locking wheel nuts, what a PITA

[Caveman_nige]

Well this morning i took my jag to have new tyres fitted, when i got there i found that I did not have the locking wheel nut key.... ahhhhhhhh

I went home and cna't find it anywhere, i normally keep it in the car anyway but a coulple of week back i had the wheels off to fit some 20mm spacers and obvioously forgot to remove the key from the nut and it subsquently ended up coming off along the road on my commute somewhere.. What ball ache....

Seems these are royal PITA to remove without the key and i do not know the key number to get a space from egay... I tend to remove locking wheel nuts and replace them with proper bolts but had not done that on this car... I have a few options and will what an Indy can do tomorrow other than that it s trip to jag next weekend for a removal with their master key and buying a new set for £67...

It annoys me when my carelessness costs me money, fortunately its a rarity...

[marko301]

You could always try this if you're not bothered about them and replacing with normal nuts.

[mickyh7]

Swapped mine for ordinary nuts years ago. Too much bother. Never lost a set of alloy wheels in 40 years.
Touch Wood!

[Caveman_nige]

I normally paint my locking key red, well i did on previous cars, so that i can see whether i have left it on the nut etc..

The type of locking Jag uses is a royal PITA and not easily removable with the kits you can buy, there is a fella on youtube who demonstrates how you can do it but to me it looked like I would shag up my alloys trying to to do it..

I stopped by at Jagcare near Portsmouth this morning and they had a full set of keys to remove them, with the exception of one that they have lost.. They kindly removed the locking nuts and fitted a four new standard wheel bolts for me. It cost me £40 but save me the hassle of having to deal with them in future. He showed me one of them that was badly chewed up anyway so i was in for a kicking at some point when that one failed on me.. I know some tyre places still tighten them with their windy guns instead or a bar or long torque wrench despite knowing what it does to them...

On some models of car it was recommended that you change them every few years or so as they deteriorate anyway.. Anyway I am done with them on this car now and like mickyh7 says i too have never had a set of alloys nicked from a car so far, touch wood...

[ilunn]

Iv done exactly the same twice (left it on wheel nut) but on both occasions the unit fell off within 20 ft of where I used it, If your lucky it could have just rolled under an edge. last time i have an hour's drive in hope it was still there.