Help needed please - Tips on removing dual rear wheels for a newbie to duallys
 

So I need to aid air to the rear tires and they all have regular valve (short) stems on them. I probably could get the air chuck on the outside tires but no way to get to the inside tires on the rear without removing the outside rear tires first.

I thought nothing of it other than "I'm removing a tire" which I have done who knows how many times in my life. But when it took me over an hour and a half just to remove the two stuck on simulators (the ones that cover the lug nuts) I realized there might be more to this than meets the eye. I also see it as good to know what is involved incase I have to do it on the side of the road some day.

So I did a few quick seraches and read all kinds of horror stories about how the rims will stick to each other and can freeze together etc... I have factory steel rims and I do not know when they last came off.

What are the basics to keep in mind and what are some tips to overcoming the stuck wheels?

I have to get them off because I can "see" the inside rear tires are low and the fronts only have 35 PSI in them so I'd imagine the rears are not at the suggested 55 PSI.

This by the way is a new to me (two weeks now) used 96 GMC Sierra SLE K3500 Dually with a utility bed on the back.

Any help is greatly appreciated and any tips on how to make future removals easier as well please.

Thank you!

~GOD BLESS~

john

Okay, this peaked my interest cause I thought they are like single rear wheels and they are, but I guess they often get "stuck" together as things tend to do with all the stress and pressure they receive when driving and especially cornering. So I read the best thing to do is to just spray a lubricant, WD-40 or similar thing, and let it work its way in and then hit around the tire with a rubber mallet.

Sounds like it is just like removing a normal tire, just on duallys they tend to get stuck together.

How to Remove Dually Tires | eHow.com

Thank you for the link - they make it sound easy. I had not read that one but had foud several forum posts from f350 and Dodge forums that made it sound like the rims literraly fuse together and that the alloys can be real bad about it. I have steel rims.

They suggested everything from the hammer method, to driving a short distance with loose lug nuts:td: To the penetrate spray to even using a bottle jack from one side and a long (cut to fit) 2X4 that goes over to the side you have the lug nuts off on and then pump the jack until it 'pops' off the rim. I even saw a mention to a youtube video that showed someone using chains hooked to the rim and then pulling it with either a tractor or another vehicle! I can't watch youtube here at work but that seemed a little extreme. In all cases on the forums they do reccomend using antiseze compound between the two rims and on the hub to make furure removals easier.

I had thought nothing of it (got rained out last weekend right after removing the center caps) but when I googled it it was an eye opener. Good news is I will be in my driveway with a new 4 ton jack :tu: and some 6 ton jack stands. Unfortunately my big compressor is down for the moment (the big one I use for the impact wrnech) I do have a small one to inflate the tires and a long breaker bar incase the last place ran their wrench too long.

I just thought I would see if it was all the posts made it out to sound like. Hopefuly it will be easy with some PB Blaster sprayed on to losen things and a prayer to begin it!

~GOD BLESS~

john

I might have a million dollar idea here, why not custom make a rubber "gasket," if you will, that fits perfectly between the two tires and you can put grease or anti-seize on them and then this won't happen anymore, Unless the rubber melts to the steel, then it would be messy. But even so, they should put gaskets that are non-stick in between the tires to keep this from happening. All you got to do is keep metal-metal contact it seems like and it would work amazingly, shoot a piece of cardboard probably do the trick.

Yes the tractor thing seems extreme, probably pull the pickup off the jack if I ever tried it, :jump:.

Coat the wheels where they go against each other with high temp grease and a sledge hammer works pretty well I have do do this with my Kodiak seems to work well on it

ive had too take a peice of wood 4x4 post and tied it acrost the rim /tire that way ya have something too hit the wheel on start with the board running up and down hit it hard a few times turn the board 90 degrees then repeat when ya doo get em off antiseize is a most cleaning up the hub face and painting it will help stop the rust

OK - So I was not crazy as there are others who have had the same problem. I appreciate the ideas and the suggestions. I have plenty of wood and paint, high temp grease and anti sieze etc... I will also have plenty of time as I am going t wait until Saturday to try again.

Hopefully it will not be a battle of epic proportions - but I also want to prep them for future removals as well. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again!

~GOD BLESS~

john

1996 GMC 3500 SLE 4X4 crew cab dually. Bone stock 6.5 with the NV4500 manual 5 speed tranny. Utility bed, two new batteries and cables. Replaced IP about 20K miles ago. 193K miles. Runs and starts smooth and strong. Kinda' quiet too.

Sledge hammer to get them off and plenty of anti sieze will make it easier next time. Don't put gaskets or anything between them, the rims don't freeze together but rather freeze to the hub. With the right air chuck and guage you can check them and air them up on the truck. Longer valve stems on the inners also helps. :c:

Great info - Thanks. I will give it another try this weekend. I am also looking at needing to replace the tires in about 5K - 10K miles so I will look into longer valve stems then.

~GOD BLESS~

john

Thank you for the "real advice"
 

I meant to include in my last post that I wanted to thank everyone for providing real advice on this forum. I was reading an old thread about stuck on dual rear wheels on another forum and someone posted "If you don't know how to change the tires why did you buy the truck!" - That kind of advice gets the thread and the orginal poster no closer to obtaining their needed information at all.
I appreciate this forum very much!

~GOD BLESS~

john

If the tire shop says they don't have the longer stems go to a comercial dealer that services tractor trailers and so on, they will be able to hook you up with what you need. :c:

OK I was also told... And do you rotate tires on a dually?
 

I was also told by the local tire shop that their allingement rack might be too short to do an allingement and I might need to go to a commercial dealer to get it alligned. It does not pull to either side now and stops straight. Tires on it now look to be wearing even. But if I get new tires (in a few months) I'll want to get it alligned.

Also do you rotate tires on a dually? I found mixed answers to this in my research. I'd be happy to rotate them myself as long as the balance was still good or do you typically no rotate them?

Going to gsome anti-sieze today and work on removing them tomorrow in the driveway under the sunny Saturday sky...

~GOD BLESS~

john

The problem with rotating on a dually is your front wheels are only nice on the outside, rear outers are nice on the inside, and inners arn't nice at all. So basically if your rims are all rusty and you don't care about them go for it, if you wanna keep your rims lookin nice then the only way to rotate is to dismount the tires and keep the rims where they are. :c:

Thank you all for your help - project was a success!
 

Great news - Update!

We (my son and I) went after the rear wheels this weekend and they did not put up much of a fight. I had sprayed them down best I could last weekend (so a week ago) with PB Blaster and let it soak all week.

The outside wheels came off with just a few hits. The inner wheels needed a little more coaxing. But they too came off. It was not so much wheel stuck to wheel but rim stuck to the hub as suggested a few lines above.

I cleaned the hubs and then wire brushed the rims on both sides as well as the ring for the chrome simulators. Then we coated everything with anti-sieze and put it all back on. The rear tires had 3 with 28PSI and 1 with 32 PSI. Supposed to be 55 PSI. The front were 30 pounds low each as well. With the proper air it feels like , when driving the truck, you are sitting a few inches higher! rides better and i'm expecting an improvement in mpg.

Thank you all for the tips and advice. Also now they should come right off when I get some replacement tires when the tax man pays up!

As for rotating since I am running the simulators I could rotate and just move the simulators around.

~GOD BLESS~

john

Well that's good news.