Complain about a product or service

Toyota

Aluminum Alloy Wheels

Frank of Beach Park IL writes (2/22/01):
In performing routine 15,000 mile maintenance, one of the services to perform was tire rotation. The wheels of the vehicle would not come off. After considerable effort I was able to remove 3 of the wheels, but the 4th (rear) would not come off. After several attempts and different techniques I was unable to remove the wheel.

In complete honestly I tried to remove the wheel by means of chizeling around the hub and was unsuccessful. Natually with the wheel being aluminum alloy I did damage the inner hub of the wheel. After continued effort the only solution I had was to call the dealership. The dealership was able to free the wheel by force from the inner side of the wheel.

The dealership could not determine if the reason I could take it off because of the damage that I had sustained to it. They agreed to replace the axle hub assembly but not the wheel. In our dicussion the Service Rep. said it was quite common for aluminum lloy wheels to adhere to cast iron.

As a amateur mechanic I agreed but that my concern was that I had considerable trouble in removing all of the wheels and if I had not been home with the advantage and resources I had available to me I would not have been able to remove the wheels if I had sustained a flat or other damage. They agreed but basically said the only solution would have been to call a tow truck.

I also contacted Toyota and was basically told the same thing. I completly agree that the damage sustained on the 4th wheel was my own doing, but the fact still remained that I would have not have had to go to the extremes I did if the wheels had not adhered to the hubs. The basic situation is I was unable to perform a most basic maintenance routine task.

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