When Removing A Wheel Goes Horribly Wrong
by Chris Hafner
on November 27, 2009
In the spirit of When Tuning Goes Horribly Wrong, I present another truly epic message board thread; this time it's on Honda-Tech.com and is titled, "So, Don't Buy a VW."
Because, after all, it's Volkswagen's fault that the author got a lug bolt stuck and took a Sawzall to his wheel to get it off. The thread is up to 17 pages now, and it's well worth a read.
That photo makes me cringe.
--Chris H.
Paul C. Perkins on November 28, 2009 at 04:02 PM
Ever notice how if you're 30-minutes from the nearest source of parts - and it's 20- minutes before closing time . . . that's when You break something on the car? That has to be in a list of laws somewhere. . .
jjd241 on November 28, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Just in time to start a topic I was thinking of today: The stupidest things you have heard of someone (or yourself) doing to a car. Just today my stepson said he was helping a new girlfriend winterize her truck. They live in the mountain states and she wanted some extra gas in the back of the truck. He asked that since she had dual fuel tanks, she should keep one full and use the other one as her main tank. That way she would always have "a full tank" on hand. She insisted that that was where the oil went. Apparently she regulary fills this orifice with motor oil! He tried to correct her, but she said he knew nothing about trucks (he does). He asked if her oil light came on much. She said that's why she keeps adding more! He put some duct tape on the switch so she wont be "burning oil" and when she wasn't looking put some in the crank case. She called him an idiot and then he dumped her.
Rob the Audi guy on November 29, 2009 at 04:15 PM
So.... while it looks stupid at first, the guy does have a point. His lug BOLT was stuck, and he tried using a titanium tap to unscrew it. He shoved the TITANIUM tap into it, and it broke off, effectively making it impossible to "drill out" the bolt. He also had people weld things onto the bolt, but that did not work either.
All in all, a wheel like that is probably ~ $75 so I can see why he cut the wheel apart.
Car Parts on December 07, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Hmm I'm still not sure how sawing the tire off the rim is going to get the wheel off. Is he going to cut the whole hub off or what?