• Removing a screw embedded in a tire + I don't have the lock nut key
    28 replies, posted
Hello Alcoholics Anonymous! So I got this '08 Ford Foul Cunt XR6 the other day: [t]http://i.imgur.com/8AcMnqF.jpg[/t] (That name is unnecessarily mean, it's actually a very nice car). So yeah; great to drive, leather trim, premium climate control and sound system and a six-speed gearbox. But there was this one problem I only noticed after I bought the car: [t]http://i.imgur.com/YW026eP.jpg[/t] I actually tried hard to make sure I wouldn't run into something like this when I inspected it, but it must have been facing downwards and out of sight (but not deliberately done by the seller, as I only checked the tires after the test drive). I don't know how long it's been in there but I certainly don't want to risk it staying for too much longer. I just hope it didn't penetrate through the tire and into the actual wheel. I imagine that to take the screw out that the whole wheel needs to come off, at least that's what one tire shop told me. They couldn't take the wheel off because the lock nut key for the security nuts on each wheel has gone missing at some point with the car's previous owner. I checked everywhere for it: Glove box, console, fuse box, in the boot where the spare tire is etc. Doesn't exist. The seller (a dealer, not the previous owner) didn't have a clue either. I can't specially order a lock nut key for my set of lock nuts because a) I don't have the ID for that lock nut set anywhere and b) the supplier for the lock nut keys went out of business a few years ago. I can buy a new lock nut set with its own key (for around $90) but that doesn't help me with trying to get the existing lock nuts out without their key. A Ford dealership I contacted quoted me $230 to take the old lock nuts out and put a new set in, and of course that is quite expensive. Either way also doesn't include the cost of actually going to a tire shop to take the screw out either. Anyone have any ideas on what I can do? Would anyone know if any tire shop anywhere would have the tools necessary to take lock nuts off without their key, or was the one I visited just shit?
That's easy peasy. Pull put the screw and put in a plug! [t]http://www.slime.com/shop/images/295/2010101509100641556_lrg.jpg[/t] It happens at least once a month to me because I put up metal buildings and these things are everywhere. [editline]10th September 2014[/editline] But.... I skimmed threw your post... I frogot the part about "I dont have the key to the wheel locks" Simple! [t]http://www.soyouwanna.com/images/cutting-torch-safety-8994.jpg[/t] I use one of these at least once a day! In the right hands you can get those pesky lug nuts with locks off in a heartbeat. [editline]10th September 2014[/editline] But In all seriousness. The 90$ set with key if it OEM Ford or is it aftermarket? If its aftermarket its almost mroe feasible to get the ford dealership to yank those bastards off and put some OEM locks on so you know you will alwase can get a key for it.
[QUOTE=DPKiller;45939766]That's easy peasy. Pull put the screw and put in a plug! [t]http://www.slime.com/shop/images/295/2010101509100641556_lrg.jpg[/t] It happens at least once a month to me because I put up metal buildings and these things are everywhere. [editline]10th September 2014[/editline] But.... I skimmed threw your post... I frogot the part about "I dont have the key to the wheel locks" [/QUOTE] Just jack the car up, take the air out of the tire and then plug it while it's on the car. You don't need to detach the wheel at all actually
[QUOTE=Ldesu;45939807]Just jack the car up, take the air out of the tire and then plug it while it's on the car. You don't need to detach the wheel at all actually[/QUOTE] I never said anything bout removing the wheels... It's just good mentality to be able to take the wheels off when ever he needs too. And generally he can do it with it on the ground. Just turn the wheel to the left fir direct access.
[QUOTE=DPKiller;45939766]That's easy peasy. Pull put the screw and put in a plug! [t]http://www.slime.com/shop/images/295/2010101509100641556_lrg.jpg[/t] It happens at least once a month to me because I put up metal buildings and these things are everywhere. [editline]10th September 2014[/editline] But.... I skimmed threw your post... I frogot the part about "I dont have the key to the wheel locks" Simple! [t]http://www.soyouwanna.com/images/cutting-torch-safety-8994.jpg[/t] I use one of these at least once a day! In the right hands you can get those pesky lug nuts with locks off in a heartbeat. [editline]10th September 2014[/editline] But In all seriousness. The 90$ set with key if it OEM Ford or is it aftermarket? If its aftermarket its almost mroe feasible to get the ford dealership to yank those bastards off and put some OEM locks on so you know you will alwase can get a key for it.[/QUOTE] $90 set is OEM. The $230 is for the same set but also to have them (Ford) take the old lock nuts out and install the new set. I also don't have a cutting torch.
