Gents,
Our car has been broken to and stolen the key which is used for removal the car's alloy wheels. Can't understand why thieves wants to steel such item from the glove compartment...I will be keeping mu eye on eBay!!
Anyway the dealer had quoted like £30 to replace the security wheel nuts (with key supplied). Now the tricky bit is how do I remove the old security nuts from the wheels?
Will garages like National Tyres / Kwik Fit do these kind of jobs and how much would it be?
Perfect.
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an independant garage that has done them before is my advice
it will literally take 2 minutes a corner if he has done them before
£25 sounds reasonable to me as he will ruin the socket that does the job
get the lockers changed soonest before the thieves come back for your wheels
can you move the car a bit? to make it more secure
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Getting Locking nuts off is a pain but can be done. It depends of the make and model of both the vehicle, nuts and wheels. There are two techniques that I know work well but I would rather not go into them on here.
Thing is no one can guarantee they won't damage the alloy. Most large ATS do carry a range of master keys which may help. On our old VW Sharan we had a nut ruined by over use of an air gun and four garages wanted to use 4 different ways with prices ranging from £5 per wheel to £150!!
I would start with a question to your local fast fit places or dealer about use of a master key
paul
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You don't say make of car and/or locking wheel nut.
Depending on type you might be able to get a tool to do it from Halfords. Step-sons Pug 306 had a type of wheelnut that needed drilling normally but got 3 out of 4 air-chiselled off. Before we got around to getting the last one drilled the car needed replacing - all in a month or so.
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Hi Gents,
Sorry for not posting the make and model of the car.
The car in question is a Toyota Yaris, the wheel nuts are spiral type if you know what I mean. I have asked the dealer, they said it will take about an hour of time, which they will charge approximately 80 pounds plus 30 pounds for the new key and nuts.
The dealer said they have to chisel it off. I might ask another dealer to see if they have a master key..
Perfect.
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If they are the usual type of locking wheelnut, then an independent or tyre place can probably get them off. The old Pug type had "holes" in the nut with pins in the matching key so not enough of the nut to get purchase on...
Best of luck and sure you can get them off for less than £80. Do it soon as the thieves with the key to the nuts might want to take the wheels.
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I had this problem not long ago and took the advice of someone on here:
find a suitable-sized old socket, hammer it onto the security nut and turn it off with a 'spider'-type wrench or an air gun. It worked for me and didn't even damage the socket or the alloy wheel.
I don't think these security nuts mean very much. If it is as easy to remove them as I found it was, if the villains really want the wheels they'll just do what I did because it only takes a few minutes anyway.
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There are specific tools ( but they are not cheap) to remove some types of security nuts.
As advised earlier, I would ask around several tyre fitting outfits and as a last resort allow them the brute force approach.
The Yaris in our houshold came with a numbered tag on one of the key rings which I assume is the reference number of the Toyota brand wheel nut key.
Try asking the original supplying dealer as they may have the numder in their records.
Ask Toyota if they can help. You might need to go to a Toyota dealer with proof of car ownership.
A forum search should find several previous threads on the topic.
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£80 to remove a set of locking nuts is criminal.
I have a set of four J&S locking nut removal sockets (17, 19, 21 and 22mm IIRC) - they have a spiral running anticlockwise. You put them on an air ratchet and run it backwards. The socket grips the nut and undoes it. Takes about a minute per nut. I paid £24 for my set (about 7 years ago). My local tool factor stocks individual sockets. Most fast-fit places should have these and AA/RAC men carry them.
Make sure you have your new locking nuts ready when the old ones are removed. Get yourself a set of McGards - around £25-30. Keep the card with the key number in a safe place - if you lose the key a new one is about £10 - sent in 48 hours from Germany!
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I have talked to the 3 dealers and summarised as below:
Dealer 1: Asked what they could do to remove the locking nuts, they will use the chisel method and stated that I need to fill in a disclaimer that any damages to the wheels is not there responsibility. They wanted £80 plus VAT for 1hr labour.
Dealer 2: Asked the same question as above and got similar response. But a bit helpful. Have asked about if they have master keys and if they have record of the keys lock that attached to the VIN etc. The answer was no.
Dealer 3 (my usual dealer which I used for servicing): Asked the same story as above. They say they will talk to the supplier of the locking nut to see if they have the key number for my car. 30minutes later, the dealer said they have got the code and will order the part for me for £15.
So what is wrong with Dealer 1 & 2? Are they trying to extract more money or they don't know there is a way of getting the key number from the supplier.
So for anyone else who has a Toyota cars that was fitted with the original locks and supplied by Toyota and has lost the key get in touch with the dealer which they could order you one.
Regards,
- Perfect -
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Yes the first two wanted to take you for a ride,.... most keep a copy of the key number either as a code in the hand book or on the pdi sheet the fact that I can go into a Volvo dealer and order one for an 89 740 tells me they value the relationship with the customer
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I wouldn't be to hopeful of getting the locking nut key number from the dealer. These things are often dealer fit, not factory fit (certainly the case with Vauxhall) and the original owner is presented with the key, the number and four spare standard nuts.
JS
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Before letting anyone loose with a chisel I would ask a franchised dealer if they can supply a new key. If they're factory-fitted the key number will be on record.
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L\'escargot.
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www.tooled-up.com supply locking wheel nut removers.
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Since locking wheel nut removers are so readily (and cheaply) available it makes a mockery of having locking wheel nuts in the first place.
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L\'escargot.
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I would stay away from chisels. Would be worried about the bearing surfaces from the wheel bearings and along,into the gearbox.
A main dealer hammered and chiseled a hub nut off my 2CV ( twenty years ago) The gearbox had to be stripped afterwards as a something had been damaged.
Regards
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