How do I change a flat on a 1999 Honda Civic LX?

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doulos theo

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I'm trying to change a flat on the front passenger side tire. I've removed all of the lug nuts, and the hub cap. But now I tug and tug and the wheel/tire will not come off. The hub is exposed and it appears that there is possibly an additional nut in the center holding it in. From my limited internet research, this might be an axil spindle nut. If so how to I get this off. It's huge, and My tire changing kit has not included tools to get it off. It may also be that I'm perceiving this situation wrong and the wheel is rusted on or something. I opened the car user manual and in the section that talks about changing a flat, it mentions nothing about having to remove a center nut. If there truly is an additional nut that I have to remove, I would be pretty pissed off. I noticed the flat in my garage, but I would be helpless to do anything If I was stranded somewhere away from home. It doesn't make sense that they would not include a tool to remove such a nut, for this very reason, and so I'm wondering if there is simply something that I'm missing. Any help would be appreciated.
 
A trick to always remember when changing tires is to loosen the nuts when the car is still on the ground, before you jack it up. Just loosen them so that their locks release, then jack up and remove the wheel. If it still won't work, take off all the nuts and SLOWLY let the car down, until the wheel gets a bit of weight on it. Jack it back up and see if the weight on the unbolted wheel released it. If not, get a cloth and tie it around the wheel spanner, and stick it into the wheel's spokes. Pry off the wheel with the spanner. The cloth is so you don't damage the wheel/mag/rim.

PS, removing that big nut will cause a LOT of trouble, do not touch it! Also, be carefull when removing the tire to not hook the brakepads, as this will cause the breakfluid leaking out and the brakes will then have to be bled, etc. etc.
 
the nut in middle is not removed to take tire/wheel off.....wheel is just stuck...i had a flat on a 94 toyota...removed all nuts and couldn't get it off...even put it on the ground and drove a bit with the nuts off it...then hammered it and used a pry bar....finally called for a wrecker/flat bed and the shop guy used a freaking torch to heat it and hit it with a 15 pound sledge hammer to get it to pop off...I never saw anything like it...good luck
 
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