I had a flat tire in my driveway yesterday. I patched the tire and ordered a new one to arrive today. I got to the tire place and realized i didnt have my lug key. Thinking it was at home, I came to look for it and its NOWHERE!

I'm not sure how to get the wheel off now. Is there a way to break the lug nut?
its a mcguard locking lugnut. I'm worried about hurting the wheel though, 18" ssr comps aren't cheap :o

how do i get it off? i have lost the key :o

If you're not in rush, I would probably try getting a new key. Otherwise, hammering a slightly smaller socket on the lugnut worked for my Kyokugens when the key was stripped, but the McGard will probably be more difficult. The guy who helped me with the operation had experience because he had lost the key to his locking lugnuts earlier, so the method might work. Do not use an impact wrench (search for my name and Kyokugen to find detailed instructions).

When it happened to me, I thought it was kind of ironic that I intentionally bought lugnuts that couldn't be removed without a special key, and then had to run around trying to find a way to remove them without a key... Good luck!

I have heard you can use a hardened chisel and try to split the lug. I would not try that unless its a last ditch effort.

well the tire is plugged and its leaking slowly, i need it fixed ASAP

Show me a picture of the lock, and perhaps I can tell you what you need. Back in my young and dumb days, taking off locks was something that I used to do...

Well I just looked at all the wheel locks that Mcgard had to offer, not mentioning the spline drives as those are actually really easy to take off with a normal socket set :(

What you could try is start with a vice grip the largest one you can get on there completely. Sometime if the wheel wasn't torqued you can take off with that. But it has to be on REALLY tight. In fact to help, you may have to cut grooves or notches in the lock to give the vise grips more of a grab.

The idea of chiseling it off actually does work, but it is a long process and is best with a cutting wheel too. You want to slice into it and use the chisel to finish it off. Since it's hardened steel it should be strong but at the same time it's brittle when it reaches it's extreme. Be prepared to perhaps even replace your wheel stud.

Worse comes to worse, take it to a tire shop. They see this all the time, and can remove just about any lock.

take it to a decent tire shop, they should have a locking lug nut removal tool. I had mine done at discount tire.

It is a socket that has sharp grooves in it that dig in to the lug when hammered over. makes it really easy. just buy new lugs

Originally posted by teiva-boy
Well I just looked at all the wheel locks that Mcgard had to offer, not mentioning the spline drives as those are actually really easy to take off with a normal socket set :(

What you could try is start with a vice grip the largest one you can get on there completely. Sometime if the wheel wasn't torqued you can take off with that. But it has to be on REALLY tight. In fact to help, you may have to cut grooves or notches in the lock to give the vise grips more of a grab.

The idea of chiseling it off actually does work, but it is a long process and is best with a cutting wheel too. You want to slice into it and use the chisel to finish it off. Since it's hardened steel it should be strong but at the same time it's brittle when it reaches it's extreme. Be prepared to perhaps even replace your wheel stud.

Worse comes to worse, take it to a tire shop. They see this all the time, and can remove just about any lock.

Thanks man. I'll try to talk to discount again and see if they have anything that will work. I asked them today and the guy was like I dont think so..just get your key

this is the lock that i have
http://home.cfl.rr.com/vividreality2/lug1.jpg

PM me if you want, I think I can help without damaging your wheel or stud(If you don't care about the condition of the lock lug, after, that is...). I have the same locks, and my key may even be the same as yours(fat chance, but stranger things have happened).

Good luck

Scott

EDIT: Look for the damn key!

Originally posted by Uncle Scotty
PM me if you want, I think I can help without damaging your wheel or stud(If you don't care about the condition of the lock lug, after, that is...). I have the same locks, and my key may even be the same as yours(fat chance, but stranger things have happened).

Good luck

Scott

EDIT: Look for the damn key!

sent ya a PM :D

Back at ya....

