How to tell if my car alloy wheels have a lock?

[cartyre]

Hello all,

I am getting my alloys refurbished and the company who are doing it said make sure you give us the locking key if it has one. I have searched my whole car and cant find a lock anywhere, the alloys have a cover on the front so its not obvious if they have a lock on them. How can I tell if there is a lock on my alloys? If I take the cover off and take a picture and post it will people be able to tell me if they have a lock on them?

thanks in advance.

[E-bmw]

Just take the cover off, have a look & if one of the bolt/not heads is different, you need to find something in the car to remove them.

If you are REALLY stuck just phone the local main dealer & they will tell you where they are usually kept, as most have a specific slot for them.

[cartyre]

Thanks, is it easy to remove the cover? how do I do it?

If I remove the cover and take a photo and post it could you tell me?

[Pericoloso]

You haven't said what car it is.
Take a pic of your wheel and we may be able to help.

[jjohnson23]

Is this a wind up?
Do people really have so little knowledge?

[cartyre]

Its a 2005 PEUGEOT 307 S HDI

This is not a wind up and its actually taking alot of my time trying to figure it out, so am appreciate of the help.

[DuraAce]

cartyre said:

Its a 2005 PEUGEOT 307 S HDI

This is not a wind up and its actually taking alot of my time trying to figure it out, so am appreciate of the help.

If you want a definitive answer you need to post pictures.

More than one style of wheel was fitted. What if they are aftermarket wheels? It probably flicks off with a screwdriver but might have its own key.

We haven't got a crystal ball you know!

[Stenasev]

First post a picture of the cover then someone will tell you how to remove it.

Then post a picture of the bolts and someone will tell you if you have locking bolts or not.

Of course you may have locks on only one, two or three wheels.....

[227bhp]

If one bolt looks different to all the others then you can be pretty sure it's lockable. Take all the plastic covers off and look, Peugeot provide a tool to do this.

[cartyre]

Thanks all for your very patient and helpful replies.

Heres a picture of the tyre without the covers over them.

All the tyres look the same.

Hope someone can tell me if it looks like there needs to be a locking key for the alloys.

[talksthetorque]

Not locking nuts.
Check the other three wheels as well, if they're the same you're OK

[cartyre]

Thanks, yes the other wheels are also the same as on this picture.Thanks so much!

[E-bmw]

So where is the cover that you said prevented you from seeing them?

[DuraAce]

Small plastic cap on top of each individual nut perhaps?

Nothing like an accurate question is there OP?!

[cartyre]

DuraAce said:

Small plastic cap on top of each individual nut perhaps?

Nothing like an accurate question is there OP?!

This is very rude and presumptuous, my question was accurate, even though your rudly suggesting that it was not. I had removed the plastic caps at a later stage. I managed to get the plastic caps off after "some" posters were helpful.

For the other helpful understanding posters, I would like to please ask, my tyres were loosing pressure and I was told it is because the alloys have corroded. I am now getting the alloys refurbished, do you think this is the best course of action rather than another course? ie brand new alloys etc? will this stop the tyres going down the alloys being refurbished? Cant we just but a whole new alloy? wont that be better than just a refurbishment? thanks.

Edited by cartyre on Sunday 14th January 13:06

[E-bmw]

Most likely is the possibility that there is crud/deposits/loss of coating in the area of the tyre bead, this will cause what you say & will likely be cured by the refurb, although it is likely that a good clean with wire brush/scouring pad in this area would have equally good results.

[cartyre]

Thanks, Kwikfit said they were totally corroded though.

Cant we just but a whole new alloy? wont that be better than just a refurbishment?

[TooMany2cvs]

cartyre said:

Thanks, Kwikfit said they were totally corroded though.

I'd double check if KF told me what date it was.

cartyre said:

Cant we just but a whole new alloy? wont that be better than just a refurbishment?

"Refurb" effectively means stripping and repainting. Sure, you can buy new wheels. But they'll be a lot more expensive, and do basically the same job.

[cartyre]

Thanks, very helpful.

Now I am only interested in getting the corroded part of the alloy fixed so it fits properly and stops the tyres loosing pressure. So Im only interested in getting the part of the alloy fixed so tyres wont loose pressure and I have alloy booked in for a refurbishment which is expensive, could I not just ask them to save money and only fix the part that needed to be fixed as Im not bothered about the out side or any other parts getting done that will make no difference to solviing the issue I am trying to address?

[JagerT]

Take the car to a tyre fitters,(not quickfit) tell them the tyres are losing pressure and could be leaking past the rims.Ask them to clean up the rims and check
that there are no slow punctures while they're at it,a proper tyre place should do this anyway.