Wheels binding on drive lugs during reassembly
 

Pulled rear wheel to replace a boot and it was a bit tough to pull off once spinner was removed. Now it will not go back on and I’m afraid to tap or hit it. Pulled other rear wheel and also snug to the drive lugs and will need a tap to put back on. I’ve never noticed this before and have had all my wheels off. I also didn’t know if it was ok to use the knock off to tighten them down.

Sounds like your lugs are misaligned. Trigo sells an steel alignment tool/template just for this. Also, one or more of the lugs may have been over tightened, causing the tip to mushroom just enough to make them too snug.

It's also possible, if this has not happened before, that the misalignment fits the wheel only when the holes in the wheel are in a specific alignment with the pins. Try rotating the wheel on the hub and trying different wheel alignments.

It could also be a buildup of never seize on the pins, or in the holes in the wheel as well. Clean both thoroughly and see if that helps.

When I remove my wheels, I always reinstall them in the same position. I use the valve stem as an indicator and have the inside of one wheel pin painted white nearest the air stem. Mine are Trigo wheels. If yours are too, (you don’t mention your cars mfr.) using the wrong size hex key to tighten them can expand them as can over tightening them. As I recall there were two versions of the lug. I have spares so I can check today. Kirkham also made up sone real nice replacements but I don’t think they stock them anymore.i think the Trigo or WAW lugs were also different.... diameters and/or in length.
Blas

I had one of my 4 wheels (vintage wheel, 5 pin drive) that was very difficult to install or remove. Upon investigation, any wheel was difficult on that one hub. After conversations that involved several paths to fix the problem, I ended up using calipers to measure the dimensions between every pin relative to every other. The easiest measure was back of pin to back of pin, which would measure centerline distance plus a pin width. I learned that it was important to measure close to the end of each pin. On a hub with no problem, all measurements were +/- 0.005". Note that there is a measurement for the adjacent pins, and another for the pins that are further away.

With these measurements assembled in a matrix for each hub, I compared the problem hub to the other 3. This comparison showed that 2 pins on the troubled hub were different from all the others, most notably shorter on the measurement between the 2 furthest pins. That told me that these 2 pins were angled in a bit. I tapped each of these with a small hammer towards the outside, it did not take much force. About 0.012" later, the wheels fit perfectly on that hub. I now think it's not unusual to have the lugs/pins to be slightly off of perfect alignment. All pins and lugs were very tight. Misalignment was not caused by too little torque.

5 years later, everything is still working well! FWIW, I first suspected the wheel.....took it to the machine shop and had it checked out. Kudos to Vintage Wheels, everything was spot on.

Like several of the guys have already suggested lug movement is probably the bad boy. The challenge is finding the lug that is out of alignment. Get the Trigo alignment tool that S1965C steered you towards. Realign your drive studs and everything will fit nicely back together.


Ed