Nightmare locking bolts

Please don't tell me they don't need to be tight - I know.

Put new set of (Greystone?) locking bolts on the car 6 weeks ago. I tightened them with a spider brace. Came to take them off a couple of days ago and while the back two came off no problem the front two weren't having it.

Went to the supplying shop and they got some guy out who tried a "tight fit" socket - all he did was make a mess of them.

Car has been in garage for a couple of hours today and I have spent out without it being sorted.

Urgent helpful (CHEAP) suggestions needed. Can't really use car if I can't get the wheels off in case of puncture.

These are original vauxhall alloys and would prefer they remained useable but if they have to be smashed off, what's the best way.

Thanks,

Reply to
Kaptain Kremin
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"Fast-fit" tyre and axhaust places have daily experience (and tools for) removing locking wheel nuts. If you have a friendly local one, that's where I'd try first :)

Reply to
Tony (UncleFista)

most tool places sell special sockets for removing wheel bolts/nuts. I have a set that came from screwfix, they have a coarse reverse thread inside. not very expensive.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Jesus Christ. I've had 4 or 5 punctures in about 5 years and probably 100k of motoring. At least 2 or 3 have been through doing stupid things like turning into laybys at a fair whack and driving straight into a massive pothole and holing the sidewall of the tyre. The others have generally been slow punctures where stopping every few miles to top up was a practical and generally more sensible proposition than putting the spare on at the side of the road. Don't worry about it, keep driving it and take it to a tyre place when you've got a bit of time and give them £20...

Reply to
Doki

"Doki" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

I'm struggling to think of the last time I had a puncture. Probably about five years ago - and that was a self-tapper in a tread at a mate's workshop. Before that...? Ummm, probably nearly ten years ago when I hit a hyooooge pothole in Greece because I wasn't looking where I was going - and buckled two wheels.

B'sides, even if the unlikely happens - the RAC/AA will probably be able to "persuade" 'em off - as will a tyre place. Certainly no need to butcher the _wheels_...

Reply to
Adrian

"Doki" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

I'm struggling to think of the last time I had a puncture. Probably about five years ago - and that was a self-tapper in a tread at a mate's workshop. Before that...? Ummm, probably nearly ten years ago when I hit a hyooooge pothole in Greece because I wasn't looking where I was going - and buckled two wheels.

B'sides, even if the unlikely happens - the RAC/AA will probably be able to "persuade" 'em off - as will a tyre place. Certainly no need to butcher the _wheels_...

Reply to
Adrian

Adrian gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Odd. I only posted that once, yet it's appeared twice.

Anyway, I remembered a more recent one - last Xmas, when I was temporarily driving a new Golf - which turned out to be a foot wider than the Saab - and did the NSF on a kerb down a country lane.

So that's three in a decade. Two muppetry and one easily avoidable from the environment the car had been in.

Reply to
Adrian

Had one a couple of months back after going through some roadworks :( Before that was about 9 years ago...

Reply to
Abo

But on those occasions, were you able to remove the offending wheel?

If not, surely it would have been a much greater inconvenience?

In spite of what has been said here, the AA (and presumably other motoring organisations) are under no obligation to assist you if you are not carrying a legal spare, unless this is not part of the standard vehicle specifcation. Similarly, they would be under no obligation to forcibly remove a locking wheel nut where the key is unavailable. Under such circumstances, they would not usually Relay you onward either. The most they would do is arrange for a mobile tyre fitting company to attend at your expense.

You may get lucky if the patrol was having a good day, but you couldn't count on it!

I think the OP is right to want to sort his problem out ASAP.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Just to update you all.

First off, I guess I should have said blow out which would have left me stranded with no way of getting the wheel off. A puncture could have been sorted with a can of that Holts stuff.

Went to Screwfix today to buy a set of the locking wheel nut removers 94826

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Luckily, they opened them in the shop for me to test, they didn't fit. On the way home I spotted a small independent tyre fitter. It took him less than a minute to remove each one. Relieved that they're off, ecstatic that he was cheap, gutted that yesterdays failure wasn't.

Thanks again.

Reply to
Kaptain Kremin

Go on then, what did he do that the other place(s) didn't??

Reply to
PCPaul

Was the problem due to some sort of alloy - steel electrochemical welding. Vague memories of this - hence silver plating of some bolts in aerospace.

Reply to
John

He hammered what was left of the 'key' on and used that to get them off. The guy called by the shop was trying a smaller socket. The garage? no idea.

In a day or so, if you're interested I'll do a pic of these so you can see what they are like.

Regards.

Reply to
Kaptain Kremin

I guess that means he managed to un-hammer the key socket as well.. some pictures might be useful, it's always good to add to lifes experiences.

Almost always.

Reply to
PCPaul

Have a look at

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Reply to
Kaptain Kremin

Eww. They look particularly nasty. As in not too sturdy even when working well.

I suppose it's one way to stop the hammer-a-socket-on trick from working, to make your nuts from something so soft they just collapse...

Reply to
PCPaul

Yup. It was only after the fun of trying to get them off that I realised just how piss poor the 'key' was.

When I first went back to the shop I said 'The good news is........no one is ever going to steal my wheels' - 'The bad news is I can't get the off'

KK

Reply to
Kaptain Kremin

They look near identical to a set of Peugeot branded bolts on my car. Mine haven't dropped to bits yet though. P'raps they're copies?

Reply to
Doki

If you're really unlucky, your Pug one's could have been made by the same firm:

Grayston Engineering Ltd, Chessington, Surrey

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Reply to
Kaptain Kremin

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