Locking wheel nuts - why bother!!?
Discussion
Really annoyed at the moment, one of my locking wheel nuts is seized on solid. It's the flower type pattern... I was literally on the last wheel, I'd spent ages bashing the back wheels as they'd jammed solid too, finally thought the last front would be a doddle.
Called Skoda assist who sent an RAC patrol out to me, even he couldn't shift the damn thing and that was with an impact hammer. The bolt has slightly rounded now, but the removal key does go on the bolt and seat on it but there's just enough slack now so that it just skips off when any significant pressure is applied.
The last place to have the wheels off was the Skoda main dealer at the last service. Obviously that's just my word for it, but would it be worth getting them to take a look, stressing the point that it has clearly been overtightened by some spanner monkey with an impact drill? Or maybe I should just try a decent independent tyre place first?
Last time I had this, the key had to be drilled out, pretty much writing off an alloy wheel in the process. Fortunately it was all part of an insurance repair so a wheel was added to the claim. But I'd be fuming if I end up with a bill for a new wheel this time!
Called Skoda assist who sent an RAC patrol out to me, even he couldn't shift the damn thing and that was with an impact hammer. The bolt has slightly rounded now, but the removal key does go on the bolt and seat on it but there's just enough slack now so that it just skips off when any significant pressure is applied.
The last place to have the wheels off was the Skoda main dealer at the last service. Obviously that's just my word for it, but would it be worth getting them to take a look, stressing the point that it has clearly been overtightened by some spanner monkey with an impact drill? Or maybe I should just try a decent independent tyre place first?
Last time I had this, the key had to be drilled out, pretty much writing off an alloy wheel in the process. Fortunately it was all part of an insurance repair so a wheel was added to the claim. But I'd be fuming if I end up with a bill for a new wheel this time!
t load from selling the lost keys for 40 quid a time. The profit made is way way more than any loses ever incurred by ownersAgree. I would be more worried if I had whatever popular 20inch BMW wheels are being pinched at the moment, but I had a problem a couple of years ago and was driving with a mixture of summer/winter tyres for a couple of days while I waited for new keys from mcgard in Germany. Wrote off 2 keys and chucked the locking wheel nuts in the bin when they came off.
If the key is just about gripping but slipping off when pressure is applied then I have a suggestion...
Get your wheel nut key, correct socket, a short half inch extension, a breaker bar and an axle stand. Put the socket and extension and everything in place on the wheel nut, place the axle stand tight under the extension, now get someone to lean against a wall or something and put pressure on the socket/extension/breaker bar to keep it pushed in to the nut, then try and turn it.
I hope that makes sense, I have done this a few times and it can save a lot of hassle.
Get your wheel nut key, correct socket, a short half inch extension, a breaker bar and an axle stand. Put the socket and extension and everything in place on the wheel nut, place the axle stand tight under the extension, now get someone to lean against a wall or something and put pressure on the socket/extension/breaker bar to keep it pushed in to the nut, then try and turn it.
I hope that makes sense, I have done this a few times and it can save a lot of hassle.
vrsmxtb said:
it has clearly been overtightened by some spanner monkey with an impact drill? Or maybe I should just try a decent independent tyre place first?
I've had exactly the same with a BMW dealer - put 2 new tyres on when I bought the car but killed the locking wheelnuts in the process. Also drilled off the Alpina centre caps but that's a story for a different day!After the dealer denied doing it, I took it to my local indie tyre place & he somehow welded on a socket & removed them that way. Charged me an outrageous £20 for doing it & a 4-pack of lager!
He said the locking wheelnuts should never be tightened up with the gun but done manually with a wrench - don't know how true that is but makes sense to me.
As for why bother - I've got back to the car having parked it at an extortionate cost in a Manchester City Centre NCP to find someone had removed all my wheel nuts apart from the locking ones. I was very grateful for them that night....
Edited by northwest monkey on Sunday 10th November 14:40
northwest monkey said:
As for why bother - I've got back to the car having parked it at an extortionate cost in a Manchester City Centre NCP to find someone had removed all my wheel nuts apart from the locking ones. I was very grateful for them that night....
