Hub-Piloted Wheels and Electrolysis

Hub-Piloted Wheels and Electolysis
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Have you ever found yourself struggling to do a simple tire rotation on your hub-piloted wheels?  Did it seem as though the wheels were welded to the hub?  This is due to galvanic electrolysis, which will literally freeze hub piloted wheels on their hub.  This situation can drive you crazy.  You may come up with a few plans to remove the wheels.  Grab a sledge hammer, hopefully your arms and back will outlast the wheel.  Put a porta power between the wheel and frame, pray that nothing flies your way.  Loosen the lugs and drive around on a bumpy road, hopefully the wheels don't fall off before you get back to the shop.  

Each of these methods has been used many times by technicians and owners, maybe even by you.  But why run the risk of bodily harm or property damage.  We offer a better solution.  A hub piloted wheel puller called the Wheel Grabber.  

Here is an excerpt from TIRE BUSINESS Magazine entitled "The challenge of frozen hub-piloted wheels".  

"It seems that an owner operator brought in a tractor with around 200,000 miles to have his tires rotated.  The vehicle was equipped with steel hubs and aluminum wheels.  During the two years the driver ran this premium make tractor, electrolysis occurred between the steel and aluminum virtually welding the wheels to the hubs. 

After much work, the truck dealer was able to remove the steer tire and wheel assemblies, but the drives would not budge. 

The service manager already had called two commercial tire dealers in his area and a few other people whom he thought might have an answer to his problem.  He learned that this trucker already had been in to see the two dealers, and they, too, had had no luck at all in removing the frozen wheels."

The article goes on to mention some of the ridiculous methods suggested by wheel companies to alleviate the problem.  They included lifting the truck with a jack and dropping it on a block placed between the duals, backing the nuts off and driving the drive axle into a curb, or driving the vehicle around performing sharp turns and abrupt braking.  

What do I do?


With a Wheel Grabber breaking the wheel free from the hub becomes a simple and safe task.  The Wheel Grabber attaches to the hand holes of the wheel with chains.  Then an impact wrench is used to turn the Forcing Screw and tighten the pulling chains until the seized wheel is free. 

The Wheel Grabber saves time and backs.  A testimonial from a Wheel Grabber user:
"I love it, the Wheel Grabber allows me to remove a set of dual tires in 20 minutes instead of the 1 1/2 hours it usually takes me by myself"

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