Driving with mismatched wheels...(locking nut key failure)
Discussion
Hi all,
I was midway doing the yearly swap over to winter wheels on the Golf when the locking nut key disintegrated as if it were made of cheese. Looks like Costco way over-torqued the nuts when they changed the tyres in the spring.
I've ended up with 205/55/16 Goodyear Ultragrip 9 winters on the NSF and OSR and Michelin Pilot Sport 2 225/45/17 summers on the NSR and OSF which is sub-optimal.
I'm imagining the handling on this combination is going to be...odd and unpredictable. What's the best option here?
1. Drive 15 miles to VW to get them to swap the nuts using their master key. (I read they don't do spares for locking nut keys and only do full replacement sets?)
2. Drive 200 m to the local garage and get them to use their "master key" and fit normal nuts in place of the locking nuts.
3. Get some kind of Halfords tool and try and remove it myself.
4. Get the AA out. I don't have the at home cover unfortunately.
I was midway doing the yearly swap over to winter wheels on the Golf when the locking nut key disintegrated as if it were made of cheese. Looks like Costco way over-torqued the nuts when they changed the tyres in the spring.
I've ended up with 205/55/16 Goodyear Ultragrip 9 winters on the NSF and OSR and Michelin Pilot Sport 2 225/45/17 summers on the NSR and OSF which is sub-optimal.
I'm imagining the handling on this combination is going to be...odd and unpredictable. What's the best option here?
1. Drive 15 miles to VW to get them to swap the nuts using their master key. (I read they don't do spares for locking nut keys and only do full replacement sets?)
2. Drive 200 m to the local garage and get them to use their "master key" and fit normal nuts in place of the locking nuts.
3. Get some kind of Halfords tool and try and remove it myself.
4. Get the AA out. I don't have the at home cover unfortunately.
Personally, I'd just drive to vw.
Looking at the state of some of the cars on roads tyres and the fact they haven't destroyed themselves I think that driving with care knowing what you do would be perfectly safe.
I've seen people drive on space savers for weeks at a time.
ETA: obviously of you want to go to the garage do that, basically, can't see it being an issue.
Looking at the state of some of the cars on roads tyres and the fact they haven't destroyed themselves I think that driving with care knowing what you do would be perfectly safe.
I've seen people drive on space savers for weeks at a time.
ETA: obviously of you want to go to the garage do that, basically, can't see it being an issue.
Mixed tyre sizes across axles will not pass an MOT so your decision is do you want a potential pull, points and a fine on driving in an unroadworthy condition?
I wouldn’t consider it ‘unsafe’ but I can’t imagine your ABS and stability systems enjoying any rolling circumference differential between the two tyres.
I wouldn’t consider it ‘unsafe’ but I can’t imagine your ABS and stability systems enjoying any rolling circumference differential between the two tyres.
Take the car and whatever tyres you want fitted to any nearby backstreet garage and ask them to fit them. They should have no trouble taking the old ones off regardless of the locking nuts/bolts.
I wouldn't mind driving a mile or two on mismatched tyres as long as it has an open diff, but even an open diff won't like driving any distance.
I wouldn't mind driving a mile or two on mismatched tyres as long as it has an open diff, but even an open diff won't like driving any distance.
The drama Queens have already posted, the difference in tyre size is barely a couple of mm so no it's not going to destroy your differential, your gearbox or upset all the on board computers.
If you care about your alloys contact vw and source a new key, if you are not so fussed go to any tyre fitting place and they should have key extractors but there is a slight risk of damaging the bolt hole/surrounding area.
Oh an blaming costco, when I last had tyres fitted there they told me to come back in a week and they would check /torque the nuts again... Did you do that?
If you care about your alloys contact vw and source a new key, if you are not so fussed go to any tyre fitting place and they should have key extractors but there is a slight risk of damaging the bolt hole/surrounding area.
Oh an blaming costco, when I last had tyres fitted there they told me to come back in a week and they would check /torque the nuts again... Did you do that?
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