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Car Talk Columns

November 1994


Dear Tom and Ray:

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After reading your article about the difficulty of removing rusty wheels, I thought you might like to know the easiest way. This method only works if the tires hold air and the car will run. Find a large, empty, asphalt parking lot. Loosen all the lug nuts four or five turns. Now drive the car through several figure-eights rather hard. Jack up the car and the wheels will come right off. David

Ray: Thanks for the tip, David. We've used this method ourselves on a number of occasions, although our lawyer advised us never to mention it in our column. But since you mentioned it, I guess it's OK.

Tom: It certainly does have its risks. I remember one time I was trying to remove a rusted wheel from my brother's car. But before I drove the figure eights, I took the lug nuts all the way off.

Ray: Then he called me and said "I have good news and I have bad news: The good news is your wheel came off. The bad news is the right-front fender is folded under the front axle....but only a little." 821


Changing your oil is the cheapest insurance you can buy for your car, but how often should you change it? Find out by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It! To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.


© 1994 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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