Quite a few people take sockets and just hammer them over the wheel lock, then take them off like normal.
[QUOTE=DPKiller;45939840]I never said anything bout removing the wheels... It's just good mentality to be able to take the wheels off when ever he needs too. And generally he can do it with it on the ground. Just turn the wheel to the left fir direct access.[/QUOTE] Yeah I will need a key eventually in case I ever have a flat. I think I have no choice but to go with Ford unless I can find an OEM set and cheaper labour. [editline]10th September 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=FordLord;45939843]Quite a few people take sockets and just hammer them over the wheel lock, then take them off like normal.[/QUOTE] If it was that easy I don't know why the tire shop wouldn't do that. But I might check with other tire shops.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;45939841]$90 set is OEM. The $230 is for the same set but also to have them (Ford) take the old lock nuts out and install the new set. I also don't have a cutting torch.[/QUOTE] Doo you have a ford wheel locks on your car and ford will not help you get a key? Sounds about right.... (The cutting torch was a joke but I have done it before)
[B]Anyways another point to mention[/B] The tire shop I went to said that if they could take the wheel off, it would be a simple $30 job to take the screw out and plug the tire up. However, Ford said that because the screw is so close to the sidewall that it's too risky and so the whole tire needs to be replaced, which is like another $200 including labour. Should I just get Ford to replace the lock nut set and then get the screw removed at a tire shop? I have a feeling that Ford wants to get as much money as they can out of me haha. [editline]10th September 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=DPKiller;45939859]Doo you have a ford wheel locks on your car and ford will not help you get a key? Sounds about right.... (The cutting torch was a joke but I have done it before)[/QUOTE] Ford can't help me with the key because the supplier of the lock nut keys went out of business years ago. Completely helpless with my current set of lock nuts.
What close to the side wall? Bull shit! I had a screw THREW the apex of the curve and managed to patch it stealthfully. But theirs a lot of people here that work at lube places and tire shops that mostlikey would chime in on another point of view.
[QUOTE=DPKiller;45939903]What close to the side wall? Bull shit! I had a screw THREW the apex of the curve and managed to patch it stealthfully. But theirs a lot of people here that work at lube places and tire shops that mostlikey would chime in on another point of view.[/QUOTE] So I guess I take it that my best option is to buy a new lock nut set from Ford, either have them fit it or try that method with bashing a socket on with a hammer to take the old ones out for putting the new ones in, and then go to tire shop and get them to patch it up?
[QUOTE=Antdawg;45939870] Ford can't help me with the key because the supplier of the lock nut keys went out of business years ago. Completely helpless with my current set of lock nuts.[/QUOTE] What a crock of shit. Should tell them to shove it up their ass. If you buy THEIR PRODUCT you should alwase have the peice of mind you can get replacement parts. Especially for such a sensitive item as this. [editline]10th September 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Antdawg;45939907]So I guess I take it that my best option is to buy a new lock nut set from Ford, either have them fit it or try that method with bashing a socket on with a hammer to take the old ones out for putting the new ones in, and then go to tire shop and get them to patch it up?[/QUOTE] You can patch it up your self and not be in a large strain... But yes I would say get ferd to do it... God that makes me boil. Fucking redulious that is. It's just as bad as mercades charging 600$ to make and program a key.
[QUOTE=DPKiller;45939915]What a crock of shit. Should tell them to shove it up their ass. If you buy THEIR PRODUCT you should alwase have the peice of mind you can get replacement parts. Especially for such a sensitive item as this. [editline]10th September 2014[/editline] You can patch it up your self and not be in a large strain... But yes I would say get ferd to do it...[/QUOTE] Well Ford did say they can take the old lock nut set out to put a new one in (from a different supplier but will still fit my car). It's inconvenient yeah, but I don't think Ford can help it when their suppliers close. I might get Ford to replace the lock nut set but I'm not sure about plugging up the tire myself. $30 for a tire shop to do it doesn't even seem that awfully bad anyways.
