Broken wheel lock
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Buckgnarly
Well-known member
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-3-pc-flip-socket-set-with-red/p-00947392000P
Or any other rebranded Turbosocket version of this....Blue Point, SK, among others are all the same Turboscoket version.
When I lived in the Philly area and had to worry about this, McGard was a good company. Now my junk is so old no one wants it, plus no one steals wheels in VT....hell, no one even locks doors here!
Or any other rebranded Turbosocket version of this....Blue Point, SK, among others are all the same Turboscoket version.
When I lived in the Philly area and had to worry about this, McGard was a good company. Now my junk is so old no one wants it, plus no one steals wheels in VT....hell, no one even locks doors here!
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lakeroadster
Well-known member
Were you using an impact wrench when you broke the lock?
wvrailroader
Well-known member
Sears sells a 3 piece set of wheel lock removal tools branded as Craftsman. They are US made by Turbosocket. They will damage the wheel lock, but so will about any other method.
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-3-pc...sellerId=SEARS&prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1
Well, I do not remember her last Mazda having these locks. I do not know if they came from Mazda or the dealer or her brother...
I think I just put too much *** onto the tool. I know that her family is going to give me hell about it.
We live in the suburbs and she works at a company with a nice parking lot. I doubt that there was any real concern that her wheels were going to get stolen.
bwringer
Well-known member
Wheel locks are 100% completely useless garbage -- just go ahead and replace them now with real lug nuts.
Those "turbosockets" are not some deep secret -- if you're a desperate enough thief to be out stealing wheels, you simply need to shoplift a Turbosocket from Sears first to carry on your trade.
Those "turbosockets" are not some deep secret -- if you're a desperate enough thief to be out stealing wheels, you simply need to shoplift a Turbosocket from Sears first to carry on your trade.
Finky198
Well-known member
+1 ^^^
I have those sockets + the reg and the turbo they both work. We get customers on the regular that do this broken or stuck lock routine. It's money in the bank. I'd say unless you have some special rims or a super car theirs no need. You can drill and crack, use a special socket, plasma cutter ( steel nuts on and aluminum rim...) etc. just pick your poison and go slow.
Autozone carries lug remover sockets in 4-5 sizes all thin wall reg, not the flip style.
I have those sockets + the reg and the turbo they both work. We get customers on the regular that do this broken or stuck lock routine. It's money in the bank. I'd say unless you have some special rims or a super car theirs no need. You can drill and crack, use a special socket, plasma cutter ( steel nuts on and aluminum rim...) etc. just pick your poison and go slow.
Autozone carries lug remover sockets in 4-5 sizes all thin wall reg, not the flip style.
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deberly12
Well-known member
I bought a VW with factory locks but not the key... I had a flat and it would take a week to get the socket. VW used all different ones so that set was no good. Stealer said they do all 4 with free labor if I bought the new lugs.
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Wamsutta
Well-known member
$51.99 for those 3 sockets? Really?
cherrybomb
Well-known member
McGard is a good brand,I'm very careful installing or removing,I use no impact in removing and hand install and use torque wrench.I loosen the locked one first and tighten last.Since I graduated from the school of hard knocks,I have an extra.Might be cheap insurance.
WhiffySpark
Well-known member
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- Oct 22, 2009
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I've ever broke one with an impact. I've broke and seen many many broken when breaking manually.
anndel
Well-known member
wvrailroader
Well-known member
Like anything else at Sears, no one ever pays full price. I think I got my set on sale for around $25. Probably less with some points I had at the time.
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GaryM909
Well-known member
I welded large nuts on a van my neighbour bought. It came with those puzzle locks but he didn't have the key. They came off pretty easy.
Just went thru this so residual trauma triggered first post after years of lurking. My problem was self-inflicted: had key but put it in a 'safe' place and then couldn't find it (duh). Got the first wheel lock off with something like this from local parts store:
http://www.autozone.com/test-scan-a...cta-13-16-in-emergency-lug-remover/453074_0_0
This is just a socket w/ left-hand threads so had a hard time getting it to bite, but eventually it did and the first lock off came off. Problem then was that I couldn't get the lock out of the socket. This probably could have been solved if I had a good vise but I don't so plan B was to order this on line
http://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/5-pc-lugnut-specialty-set
If I'd known Sears had the set linked to above I would have tried it, but once rec'd the irwin set worked w/out much trouble. My car (2009 subaru Sti) has 19 mm lug nuts but the Mcguard locks were bigger: i think I ended up using the 7/8" irwin bolt-out socket. Tapped socket on w/ hammer and then removed w/ breaker bar; impact wrench didn't work, just spun the socket around.
Good luck! Once you get the locks off throw them in the trash; chances are no one wants your SO's wheels that bad. I know if anyone wants mine they can definitely have them after all that.
http://www.autozone.com/test-scan-a...cta-13-16-in-emergency-lug-remover/453074_0_0
This is just a socket w/ left-hand threads so had a hard time getting it to bite, but eventually it did and the first lock off came off. Problem then was that I couldn't get the lock out of the socket. This probably could have been solved if I had a good vise but I don't so plan B was to order this on line
http://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/5-pc-lugnut-specialty-set
If I'd known Sears had the set linked to above I would have tried it, but once rec'd the irwin set worked w/out much trouble. My car (2009 subaru Sti) has 19 mm lug nuts but the Mcguard locks were bigger: i think I ended up using the 7/8" irwin bolt-out socket. Tapped socket on w/ hammer and then removed w/ breaker bar; impact wrench didn't work, just spun the socket around.
Good luck! Once you get the locks off throw them in the trash; chances are no one wants your SO's wheels that bad. I know if anyone wants mine they can definitely have them after all that.
you can get them in single's at Autozone for $10...only way I could get VW locks off and they work great.
If its the locking key itself that's broke but the actual head of the locking bolt is undamaged i would tighten the rest of the wheel bolts down and drive to the local dealer or phone a couple of near-by tire shops and see if they have a set of wheel keys for your type of car. We get people coming in all the time complaining of broken locking wheel bolts (VW's) but 99% of the time its the key that's cracked not the bolt itself, but then people make removing them 100x harder by trying to attack them with chisels, hammers etc..
Cost to replace them all with standard wheel bolts wont be much and i would recommend it rather than buying a new locking bolt set and key.
Cost to replace them all with standard wheel bolts wont be much and i would recommend it rather than buying a new locking bolt set and key.
We get this a lot, well not broken ones, but people can never find the key to the locks.
I agree with whoever posted above saying wheel locks are garbage. They keep far far more mechanics from being able to work on a car then they ever kept rims from being stolen.
Most of the rims we end up having problems with aren't worth stealing anyway.
We have a cheap Ampro set that works ok to get them off.
A lot of times you can just beat an old impact socket on them and impact them off also - if there is room.
I agree with whoever posted above saying wheel locks are garbage. They keep far far more mechanics from being able to work on a car then they ever kept rims from being stolen.
Most of the rims we end up having problems with aren't worth stealing anyway.
We have a cheap Ampro set that works ok to get them off.
A lot of times you can just beat an old impact socket on them and impact them off also - if there is room.
ishiboo
Well-known member
Axe.
Last time I bought a used car that had locking lugs (and missing the key), I just pounded a "sacrificial" 12pt socket over them. Worked fine. Got all 4 off. The 12pt was a little mushed at the end, but it was a throw-away anyway.