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MG TD TF 1500 - How to get knock-offs unstuck

My new wire wheels were put on by my very strong mechanic apparently and I got one front off with about destroying the Moss wood surround. The second front knock-off will not come off. I just went out and bought a 48 oz dead weight hammer and so far not budged. I am afraid to damage the new chrome with a copper or lead hammer - besides would they be any better than the plastic dead weight? Any hints are welcome, I am running out of new curse words.
Keith
K E MURPHY

Avery heavy lead or babbit hammer with a handle that will give you some leverage. Lead or Babbit won't harm the chrome. Cheers - Dave
D W DuBois

Go for the lead as Dave says. Its the only way to get them on or off. If you don't put them on tight you will ruin your splines.
Christopher Couper

First of all, don't forget there are left handed and right handed threads, so make sure you're wrenching in the correct direction.

My wife suggests WD40 for every situation, and I don't argue with her.

You might grab some wood, like a short 2 x 4, to set it on one of knockoff ears and bop on that with a very heavy hammer. I use a short handled 4lb hammer for just such occassions. I'd strike lightly at first and then harder to get its attention and keep on watching the ear that it doesn't start to deform.

I've fabricated steel wrenchs for both the knockoffs and the Octagon wheel nuts, with handles about 2' long.
JRN JIM

The wood tools are useless. They fall apart with a few uses.

I've been hammering these things on and off for over 20 years. The only tool that I've found that does zero damage is a lead (or faux lead) hammer. Moss and others sell them for around $20. You can hammer as hard as you like and they won't leave a scratch or dent. Eventually the hammer wears down and must be replaced. For me, that's about every two years. At any one time I have 4 or 5 of these hammers in the garage. And yes, in my experience they work much better than the plastic ones because you can hit with harder, more secure blows. I've found that plastic tends to glace off too easily.

Do be careful however, how tight you put the spinners on. It is possible to over-tighten them, which distorts the inner mating surface. Over time, the hub will spread so much that the wheel moves inward far enough for the hub to contact the brake drum nuts. At this point you have a safety issue because the spinner may loosen itself and since the inner mating surface is a friction surface, the splines also take a beating. As a side effect of extreme cases, spoke tension also goes down.

Good and snug, but don't sit there hammering the snot out of it!
Steve S

These on our 72 have been beat on since 2005 with a pure lead hammer and they look like they just came out of the box! I've replaced the hammer once, as it takes all the abuse and gets quite distorted. All the wheels come off and get detailed before every show. The wood things are trash and a waste of money, you can't get the nuts tight enough without splitting the wood. PJ



Paul S Jennings

Thanks guys. Very helpful to me! I finally got off after 45 minutes and 100's of whacks. I think I will get a lead hammer- originals were copper weren't they? The advice on the wood is right, almost tore it up. The lead hammer on the wood seem to work better than the 4 lb plastic dead weight hammer on the wood for some reason. I put light grease on the hub where it contacts the spinner and anti seize on the spinner threads - any reason not to or am I ok to do this. Put anti seize on splines too. Everything is new.
K E MURPHY

My "Thor" is copper on one side and leather on the other. Seems to work well.
David Sheward 55 TF1500 # 7427

Copper hammers do dent the spinner ears. They work great and last a long time, but unless you are very gentle, the chrome will be damaged over time.

Go ahead and grease everything, but limit what you put on the rear tapered face. You need friction here to reduce stress on the splines. A light oil is good in a dry climate, just to prevent corrosion. If you have to use grease, use it sparingly. Spread on, wipe off, leaving only a residual layer. It's worked well for me for many years.
Steve S

What Steve S. Said a couple posts ago. Don't over tighten. Snug up tight but don't hammer the sh*t out of them..

Brian W.
ZBMan

I found that a kettle of boiling water helps unstick stuck spinners nicely :-)
Dave
D Moore

I bought a 6 lb hammer from these folks a few years ago:

http://www.americanhammer.com/

It is the one on the first page of their website. It was the only thing that got the spinners off my E-type after they'd been on for about 8 years without removal.

They used to have a significant discount for car club members of various marques. Email them and ask.
David Littlefield

This thread was discussed between 06/06/2014 and 09/06/2014

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