Wheel stuck on hub

[Mike-92RT]

Hello there 3SGTO,

i have a quick favour to ask you all.

My buddy has a 1989 Nissan 240sx who doesnt know cars. He let his friend (who knows quite a bit).. take off the whole rear assembly, and the driver rear wheel wouldn't come off. So he took it off, leaving the wheel attached to the axle.

It appears only ONE lug nut has been nearly stripped, so i thought i'd go in from behind (SHUT UP LOL)... heat up the stud, jam an extension in the hex nut, in order to get it out.

BUT i can't get the knuckle off. I've hit it a couple of times with a hammer, but it won't budge. Can anyone give me some tips? Thanks!

http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss258/Mike92RT/IMG00200-20110322-1605.jpg

[stealthee]

They seriously took the whole assembly off because the wheel wouldn't come off? Wheels get stuck sometimes. Being that its not attached to the car any more its going to be hard to get a good solid hit to break it loose.

[Mike-92RT]

well they took the whole rear assembly out because it needed new bushings... This whole project has been done wrong. The guy that helped him took the front fenders, bumper, hood off, ripped the interior out to bare metal, removed and cut out where the gas tank was to weld in a fuel cell, sanded the body down.

Then after all that was done he peaced out for about a year now. My friend finally asked me to put it back together, which is gonna be hard for me since i didn't do anything. But im going to try my best.

First things first, is that stubborn wheel. I'll just hit the knuckle with a sludge hammer until it comes off i guess?

[RL7]

To get the knuckle off the hub you can put the retaining bolts most of the way in and hit them with a hammer with the knuckle supported by something. This will hopefully push the hub away from the knuckle. This probably could damage threads, but I've done it a couple times and I haven't had an issue. It will be more difficult with the wheel attached

[IPD]

surprised he didn't try getting the wheel off by sawing through the spokes. :facepalm:

[Mike-92RT]

the holes for the lug nuts to go through are deep in the rim.. so i can't get a pair of vice grips in there. My initial plan was to take the knuckle off, torch the stud until its red, then hopefully the lug nut will turn.

I've tried PB Blaster, and nothing. I will start hitting the knuckle hard with a hammer tomorrow morning. Its too late to do it now. I will update tomorrow.

[J_Parker]

If you can, freeze it. Put it into a deep freezer over night, then hit it. Works all the time 50% of the time. :)