Are locking wheel nuts useless

[thinfourth2]

Locking wheels nuts

They don't stop your wheels being nicked and more then likely the tool will break or go missing at some point leaving you scuppered trying to get the bloody wheel off

Why on earth do people even bother with them

[eybic]

They prevent an opportunist thief taking your wheels do they not?

Decent quality ones wont break but yes the cheapo ones (trilok etc) are ste and will cease to be usefull quite quickly however Mcguard etc are good quality and I've not had any issues with them.

[HellDiver]

I take them off any car I get that has them. After 3 Vauxhalls I've had needing lots of work to get broken locking nuts off, I had my fill. The parent's Mazda had them, they broke. My OH's brand new i30 had them, started to take them off and the key started cracking up on the 3rd wheel. Got all 4 off, just. Now running standard nuts.

[N88]

They stop an opportunist nicking your wheels. But yes, if it was planned they are useless as it's so easy for a thief to get the right key anyway!

[steveo3002]

i make a point of taking mine off before using a tyre center etc so they cannot use the air gun on them

as for theft , yeah they wont stop a pro but you have to try and stop em

[Dog Star]

I put them in the same "chocolate teapot" category as coded car stereos: they don't inconvenience thieves in any way whatsoever but they are an utter, utter ballache to legitimate users and subsequent owners of the vehicle.

[Babu 01]

eybic said:

Mcguard etc are good quality

I beg to differ

[mnkiboy]

Never had a problem with locking nuts, despite my last 5 cars having them. If they deter the opportunist thief then i'm all for them.

My vehicle has little plastic caps that sit over every nut. I think they probably deter more thieves than locking nuts, as I find them harder to remove than the locking nuts!

edit cos it looked like I was typing with boxing gloves on

Edited by mnkiboy on Monday 18th October 13:43

[HellDiver]

Babu 01 said:

eybic said:

Mcguard etc are good quality

I beg to differ

I also beg to differ - Vauxhall use McGard, as do Mazda, and so do Hyundai. They've all broken or otherwise been a pain in the hole.

[anonymous-user]

HellDiver said:

Babu 01 said:

eybic said:

Mcguard etc are good quality

I beg to differ

I also beg to differ - Vauxhall use McGard, as do Mazda, and so do Hyundai. They've all broken or otherwise been a pain in the hole.

I had an 05 Astra as a works car (brand new). About 3 days after picking it up, less than 500 miles on the clock, and I got a puncture. Got the locking key out and it fell apart in my hands. Cue AA recovery, and waiting for 4 hours at a Vauxhall garage for them to remove the old locks and replace with a new set. As soon as I could, I replaced all the locking nuts with non-locking...

[Petrolhead_Rich]

I usually just keep one on, this way at the slightest hint of damage or wear I can replace it.

Yes, they might take 3 wheels off the car but it fks their plans up as much as it has mine without leaving me stranded....

[miniman]

Opulent said:

Cue AA recovery, and waiting for 4 hours at a Vauxhall garage for them to remove the old locks and replace with a new set.

When you can buy removal tools for £20, this garage were either on the make or desperately incompetent.

[TonyHetherington]

You can buy a removal tool from halfords for £10. Yes, they are useless.

[colonel c]

Yep useless. We had a puncture one cold evening. No problem until I found that the adaptor has cracked and would not grip the nut. After a chilly and a half hour wait the RAC chap turned up and wiped the nut off with a big pair of stillies.

[Guvernator]

Petrolhead_Rich said:

Yes, they might take 3 wheels off the car but it fks their plans up as much as it has mine without leaving me stranded....

They take 3 wheels off the car and your not left standed? Kudos to you for perfecting your one wheeled driving technique.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Given how much grief they cause people when they break, I'm not sure they're totally useless.

However, the McGard key broke for me earlier this year. To be fair, thought, it was a 20 year old key, and entirely the fault of the idiot garage who zipped up the nuts with an air gun

[Chiswickboy]

Guvernator said:

Petrolhead_Rich said:

Yes, they might take 3 wheels off the car but it fks their plans up as much as it has mine without leaving me stranded....

They take 3 wheels off the car and your not left standed? Kudos to you for perfecting your one wheeled driving technique.

No, he puts his spare on the same side and drives home like a stunt driver!

Alternatively, if it is FWD and has one wheel left at the front then the spare goes on the other front and voila! Just call him "sparky".

No, sorry, I can't work it out either how he does it - I know, he's really Paul Daniels and he has spares up his sleeve?

[tim-b]

doogz said:

I think he's assuming that if they manage to get 3 wheels off his car, then somehow can't get the 4th one off, they'll just leave, and not take the 3 wheels that they've already removed with them?

I think he's basing it on 3 wheels being worth less than a complete set, so the pikeys might not bother. Either that or they'd just do over another car to get the 4th....

[Bill]

NiceCupOfTea said:

However, the McGard key broke for me earlier this year. To be fair, thought, it was a 20 year old key, and entirely the fault of the idiot garage who zipped up the nuts with an air gun

I use a local place that doesn't use airtools. And the one time I had a McGard key break they sent me a free replacement PDQ.

[Fastra]

Opulent said:

HellDiver said:

Babu 01 said:

eybic said:

Mcguard etc are good quality

I beg to differ

I also beg to differ - Vauxhall use McGard, as do Mazda, and so do Hyundai. They've all broken or otherwise been a pain in the hole.

I had an 05 Astra as a works car (brand new). About 3 days after picking it up, less than 500 miles on the clock, and I got a puncture. Got the locking key out and it fell apart in my hands. Cue AA recovery, and waiting for 4 hours at a Vauxhall garage for them to remove the old locks and replace with a new set. As soon as I could, I replaced all the locking nuts with non-locking...

+5001!!!

They are a disgrace!!!

I had 3 set on my Astra (in 7 years). The first set the nuts buggered up, so did the second set but the third set the pattern inside the 'key' fractured!!
First garage tried smacking a smaller socket onto them with no success, also tried the removal sockets you can get but to no avail. Second garage had the proper kit (made somewhere in Castleford: http://www.dynomec.co.uk/), this consists of a blank made from softer metal that molds itself to the nut on the car and effectively makes a new key! 10 minutes of 'molding' it with a big hammer to the shape required and BINGO, job done. Cost £20.