Last week I set about getting the wheels on my wife's Volvo v50 refurbished.. easy job you might think. .

I have a spare set of Ford transit connect steelies at home so I thought I'd fit those as I take the alloys off. .. But they didn't fit over the front brakes grrr

So I took the 17" alloys off my transit connect and fit the steelies to that, then fit my ford alloys to the volvo. Bit of a pain but meant we didn't lose a vehicle whilst the work was being done

Took the wheels to tyre fitter to get tyres removed, then took wheels to work to weld up and repair the scuffed edges, and then finally took the wheels to be blasted and powder coated.

Few days later picked up the wheels. . Looked very nice in anthracite. Got tyres fitted.. v happy all going well so far.

So I set to yesterday of fitting the swish looking wheels. First 2 went on and the car looked great. Get to the 3rd wheel and the mcguard wheel nut breaks up! :-o :-o

I try everything I've got to remove it. Last resort was breaking it up even more with a chisel but can't get the last thread. The wheel is still on tight and the remains of the nut is deep in the wheel with no access to it.

To cut a long story (or wheel) short I ended up taking a grinder to my ford alloy wheel and chopping it off.. boohoo :-(

Got the broken nut off the stud and the nice volvo wheel back on.

So now my van is without alloys until I can find a single cheap wheel to replace it.

Needless to say I wont be using locking wheel nuts again!!

Is it worth posting a picture of the wheel your after just in case anyone has one lying about?! I've been known to have more than a few wheels kicking about and I can't be the only one!

Good idea

Wheel is from a ford mondeo. Its a 7.5 x 17 and looks like this:



There are quite a few Ford wheels that look very similar

Pain

Couldn't you weld a nut onto it before chopping alloy up?

Do people still nick alloy wheels and stereos?
20 years ago when you bought a car you made sure it had locking wheel nuts.
Is it such a necessity these days?
Yes, obviously certain people will nick anything, but times have changed. Maybe wheels aren't considered nickable any more

Oh what a coincidence...

Went out this morning to fiddle around with the wheels on my Yaris - undid 2 locking wheel-nuts and did them back up again, tried to undo a third and the nut key broke. I suspect that some time ago a ham-fisted tyre fitter with a rattle gun damaged it (I was only using a hand tyre wrench, and I'm not exactly muscle-bound). Now I've got to go into Toyota tomorrow to see if I can get a replacement key (I have the key code, etc). Lord knows how much that will cost, that's if they can still get one...
Otherwise it's down to brute force and ignorance...

I was wondering if there was any point in locking wheels these days - depends on your neighbourhood I suppose, or where you typically park.

There are several locking nut removal tools available, seems locking wheel nuts have had their day....

US PRO TOOLS 7PC 1/2"' DR Twist Socket Alloy Wheel Nut Lock Removing Set

I'll try the Toyota dealer tomorrow - if they fail, or their price is too high, then I'll try an alternative such as a removal tool (or old socket hammered on).

Considering that removal tools are so easily available I reckon that locking nuts have had their day... easily defeated by all but the most casual thief.