After finding the first locking nut why would they continue to remove the rest of the nuts? Unless there was four people on the job and everyone chose to ignore the locker until the rest where out... I'm not disputing your story just questioning the logic of the person/people that did it.
P I Staker said:
If the key is just about gripping but slipping off when pressure is applied then I have a suggestion...
Get your wheel nut key, correct socket, a short half inch extension, a breaker bar and an axle stand. Put the socket and extension and everything in place on the wheel nut, place the axle stand tight under the extension, now get someone to lean against a wall or something and put pressure on the socket/extension/breaker bar to keep it pushed in to the nut, then try and turn it.
I hope that makes sense, I have done this a few times and it can save a lot of hassle.
Nice idea, that's exactly what in theory I think it needs. However with my luck anything I try will probably end up with more problems caused eg. snapping the key or rounding the pattern cut in the bolt even more. Think I'll let a "professional" deal with it.Get your wheel nut key, correct socket, a short half inch extension, a breaker bar and an axle stand. Put the socket and extension and everything in place on the wheel nut, place the axle stand tight under the extension, now get someone to lean against a wall or something and put pressure on the socket/extension/breaker bar to keep it pushed in to the nut, then try and turn it.
I hope that makes sense, I have done this a few times and it can save a lot of hassle.
What's the consensus then, have a bit of an assertive chat with the last main dealer to touch the wheels? I figure if there are any complications, I'm in a slightly better position as I bought the car from them and I do feel they are partially at fault here. My usual tyre place uses torque wrenches and never had an issue before.
Or just get a decent tyre place to take a look first?
vrsmxtb said:
Nice idea, that's exactly what in theory I think it needs. However with my luck anything I try will probably end up with more problems caused eg. snapping the key or rounding the pattern cut in the bolt even more. Think I'll let a "professional" deal with it.
What's the consensus then, have a bit of an assertive chat with the last main dealer to touch the wheels? I figure if there are any complications, I'm in a slightly better position as I bought the car from them and I do feel they are partially at fault here. My usual tyre place uses torque wrenches and never had an issue before.
Or just get a decent tyre place to take a look first?
The main dealer will probably just deny it and say that all wheels nuts are torqued to the correct specs. What's the consensus then, have a bit of an assertive chat with the last main dealer to touch the wheels? I figure if there are any complications, I'm in a slightly better position as I bought the car from them and I do feel they are partially at fault here. My usual tyre place uses torque wrenches and never had an issue before.
Or just get a decent tyre place to take a look first?
I would take it to somewhere you trust and they should be able to find a way to remove them.
PhillipM said:
They're fine, so long as some monkey hasn't rattled them up or been a dumbass and gone FT with a big extention bar. I've had my wheels off more than I've had hot dinners and every one of my wheel bolts is a locking nut, never had an issue.
They must be some valuable wheels!!Yeah, they are fine if they're done up correctly but many places clearly don't bother.
At least you're not stranded on the side of the road in the dark when it 's raining having had a flat tyre! I have never understood why garage/dealer technicians can't torque wheel nuts up properly. I now always remove wheels from new cars, add a thin smear of anti seize to the hub face as well as a touch of anti-seize on the wheel nuts/bolts and torque them up correctly. Saves a lot of hassle later on. After the car has been in for a service (and especially after being at the tyre fitters) I also immediately back off the wheel nuts/bolts and re-torque them all correctly - only takes a few minutes to do all four wheels.
Garvin said:
At least you're not stranded on the side of the road in the dark when it 's raining having had a flat tyre! I have never understood why garage/dealer technicians can't torque wheel nuts up properly. I now always remove wheels from new cars, add a thin smear of anti seize to the hub face as well as a touch of anti-seize on the wheel nuts/bolts and torque them up correctly. Saves a lot of hassle later on. After the car has been in for a service (and especially after being at the tyre fitters) I also immediately back off the wheel nuts/bolts and re-torque them all correctly - only takes a few minutes to do all four wheels.
True, although knowing one of my wheels won't come off is a slight worry, tempting fate and all that....Pretty sure there was a bit of a hoohaa on here once about putting anti seize on wheel bolts....
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