Burst McGard Locking Wheel Nut

[ShaunTheSheep]

I don't have a socket the right size (23mm) to bash onto it.

Any recommendations for which lock nut removers are best? Ideally something i can buy in a shop tomorrow.

Drilling and dremeling didn't get me anywhere :-(

EDIT: All the crap is metal from me drilling. The wheels were just refurbed and are clean underneath - save for the bashed paint where the nut let go!!

[73mark]

Garage,take them 5 minutes and cost you about £5-10

[ShaunTheSheep]

I like it... but no dice.

Brake calipers are all on my work bench in the garage (just refurbed them). Need to take the wheel off to replace disk / fit calipers / fit new pads :-)

[73mark]

Go and beg or hire a welder.Weld a nut on it and off it comes.

[SV8Predator]

[quote=ShaunTheSheep
I don't have a socket the right size (23mm) to bash onto it.


[/quote]

Go out and buy a 23mm socket?

[mybrainhurts]

[ShaunTheSheep]

So let me get this straight...

1. Leave the house to go to factors / Halfords whatever
2. Walk past the various locknut remover keys on the shelf (still after the recommendations here...)
3. Pick up a 23mm socket

Reeeeeeeally?

[wolfracesonic]

Isn't there a motoring journo' called Burst McGard? If there isn't, there should be.

[hairykrishna]

I've had some success with the laser ones in the past (sold by Halfords) but you'll need an impact driver too. It always seems a lottery as to whether you get them off. The only foolproof method, proving you have good access to the nut, is welding a nut on top of it.

I fking hate locking wheel nuts. They seem to do nothing to stop thieving scrotes yet occasionally cause a massive pain in the arse to the actual owner of the car.

[ShaunTheSheep]

wolfracesonic said:

Isn't there a motoring journo' called Burst McGard? If there isn't, there should be.

He was a famous boxer was he not?

[Mave]

I've got a set of Irwin ones, they do the job without an impact wrench. Whack them on with a club hammer then regular 1/2" socket.

[estoril]

what you need is one of these http://www.dynomec.co.uk/

or better still to go and visit this chap:

http://www.lockingwheelnutremoval.com/index.shtml

sorted out my McGard in about 2 minutes

[ShaunTheSheep]

I phoned that crowd - they don't know anyone up my way unfortunately They've got a picture on the site (the jag) with the same problem, Harder in fact since the jag wheel encloses all sides around the nut.

Phoned the RAC (linked from the dynomec site) but they only use the dynomec stuff when attending breakdowns. They don't attend broken wheel nuts. £360 to buy the dynomec kit and the blades need replacing every second use or so.

Phoned a local wheel nut removal guy, he reckoned his only option would be to recover to his workshop which isn't really practical unfortunately.

Picked up some laser extractors from Halfords, the big one (1") is just slightly too small, strange since 24mm is too big! No 23mm sockets.

Phoned a mobile welder but he's too busy, going to pass on to one of his friends see if he wants to tackle it. Can't see that it'd be worth his time though.

Looks like i'm going back to the dremel!

Really don't want to drill the stud unless i have to. The suspension is pretty crusty and replacing a stud will be a nightmare. I think i'd rather sacrifice the wheel for all the cost of one second hand...

[G600]

Spark erosion would work, not sure if there's anyone near you with the gear though but worth looking into.

[B'stard Child]

ShaunTheSheep said:

I like it... but no dice.

Brake calipers are all on my work bench in the garage (just refurbed them). Need to take the wheel off to replace disk / fit calipers / fit new pads :-)

Let me get this right

You removed the wheel - to refurb the calipers

Put wheel back on to keep car on wheels

Did the locking wheel nut up so tight that on trying to remove it next time you sheared the key

Further words fail me.......

I've got a set of these and they've fixed most peoples issues



They should require an initial tap over the nut to help the internal spiral to bite when you start to turn, impact driver helps with both.

[ShaunTheSheep]

B'stard Child said:

Did the locking wheel nut up so tight

Nope. Torqued to 120nm, same as always for this car. The other 3 wheels were fine. Key didn't get damaged or deform.

Pains me to say thanks after your wky (and frankly unnecessary) tone but thanks for the link, the kind of recommendation I was after.

[handpaper]

ShaunTheSheep said:

Nope. Torqued to 120nm, same as always for this car. The other 3 wheels were fine. Key didn't get damaged or deform.

Pains me to say thanks after your wky (and frankly unnecessary) tone but thanks for the link, the kind of recommendation I was after.

If you're not going to drive the thing before you remove and replace the wheel again, why bother torquing up the bolts at all? Gently nipped up by hand is fine.

[B'stard Child]

handpaper said:

ShaunTheSheep said:

Nope. Torqued to 120nm, same as always for this car. The other 3 wheels were fine. Key didn't get damaged or deform.

Pains me to say thanks after your wky (and frankly unnecessary) tone but thanks for the link, the kind of recommendation I was after.

If you're not going to drive the thing before you remove and replace the wheel again, why bother torquing up the bolts at all? Gently nipped up by hand is fine.

^ WHS - 120NM for wheels on a car with no freaking brakes that is going no where FFS!!!!

Hows that for tone and unnecessary....

Glad you found the link useful - if you'd been local to me I'd have run round with my set

[ShaunTheSheep]

1. Thread the nut - the fiddly part
2. Nip it up - the time consuming part
3. A quarter turn with a torque wrench - the easiest and fastest bit of the whole rigmarole

Binning #3 reveals itself to be a fairly thoughtless optimisation.

But it gets a bit worse than that when we think about it:

Thats a spigot ring now supporting load it's not designed for.

The 5 studs being subject to shear forces rather than the designed tension. Fatigue is cumulative, if it doesnt fail this time it will be more lilely to next time.

The bit that is actually designed to hold the load - the friction of the hub face against the wheel, it's left doing nothing.

I dont advocate nipping up and leaving.

[ShaunTheSheep]

Solved! No damage other than the chip when it let go.

Dremelled down the diameter of the nut. Heated the remover socket and tapped it on. Left to cool a little and hopefully heat soak the nut. A ton of plusgas (Hey I was throwing everything else at it...) then out with the bigger rattle gun.

<Tommy Cooper> jus like that!