Lug nut wheel lock removal w/o key

psinsyd · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:52 am

So, I just realized today that I don't have the key for the lug nut lock on the spare on my Renny, which I bought used. Thankfully I didn't realize this when I needed the spare!

I think the lock is from the factory, as the spare still has the colored lines around it from the tire factory, and obviously has not even been removed from the spare mount.

Is this something I could get through the stealership using my VIN, or will it have to be cut off? How much of a PITA would THAT end up being?

Thanks everyone!

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:45 am

I removed one once using a pair of vice-grips. As long as it isn't too tight or glued on it might work.

KJ-BOL · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:50 am

I have the same problem....
LOST key...
Dealer fixed it....
Dealer has all 8 types of keys - that is what I've been told - key manufacturer makes 8-10 typesand that is it.
take it to any dealer and have them change to a normal one - or buy a new set...

ratmloud · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:42 pm

vise grips

Elwenil · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:05 pm

MOST dealers have the key sets, some do not. There are universal sockets for this with spiral grooved teeth to remove them and other stripped nuts that work really well. Just about any tire store should have them and probably wouldn't mind popping it off for you real quick. It ruins the nut, but what good is it if you don't have the key anyway.

Jeger · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:23 pm

Elwenil wrote:

MOST dealers have the key sets, some do not. There are universal sockets for this with spiral grooved teeth to remove them and other stripped nuts that work really well. Just about any tire store should have them and probably wouldn't mind popping it off for you real quick. It ruins the nut, but what good is it if you don't have the key anyway.

This tool Elwenil describes is what I have used, and I think is a must have for every toolbox. I lost mine though :cry:

psinsyd · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:03 pm

Awesome, thanks a ton for the input, everyone! I'll try to swing by the stealership tonight after work if I can get there before they close.

Thanks again!!!

Milner · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:49 pm

If all else fails, I have welded a large nut to the top of the lug....

Jeger · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:57 pm

Milner wrote:

If all else fails, I have welded a large nut to the top of the lug....

HA HA

Done something similar...Welded a piece of 1" round stock to a stuck rounded off bolt on a bulldozer, then we had to torch off the bar once we got it broke loose so we could spin the bolt full circle:shock: sometimes you just have to work with what you've got.

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:08 pm

If all else fails, Unbolt the carrier from the tailgate. Lay the whole assy lug nut side down and use the carrier as leverage to turn and break it free! :shock:

(Just thinking of alternates!) :wink:

psinsyd · **Posted:** Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:41 pm

Thanks everyone. Well, I gave it a quick attempt tonight with some vise grips, hammer, screwdriver, socket.....etc. Didn't try the pneumatic cutoff wheel yet. Might just stop by Firestone on lunch tomorrow to see if they can cut it off while on my lunch break.

broncsrule · **Posted:** Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:18 am

I lost my key, went to the dealer. Thay had several different ones but not mine. Went to the tire shop down the street and they had the right match. The guy gave it to me. I found the paper work from the lock set this weekend, and sent in the registration. Also odered a spare immediately. Strange timing..Huh

So, what others have said are good suggestions... Try the dealer and tire stores. Once you remove it buy another set..with key. keep the registration paperwork and order a spare.

FarmDiesel · **Joined:** Thu Sep 15, 2005 8:49 am **Posts:** 132

If you don't have luck at the dealer, take a socket that is just a bit too small to fit over the lock, and hammer it on.

Myke · **Posted:** Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:13 pm

This might work

http://i-city.stores.yahoo.net/kinggator.html

psinsyd · **Posted:** Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:31 pm

Myke wrote:

This might work

http://i-city.stores.yahoo.net/kinggator.html

That's pretty slick! I ended up going to NTB where they have a special socket they pound on it and hook up the impact wrench to it! I didn't get a chance to look at the inside of the socket, but the guy said it's kinda angled on the inside so it can grip the outside of the lock.

Thanks everyone!!!!!

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Wed Sep 27, 2006 11:06 pm

That thing is a piece of cr@p! I worked at a place that sold them. Cheap, cr@p steel, poor design and flies apart under any kind of decent torque. Works for lightly torqued nuts when nothing else is handy and that's about all.

unixxx · **Posted:** Fri Sep 29, 2006 11:09 am

When I was wheeling a few months ago and had to swap a flat one of the guys that was helping me over-torqued the front lugs to over twice what they should have been. I managed to get all of them out except the keyed lug, which snapped both the key and the lug nut. I proceeded to buy one of those spiral impact wrench lug nut removers that's made just for this purpose and it wouldn't even work. It just keep chipping away at the nut and never grabbed hold of it. I ended up having to square off the head of the nut with a dremel and then use a pair of vise grips with a four foot tube over them to get it undone. Since my key was broken I proceeded to do this on each wheel. Luckily, when I bought my new keyed set I managed to match it with my brother's so we have identical keys that we can use as spares.

psinsyd · **Posted:** Fri Sep 29, 2006 3:07 pm

unixxx wrote:

When I was wheeling a few months ago and had to swap a flat one of the guys that was helping me over-torqued the front lugs to over twice what they should have been. I managed to get all of them out except the keyed lug, which snapped both the key and the lug nut. I proceeded to buy one of those spiral impact wrench lug nut removers that's made just for this purpose and it wouldn't even work. It just keep chipping away at the nut and never grabbed hold of it. I ended up having to square off the head of the nut with a dremel and then use a pair of vise grips with a four foot tube over them to get it undone. Since my key was broken I proceeded to do this on each wheel. Luckily, when I bought my new keyed set I managed to match it with my brother's so we have identical keys that we can use as spares.

Did you try to pound the impact socket onto the lug nut lock before you tried to loosen it? Mine was on pretty tight, and the tool seemed to work really well, without any major damage to the lock. Pretty sweet set I'd like to buy, but not really sure how much I'd actually use it.

unixxx · **Posted:** Fri Sep 29, 2006 5:05 pm

Yeah, we tried pounding it on, although not excessively, because the instructions :roll:

said only apply light force. It seemed that the lugs were made purposely brittle so that one of these tools couldn't be used on them. It was actually kind of funny when I went to the dealer to buy the new set of locking lugs. I asked the parts guy for two sets with the same pattern and he said it would almost impossible and that he'd never be able to tell. I told him to bring all of his sets out and found three that were the same :lol:

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Fri Sep 29, 2006 8:35 pm

Quote:

I asked the parts guy for two sets with the same pattern and he said it would almost impossible and that he'd never be able to tell. I told him to bring all of his sets out and found three that were the same

Those things are a joke! There are only like 8 or 10 sets of the different patterns. I have a set and a guy at work with a Chevy or Dodge (I forget which) lost his key and got a flat. Turns out mine was the same pattern. I've also run across other people that have tha same pattern. I think it's more hype than anything else. I guess if u went around to delr and were willing to invest some bucks you could end up with the keys to just about every OEMs locking lug set.

Lug nut wheel lock removal w/o key

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