I had that happen to my last car, well sorta anyway. The guy who had put one of my tires on somehow over-torqued and couldn't get thenut undone. Impact wrench, three foot long bar, nothing. So he just put his weight on the thing and broke it off. My dad and I went and bought a bolt and put it on there without too much trouble. Kinda extreme, but it worked

Originally posted by teiva-boy
Worse comes to worse, take it to a tire shop. They see this all the time, and can remove just about any lock.
I asked at 3 or 4 different tire shops, and none of them could really help me. The only one that tried put a socket on it, and used an impact wrench, stripping the lugnut. :( They said that if they had to remove it, they would use a torch, and destroy the wheel in the process.

Have a nut welded to the end of the wheel lock, then just use a regular socket to remove it. To avoid wheel dammage, use a nut only large enough to do the job and weld from inside the nut...not around the outside. If you have lots of room to work outside of the wheel lock, you can use an angle grinder or even a cutoff wheel or dremmel tool to "make" a nut out of the lock. I've done that with a Mustang wheel with great success.

Good luck.

jack

Went to Discount today, they slammed a socket on with a hammer and used an impact wrench and they came right off. Had to buy new locks though as i lost the info/serial # to get a new lock key

Yeah i lost my key once and a Discount Tire type joint simply used a vice grip or something and forced my tire locks off. It was a PITA and the locks were trashed but the lugs were ok and i simply bought a new set and tried to hold onto my key this time...

Ed

Sears has a sripped nut removing tool that gets lock nuts off. It's the same thing tire shops use.
http://www.sears.com/sr/product/summary/productsummary.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@2073169940.104 3266695@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccgfadchgeddfhfcehgcemgdffmdflk.0&vertical=TOOL&pid=00952160000

They worked for me and they are handy to have around.
Rob

they slammed a socket on with a hammer and used an impact wrench and they came right off.
yep, that was gonna be my suggestion.....that's what scumbag thieves tend to do!

Originally posted by SubbyRS

yep, that was gonna be my suggestion.....that's what scumbag thieves tend to do!

Hence, forget about locking lugnuts.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Im a jack ars.

Thank you and have a nice day/night
Tom

Originally posted by Ti-REX


Hence, forget about locking lugnuts.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I can see it now a thief walking around with an air impact and compressor on his back. :rolleyes:

I lost mine once, went to Discount said they would do it, but couldn't gurantee that they could get it off without damaging the wheel. So he gave me one of the many extra locks they have (they were the last ones to use mine so I thought they had it) I got home and was going to pound this lock onto my nuts, but thought I'd look for my lock once more....

Hint...since the lock is black, and the trunk has no light, and if you look for the lock while its nighttime outside, you are not going to find it very well :D It was in my trunkt the whole time.

I just happened across this forum. . . I looked all thru this topic of "Lost lug key" and not see lug lock removal kits mentioned. LL removal sockets are hardened steel impact sockets (smooth, round inner diameter) that are made specificly for lug locks, and can be obtained at just about any autoparts store or tool salesman, er, salesperson. And I have never had a lug lock become damaged by these tools.
Hammering a plain ol' socket on a lug lock can result in damaging a lug lock, splitting the socket, or putting an eye out(face it, not everyone wears safety glasses). I just thought I would mention this regardless of how old the original post.

Hahah your in luck...

This same thing happened to me right before i traded my car in for the STi, run down to sears or any large hardware store like that, and get a stripped bolt remover kit, or even sometimes that have lug remover set...

Its got reverser threads so as you loosen your wheel the special kit tightenens up and they come off. what a lifesaver! Hope it works for you as much as it did for me, because i was buggine out, i couldnt get my Volk CE28n's off :(

I'm told that Snap-On makes a lock nut removal tool.
You may want to check out Snap-On's website or contact your local snap-on dealer.

If you have lots of room to work outside of the wheel lock, you can use an angle grinder or even a cutoff wheel or dremmel tool to "make" a nut out of the lock.

i've done ^^^^ before too.

it worked just fine. ;)