Locking wheel nut removal - Renault help?

[antnee]

Put the car in today to have 2 new tyres fitted as there was a nail in one. The locking wheel nut key rounded a little when I tried to get the wheel off yesterday so bought some new locking nuts. The tyre place managed to get one side off, but the other side isn't budging. They have even tried their 'universal' removal keys which dig into the bolt with no success either.

Do Renault dealers hold locking keys? Do dealers generally have good equipment to get bolts off with?

 

[Kazumz]

Put the car in today to have 2 new tyres fitted as there was a nail in one. The locking wheel nut key rounded a little when I tried to get the wheel off yesterday so bought some new locking nuts. The tyre place managed to get one side off, but the other side isn't budging. They have even tried their 'universal' removal keys which dig into the bolt with no success either.

Do Renault dealers hold locking keys? Do dealers generally have good equipment to get bolts off with?

You'll probably have to take it to Renault if the tyre place can't do it and you're not a handy man with it.

I'm confused... The key rounded, so you bought some new nuts? I'm sure you can just go to Renault and pick up a new key to be honest. They probably use a universal nut or if they do have their own specialized one, they probably use it on a range of their cars.

Alternatively, go to a breakers yard and see if they have spare from crashed cars. Typically someone would keep the locking key in the car glove box.

 

[Jimmy]

I've had trouble like this recently, when a locking nut had been over-tightened and couldn't be undone. I took it back to the Renault dealer to rectify as it was them that had done the tightening. They were short on time as it was late in the day, so they ended up having to chisel off the old nut.... Not ideal, but they got it off.

The preferable option would have been to drill it out but, as I say, they were short on time so the chisel was the best option. So, they should be able to drill it out and then replace it with your new locking nuts.

 

[antnee]

I spoke to the local dealer and they said they don't have any master keys, but do have methods of getting them off. Will try some other places as they will probably be cheaper and are easier to get to

 

[Jimmy]

I spoke to the local dealer and they said they don't have any master keys, but do have methods of getting them off. Will try some other places as they will probably be cheaper and are easier to get to

To be fair, any decent garage will be able to get off a stubborn wheel nut. It doesn't have to be a main dealer.

 

[Paddy_R]

I haven't had locking wheel nuts on a car in years. Not needed these days. When's the last time you heard of a set of alloys being stolen off a car? They are more trouble than they are worth in my opinion.

The problem is tyre places tend to put them on with a gun and torque them up the same as the other wheel nuts. Hand tight and a quarter to half a turn more is sufficient for the locking nut. If you use wheel nut covers then nobody will know there's no locking nut either.

 

[antnee]

Got it sorted now, another tyre place has decent tools for removing them and got it done. I don't know when the rear wheels were taken off last but the bolts were on proper tight! Took them almost 30mins to get the 1 locking bolt off, they managed to do it by using 2 guys, one on the end of a long bar and the other whacking it as it was turned to ensure it was gripping