2003 X-type, 30k miles, not long after we bought it: So one evening my wife and I were driving back home from Houston and I suffered a tire failure on my left front tire. It shredded quite out of the blue, and I don't think I ran over any road debris. I pull over out in the country and proceed to jack it up and swap with the spare (yes, I carry a flashlight or torch as my UK friends call it). The problem came with trying to get the tire off the car. With all lug nuts off, I couldn't budge it off the hub. Finally, a highway patrol came along and stopped. He had a huge criss-cross lug wrench which I was able to stick through the wheel spokes and get it moving by leveraging against the brake rotor (sorry). I've never experienced anything like that.

Subsequently, we figured out that the Continentals that were on the car, despite still having decent tread, were likely the original tires and perhaps had never been off the car. And we found out the car was from a cold weather state, so maybe they were somewhat glued on there by road salt and grime. We purchased new tires (Goodyear F1's) and the guys at the tire shop had to beat the remaining tires off by using a tire/wheel as a rubber hammer and slinging them roundhouse into the existing tire multiple times until they finally broke them off. I mean they had to really put the muscle into it, I feared they might knock the car off the lift.

I have been around cars like forever and have never had this experience. The tire guys said that every now and then they get one like this. Just a word to the wise, you may want to do a tire change in the driveway every once in a while to see if you could get them off in case of a flat out on the highway.

 

Very sound advice, and you're not the only one to mention a similar story to this one. Most won't do it, however. Gets their hands dirty...and it'll never happen to them.

Be safe!

 

Alloy wheels don't like steel hubs. The result is they kind of seize in place. Get yourself some steelie rims and all will be solved. Even removing them annually on a couple cars I needed to use a BFH to pound them off. A little grease on the hub helps out (careful where you put it though) but only lasts for about a year.

 

Ahah Benebob! You've put your finger right on electrolytic corrosion which happens between dis-similar metals in electrical contact when wet, esp. with conductive salty or acid water. Remember the trouble with aluminium cyl. heads and cast iron blocks? Trouble that is if you didn't use antifreeze with the corrosion inhibitor. The corrosion actually occupies more space than the original metal, hence the seizure. Its the same with reinforced concrete rot, the refo bars rust, expand, then crack-off the concrete. Unless you take steps during construction that is. Which cost money. Which sometimes doesn't get done. Which leads to concrete rot years later. But by then the culprit has disappeared.
Leedsman.

 

Sometimes it helps to loosen the lugnuts and roll the car a few feet. The weight of the car will sometimes break them loose.

 

get a tub of never seize and coat the wheel where it contacts the hub,also the studs and the outside of the nuts. then corectly tourque the lugs

 

same happened on my SII the mating faces of the alloy wheels and the alloy hubs are very well machined and the grease had turned to glue beat the heck out of them with a rubber mallet