[Endeavor]

I decided it was time to  put on the winters.  So took them out of the garage and went ... nowhere. The stupid "key" - just a socket with a fancy inner shape , worjed just fine on the first bolt and then it would jump off and slip on all 3  remaining wheels. WTH ... so looked like i ternals got semi stripped.
Got the part number and needed just the socket.
It appears thst lug nuts  key ( same part number) have about 12   patterns  and there is no way to get a socket that would guaranteed work on your lug nuts.
Dealer has a "" master key"  so only way is to take the car in their shop to undo the lug nuts and then install a new ones.
Does something similar happened to you guys?

I ended up getting a new wheel  lug lock set and i will tap a 3/4 socket on top of the  installed lugs to take them out.  I will go to town on them tomorrow.

[BrendanP]

If you're talking about the McGard locking wheel key, I damaged the key on my partners car trying to get a wheel off. It was my own fault, I didn't keep the key square onto the nut and it slipped off. Fortunately, there was no damage to the wheel nut. I still had the paper slip supplied with the car that had the key code printed on it, so I was able to order a replacement key direct from McGard (not the dealer). Cost about £16, and worked fine to get the wheels off. I have a torque wrench to tighten the wheel nuts to the right torque. It doesn't take much extra torque to over-tighten the nuts to the point where the locking key will break before loosening them.

[Endeavor]

Just an update on this in case someone ends up in the same ... situation.
You can tap ( hammer in ) a 3/4 bi-hexagonal socket and  then use a breaker bar to get it going. Use a larger socket as a base to tap out the key nut out of the 3/4 sockett. Youtube videos are also helpful.
Cheers.

[Dazzler]

Just an update on this in case someone ends up in the same ... situation.
You can tap ( hammer in ) a 3/4 bi-hexagonal socket and  then use a breaker bar to get it going. Use a larger socket as a base to tap out the key nut out of the 3/4 sockett. Youtube videos are also helpful.
Cheers.

Thanks for that. We always appreciate helpful updates. 

[Mister Paul]

A garage wrecked the front locking nuts on our Skoda in January. They denied all responsibility so we had to get another garage to weld them off. Cost about £90.

[AlanHo]

My car has only 1 security locking nut on each wheel - the others are standard hexagons.

As an aside - my faith in security nuts was shaken when Libby had a Hyundai i10 and I had a Hyundai i30.

Her car was built in Korea,  my car was built in Czechoslovakia, but they both had identical security nuts.

[Surferdude]

My car has only 1 security locking nut on each wheel - the others are standard hexagons.

As an aside - my faith in security nuts was shaken when Libby had a Hyundai i10 and I had a Hyundai i30.

Her car was built in Korea,  my car was built in Czechoslovakia, but they both had identical security nuts.

My son, years ago had a Ford, one of those which were a joint venture with Mazda.
He always used a crooklock steering lock.
One night he was out somewhere, went back to his car, unlocked it and realized he hadn't fitted the crooklock.  Which was OK. He started the car and drove home. When  he got there and pulled the key out of the ignition he realized he had been using the crooklock key.

[BrendanP]

It's important to apply the correct torque when tightening the wheel nuts. Whenever I take my car for new tyres, I take the locking nut off and refit the standard wheel nut, so there's less risk of it being damaged by them using an impact wrench. After I get the car back I put the locking nut back on and torque it up correctly.

The standard wrench supplied with the car isn't the best. If the nut is tight, resist the temptation to stand on the wrench because this makes it more likely to slip off and damage the wheel nut key and/or nut. Try a longer breaker bar instead.

[Surferdude]

It's important to apply the correct torque when tightening the wheel nuts. Whenever I take my car for new tyres, I take the locking nut off and refit the standard wheel nut, so there's less risk of it being damaged by them using an impact wrench. After I get the car back I put the locking nut back on and torque it up correctly.

The standard wrench supplied with the car isn't the best. If the nut is tight, resist the temptation to stand on the wrench because this makes it more likely to slip off and damage the wheel nut key and/or nut. Try a longer breaker bar instead.

Or  a 4 way cross brace.
Much safer all round. And you can apply more pressure than an air gun.

[atillanz]

In my opinion locking nuts are a waste of money. I learned that a cheap throwaway socket driven on with a hammer will overcome almost any lock nut. So why bother?

My last company sold lock nut keys for it's product and I far too often used trial and error to try and guess the right key. Not too many people steal wheels any more but if they want yours a locknut won't stop them.

[CraigB]

In my opinion locking nuts are a waste of money. I learned that a cheap throwaway socket driven on with a hammer will overcome almost any lock nut. So why bother?

My last company sold lock nut keys for it's product and I far too often used trial and error to try and guess the right key. Not too many people steal wheels any more but if they want yours a locknut won't stop them.

A lot would depend on the quality/style of the lock nut, many can be removed with little effort though you'll struggle to remove pro quality one's.

Generally to much noise would be made in the process discouraging most thieves, something is better than nothing I reckon.

[Needhelpwithcar]

2 year back my car needed all 4 wheels taking off for access. The person before us didn't have the locking nut. OK thanks.
Problem wasn't even no locking nut. Which ever mechanic put the bolts on the wheels before we bought it wasn't trained we don't think. Every blot was stripped by a pneumatic drill. It took 1- 4 mechanics and a lot of hours to remove every bolt off the wheels and now I don't even bother with any locking nuts.