicle back down off the jack, and try rocking the truck from side to side by pushing it. The weight of the truck rocking back and forth might break the hub loose without damaging the wheel studs.

sounds like the best suggestion of the bunch. BFHs come in handy too if available

Thats exactly what I suggested in the very first post.

My thanks to all for your suggestions. Well, I discovered the flat at 4:25 and got home finally at 11:45. In short, I literally tried all of the suggestions. Nothing worked. I called roadside assistance and they showed up (around 9:00). The guy jacked it up and tried everything that he could for almost an hour. I ended up putting fix-a-flat in it and he put air in it from his tank. It didn't work and we drove it to an Exxon to put more air in it hoping that the driving would spread the fix-a-flat around and seal the hole. No luck. He called another guy who came and plugged it (there was a nail or screw or something that he pushed into the tire). The plug leaked so he put a BIGGER plug in it. Finally it was sealed and I drove home. I took yesterday off and went and got two new tires on the back (they were getting pretty worn in the first place). The guy at the tire place jacked the whole back end up and spun the wheel--while doing so he banged on the rim from the inside with a sledge and it finally popped off.

So again, thank you all for your help. It's really nice to know that there are kind people who will help somebody out.

Later,

Brady

Brady,
Glad to hear you got the problem resolved. I would suggest taking each of the rims off when you have some time, and then properly cleaning around the mounting area of the front hubs and rear drums. Once you've cleaned these surfaces, spread a thin film of anti-seize paste around this area. I've done this from the beginning and have never had an issue getting any of my wheels off. An occasional nudge, but nothing major. It also helps to keep your tires in a 5,000 mile or so rotation.

Andreas

I totally understand and (following a very painful lesson) wholly agree. I was not rotating my tires on a regular basis and I think that this is what really hurt me. I think that if I at least had gotten them rotated there wouldn't have been the amount of corrosion/binding on the hub.

Lesson learned.