10$ 10 plugs Compaired to 300$ for a tire shop to do 10 patch jobs.... Granted plugging does not look great, it still gets the job done. [editline]10th September 2014[/editline] Or it could just be me being a cheap ass... Idk. Patches are better if you enjoy that peice of mind.
I take it that it's one of the rear's. Cos if it's one of the fronts you just turn the wheel and position the screw to 10:30 or 1:30 position and then plug it. If plugging [I]just isn't[/I] the right amount of dodgy for you, then buy some silastic (or however it's spelt ha) pull out the nail just enough so that it's still in the tyre apply silastic over the surface of the thread of the bolt gently smash it back in and then leak test (soapy water over the puncture and look for bubbles) it once the stuff has dried I hope to see some videos of you breaking loose in the wet
[QUOTE=Antdawg;45939648]Hello Alcoholics Anonymous! So I got this '08 Ford Foul Cunt XR6 the other day: [t]http://i.imgur.com/8AcMnqF.jpg[/t] (That name is unnecessarily mean, it's actually a very nice car). So yeah; great to drive, leather trim, premium climate control and sound system and a six-speed gearbox. But there was this one problem I only noticed after I bought the car: [t]http://i.imgur.com/YW026eP.jpg[/t] I actually tried hard to make sure I wouldn't run into something like this when I inspected it, but it must have been facing downwards and out of sight (but not deliberately done by the seller, as I only checked the tires after the test drive). I don't know how long it's been in there but I certainly don't want to risk it staying for too much longer. I just hope it didn't penetrate through the tire and into the actual wheel. I imagine that to take the screw out that the whole wheel needs to come off, at least that's what one tire shop told me. They couldn't take the wheel off because the lock nut key for the security nuts on each wheel has gone missing at some point with the car's previous owner. I checked everywhere for it: Glove box, console, fuse box, in the boot where the spare tire is etc. Doesn't exist. The seller (a dealer, not the previous owner) didn't have a clue either. I can't specially order a lock nut key for my set of lock nuts because a) I don't have the ID for that lock nut set anywhere and b) the supplier for the lock nut keys went out of business a few years ago. I can buy a new lock nut set with its own key (for around $90) but that doesn't help me with trying to get the existing lock nuts out without their key. A Ford dealership I contacted quoted me $230 to take the old lock nuts out and put a new set in, and of course that is quite expensive. Either way also doesn't include the cost of actually going to a tire shop to take the screw out either. Anyone have any ideas on what I can do? Would anyone know if any tire shop anywhere would have the tools necessary to take lock nuts off without their key, or was the one I visited just shit?[/QUOTE] When I had my Lexus I went to a Toyota dealer with the car and told them I broke the lock nut key. They had a master set and took off the lock nuts for me. I went to and auto parts store and got 4 new lug nuts. The socket trick works. Or chisele and hammer.
[img]http://bangshift.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/saw.jpeg[/img]
Usually locked lug nuts all have same key to take out if they buy it from a commercial place like autozone or oreilys. Worked with my friends car when he lost his he just used mine.
Also, don't plug the tire, patch it. Patching it is always better. Plug and patch is absolutely fantastic.
Anyways yeah I fixed it. $245 to get a screw out. $90 for the new lock nut set, $125 for the labour at Ford to take the old set out and put the new set in, $30 at the tire shop to take the screw out and patch it up. I needed the new lock nut set anyways in case I ever got a flat and when I bought the lock nut set from Ford I thought fuck it I'm here now might as well get the sets replaced by people who actually know what they're doing. Okay for one very last thing, what kind of psi should I be running on this kind of car with 235/40R18 95W tires? I have 30 in at the moment but I imagine it should be a bit higher.
Your door should tell you. Unless you have different tires than just be safe and put +5psi higher than what the door says, and watch tread wear.
Take a socket and bang it over the locknut. Turn counterclockwise till the motherfucker comes loose.
[QUOTE=InsanePyro;45974617]Take a socket and bang it over the locknut. Turn counterclockwise till the motherfucker comes loose.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Antdawg;45965826]Anyways yeah I fixed it. [/QUOTE]
Wow, what an absurd waste of money. You literally could have used a cheap socket and a sledge hammer and had that wheel off in under 5 minutes. Any tire shop would have patched the tire for free and the only money you would have spent would have been on 4 new lug nuts.
