Hammered Rims (part 1)

After many months of looking at Hapy under a big gray cover, I finally got to play with him a little bit. So, today's post is a triumphant return to posting about the bus. It got long, so it's been split into multiple posts.

Where Were We?

rear left tire

3 years ago, I replaced the 14-inch stock steel rims. The tires had not been replaced in 10 years, so they had become dangerous, and I did not want to get another set of tiny tires. Instead, I got a set of 16-inch rims for $200 from a Vanagon guy out the Portland Eastside. These are "aluminum" which I put in quotes because they aren't pure aluminum; they wouldn't be strong enough if they were pure aluminum. They are an alloy. Does that matter? Well, sort of. Pure aluminum wouldn't rust to my steel hubs. The alloys within the not-pure rims allows for that possibility. Enter today's fun. I wanted to check the brakes, knowing that the system needed a fluid refresh, the rear cylinders needed to be replaced and all of the other components needed a looking at.

Wheel Stuck
With brakes in mind, I cracked the torque on the passenger side rear wheel and got Hapy up on a jack stand. I loosened the nuts and grabbed the tire... it wouldn't budge. Hmm.. I tried a few leverage ideas. No luck. So, I tried some internet ideas that didn't work even after I shot the snot out of the mating points with PB Blaster and the Lucas Oil alternative (Tool Box Buddy).

Have the nuts loosely threaded onto the studs and....
1) swiftly drop the bus off a jack
In theory, this would "pop" the rust seal. This didn't work. It sounded dangerous in the first place, honestly, and I would not encourage this. Best case, the wheel comes free. Worst case, the wheel comes free and bends or defaces a stud. Then what?

2) rock the bus (your car) back and forth
This assumes that the bus/car is back on the ground with the nuts loosened. The idea is, you rock the car/bus side-to-side, not front to back. This didn't work, but I liked it better than roughly dropping the bus from a height.

3) drive the bus forward and back, slamming on the brakes
This idea had some controversy on the net. There were those pointing out that you should never drive around without your lug nuts tight. Having helped another person who had a wheel fall off when the nuts hadn't been tightened, I understand the fear. I tried it anyway. It didn't work.

4) drive the bus around in a figure 8 pattern
Like number 3 above, this has the same controversy. After this didn't work, I combined numbers 3 and 4 together, but that also didn't work.

5) drive the bus off curbs
Doesn't this feel like we're just getting into more and more dangerous ideas? What's next, drive the bus off a loading dock? Yeah, I drove it off the curb anyway, albeit slowly, like under 10mph. This didn't work either.

Hammering
So, then I started looking at even more aggressive ideas. Again, nuts loosely on so the rim doesn't completely fall off and start rolling away on you...

6) while holding a block of wood against the inside of the rim (you're under the car now), whack it with a 4# sledge hammer
I started with my hand way choked up on the handle so it was almost touching the hammerhead. It made no difference. I moved further and further out on the handle, and rotated the wheel so I made contact all the way around. No difference. By the end of this effort, I was holding the sledge at the end of the handle, using a full arm swing as I struck the rubber tire (wood got totally smashed anyway and I needed both hands to swing hammer). It was a great workout, and I could see the entire rim shudder, but it wouldn't give.

Since this seemed like the most probable option, I then started a daily routine of spraying with a penetrant (PB Blaster, LucasOil Tool Box Buddy) and then hammering. Meanwhile, I started looking at options for how I could cut the rims off, recognizing that I would need new rims and tires afterwards (so, signing up for $1000US of unplanned cost). Plus new rotors and drums, pads and shoes for another three hundred, now that they are all coated in oil. Neat.

Lets Get Crazy
7) wrecking bar
I tried putting a wrecking bar (looks like an old man's cane, but it's super strong steel) behind the rim, with the 90* bend against the drum. By pressing against the end of the bar, there's considerable leverage. Just pulling or pushing on the bar didn't work. Then, I tried hammering on the end of the bar with the 4# sledge. That didn't work either, but the way it bounced off the rim, it told me that was a bad idea. I could have hurt myself or the bus from the recoil. So, dear reader: don't hammer the bar.

8) put a tire jack between the frame and the rim
Yes, this sounds crazy, but I tried it anyway, after a week of daily application of penetrating oil. This didn't work either. Nor did more hammering, changing to a different penetrating oil (Kano Labs' Kroil)... gasp. pant pant pant.

9) trucker chain and a gear puller

This time, I grabbed some trucker's chain. If you haven't used or seen these, its about 20' long, super thick and has a hook on each end so you can make a loop and have it hook on itself. I used this chain with a come-along to move Hapy around the yard 10 years ago mid-engine swap at the old homestead. Anyway, I took this chain and weaved it around the mags: under over under over. Once pulled tight, I hooked it up so it was a closed loop. I used this chain as a grab-point for my 3-arm gear puller as you can see in the picture above. These pullers are supposed to be pretty strong, so I figured with some steady pull pressure, maybe the wheel would pop. Nope. Instead, I broke the gear puller. You can see one of the bolts sheared off in the picture here, circled in red.

Delayed Maintenance
The more I looked at ways to get after the rims, the more I realized how much delayed maintenance lay beyond them. I haven't ever serviced the wheel bearings. Yeah, that's really bad. I know the wheel cylinders for the rear brakes need replacing. The brake fluid is crazy old. The whole underside needs a lube job. Regardless of how this resolves for the rims, I have quite a bit of work ahead and camping season starts in like a month! Feeling the pressure, I switched gears again.

Give Up and Hire Someone
10) hire a mobile mechanic
I called up the MobilePDX guys. Courtney and company have pulled me out of a few jams with various cars. From removing the stripped lower control arm bolts on Flash to the no-start problem on the A4, they have been great. Courtney arrived with a massive sledge-hammer and set to working on the front passenger-side rim (protected with a thick piece of wood). After a few swings, he could tell that it wasn't going to happen. While the ring of the hammer-on-rim persisted in the air like a church bell, he advised I take it to a tire shop who have better tools and do this kind of thing every day.

11) tire shop

I decided that I wasn't enthusiastic about these rims anyway. They are 16", which for some cars would be small, but on the bus they look a little too matchbox-car-ish, especially the rear wheel. At least to me. More importantly, they are 7" (or maybe 7.5") wide so the footprint is fairly wide. This creates more stability, but also rolling resistance. The biggest issue is trying to turn the steering wheel when the bus isn't moving. That creates considerable pressure on a 50 year old worm/peg style steering box.

So, I bought a new set of 15" rims that are 6" wide that should fit, based on my calculations. Again, a bus rim needs to be 5x112 bolt pattern with a center bore of at least 67mm (new set has a centerbore of 73mm). The stock offset (ET) is 39, so the new rims need to be in that ballpark. These new ones are ET35, so with the increased width, these will fit in the wheel wells. Assuming everything goes as expected, I'll have them mount highway tires onto the rims, since we don't really go off road in this bus, and the highway tread should be quieter than an aggressive off-road tread would have been. If there's room, I may introduce a spacer between the rim and drum/rotor so future removal isn't nearly this much of a pain-in-the-ass. All this depends on the tire shop getting these rims off.

Once I get back from the tire shop with new shoes (and spacer decision made), I'll post a follow up. At this point, I am on the calendar at the local Firestone (no more Les Schwab for me) for next weekend. Thanks, as always for following along.