Pat Freeman
Well-Known Member
With 30,000 miles on my ST, I changed the oil and rotate the tires. I neglected to rotate the tires since 20,000 miles. I usually do it every time I change the oil, but was busy last time and put it off until now. After removing the lug nuts, it took quite an effort to break the wheels away from the rotors. Where the wheel meets the center/round part of the rotor, right around the hub, it was seized. It appears that the dissimilar metals of steel and this alloy aluminum 18" LTD wheel is causing a chemical reaction. There was a lot of white/yellow corrosion there. There was more on the back wheels probably because they get more water due to front tire spray. I had to kick the tire a few times to loosen it from the rotor on the back.
I scraped the corrosion away with a flat blade screwdriver and applied some anti-seize to the rotor and the wheel. Keep this in mind if anyone has an 07 or higher with the LTD 18" wheels. Keep the rotations at 5,000 miles and apply some anti-seize (like Permatex or Loctite brand) if you want to ensure no seizing to the wheel and rotor, near the hub, to prevent a future problem.
I scraped the corrosion away with a flat blade screwdriver and applied some anti-seize to the rotor and the wheel. Keep this in mind if anyone has an 07 or higher with the LTD 18" wheels. Keep the rotations at 5,000 miles and apply some anti-seize (like Permatex or Loctite brand) if you want to ensure no seizing to the wheel and rotor, near the hub, to prevent a future problem.