[QUOTE=Aetna;46003329]Wow, what an absurd waste of money. You literally could have used a cheap socket and a sledge hammer and had that wheel off in under 5 minutes. Any tire shop would have patched the tire for free and the only money you would have spent would have been on 4 new lug nuts.[/QUOTE] "So yeah I know this will take only less than half an hour for you to do, but can you patch up my tire for free? I mean, it's only patching up a tire, not really taking up your valuable time you could have spent doing other business instead." Plus I would have had to run around and find a cheap socket to fit and a sledgehammer when I just don't have time on my hands...
Lol, you have no concept of how tire shops operate. Unless things are wildly different in Australia, they're required to patch the tire - and even if they did charge, it would be no more than $20 and would have saved you close to $400. I just have a hard time understanding justification of spending hundreds of dollars for no reason other than laziness. A cheap socket set is under $10, a sledgehammer $30, and after buying those you'd own them for life, tools hold value very well, especially when you have none. All in all it would have taken you under 90 minutes and saved you a lot of money that could have been spent on something much more worthwhile.
[QUOTE=Aetna;46011318]Lol, you have no concept of how tire shops operate. Unless things are wildly different in Australia, they're required to patch the tire - and even if they did charge, it would be no more than $20 and would have saved you close to $400. I just have a hard time understanding justification of spending hundreds of dollars for no reason other than laziness. A cheap socket set is under $10, a sledgehammer $30, and after buying those you'd own them for life, tools hold value very well, especially when you have none. All in all it would have taken you under 90 minutes and saved you a lot of money that could have been spent on something much more worthwhile.[/QUOTE] It only cost $30 to remove the screw and patch the tire (where the fuck did $400 from? Buying a new lock nut set and paying for the labour for the old set to be replaced and then going to a tire shop to remove the screw and patch the tire all cost only $245 in total) and as you know things are more expensive here so $10 difference in cost of patching tire is expected. I already had a socket set (not a sledgehammer) but I didn't want to have to break a socket by hammering it over the lock nut and thus being one socket short on my set. Laziness? Whatever. I study full-time at uni and work 30 hours every week. The only time I have at home is to sleep.
[QUOTE=Aetna;46003329]Wow, what an absurd waste of money. You literally could have used a cheap socket and a sledge hammer and had that wheel off in under 5 minutes. Any tire shop would have patched the tire for free and the only money you would have spent would have been on 4 new lug nuts.[/QUOTE] couldn't he have like, also used a ton of super glue possibly to fix it? at least temporarily at best. First thing I'd do is try and get some very aggressive rubber based hot melt super glue and really get it in there
[QUOTE=Antdawg;46016873]It only cost $30 to remove the screw and patch the tire (where the fuck did $400 from? Buying a new lock nut set and paying for the labour for the old set to be replaced and then going to a tire shop to remove the screw and patch the tire all cost only $245 in total) and as you know things are more expensive here so $10 difference in cost of patching tire is expected. I already had a socket set (not a sledgehammer) but I didn't want to have to break a socket by hammering it over the lock nut and thus being one socket short on my set. Laziness? Whatever. I study full-time at uni and work 30 hours every week. The only time I have at home is to sleep.[/QUOTE] Your post failed to clarify $245 total - you made it sound like it was $245 to remove the screw (absurd) then the various other costs added to that. Regardless, my point remains that $245 is an obnoxious amount to spend for a simple tire repair. You wouldn't have broken the socket, the metal of the lug nut is much softer. You still could have saved a couple hundred bucks, and if you're a uni student like you say you are, $200 is a lot of money. To put things in perspective for you, I work over 50 hours a week, travel nearly a week out of the month every month, and am required to be on call after hours. I still make time to work on my car because I refuse to spend extra money on things I know I can take care of myself - and yes, it is my opinion that not wanting to remove a lug nut and take your tire to the shop is being lazy. The amount of time you spent posting this thread, taking the car to the dealer, waiting for your car, and replying to my posts, probably added up to way more time than handling the problem yourself. I was just a little irked by the fact you made a thread asking for advice, ignored said (good) advice that was given, then unnecessarily spent your hard-earned dollars. I apologize for being rude, but I recommend you tackle these little roadblocks in the future on your own. They're good learning experiences, save you money, and leave you with a very rewarding feeling of accomplishment - so when you say "I fixed it", you ACTUALLY fixed it, not paid other people large amounts of money to do it for you.
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