Locking wheel nuts - Grrrrh

[Frenchtone]

^ me tooooooooo

[Sad555]

Appears to be quite common with a few members on the octy II site having the same issues

[eribaMotters]

Well I have also been caught out now.

Today I started swapping over winter to summer wheels. I had fitted winter wheels at correct torque and had no problems getting normal bolts out, but not the security bolts.

I now have two summer wheels on passenger side and two winter wheels on drivers side. Tomorrow I will be taking my wifes car and get 4 standard bolts from Euro Carparts or similar. This will be followed by a mile drive to my local friendly independent to [hopefully] swap the offending bolts over. Then I can finish swapping the wheels over.

When I book the car in for its second service I will present the security bolts and adaptor and see what they offer. Ideally I would like 4 new standard bolts and protective caps for the heads.

At the moment I am being positive and telling myself I am lucky this has happened on my drive and not at the side of the road when trying to change a puncture in the cold/rain/dark etc.

 

Colin

[SuperbTWM]

Had a similar problem with my octy, any place with wheel lock remover set will able to remove them. I replaced the skoda ones with mcgard ones instead as the pattern seems better designed compared to the original skoda spine type design

 

The older spline design was great, if you ever lost the removal tool you could just get another random one and hammer it in 

 

 

Myself, and a few others, have removed the locking wheel nuts and replaced them with normal nuts.

Wheel theft is now not common.

Wheel theft is still common enough, they just target the more desirable wheels like the 19" VRS wheels and those Audi Rotor wheels

[Llanigraham]

Wheel theft is still common enough, they just target the more desirable wheels like the 19" VRS wheels and those Audi Rotor wheels

 

So not very common with our wheels then!

[gumdrop]

Have you tried parking next to a wall and putting a jack between the wall and socket t bar,   to put a good amount of pressure to stop it slipping out of the bolt, might work.

When I was working I made up a jig that did the same job as the wall and jack mentioned here.

[JCP]

When I was working I made up a jig that did the same job as the wall and jack mentioned here.

 

I have had the lockers removed from both my Yetis since failing to change a wheel on my own drive how likely is there to be a handy wall by the verge on a wet a road? I suppose the safety barriers by the side of the motorway might be handy for those who regard protection from wheel theft as their first priority

[gumdrop]

I have had the lockers removed from both my Yetis since failing to change a wheel on my own drive how likely is there to be a handy wall by the verge on a wet a road? I suppose the safety barriers by the side of the motorway might be handy for those who regard protection from wheel theft as their first priority

 

The rule is, you get clear 1st then call the police and whichever

vehicle recovery service you belong to as necessary

[EvoT]

Its been said on one posting a tiny little bit of copper ease on ALL the wheel bolts

used it on wheel nuts and bolts for over 40 years never had a problem getting them undone 12 months after putting some on each nut or bolt.

[Urrell]

Its been said on one posting a tiny little bit of copper ease on ALL the wheel bolts

used it on wheel nuts and bolts for over 40 years never had a problem getting them undone 12 months after putting some on each nut or bolt.

+1

The wheel brace goes on to a normal bolt about 10 mm but the security key only about 3 or 4 mm so the torque must be square to the bolt so as to not damage the key.

[JCP]

The rule is, you get clear 1st then call the police and whichever

vehicle recovery service you belong to as necessary

Sorry my intent was ironic-only a maniac sits/stands on the roadside of the safety barriers.

[eribaMotters]

Update.

I spoke to my Skoda garage and the reply was basically hard luck, so I bought 4 plastic bolt caps/covers.

I then spoke to Skoda UK customer services. They confirmed that it is hard luck.

They also infomed they they were totally unaware of any issues regarding difficult to remove locking wheel bolts.

The lady made a note on the system and I advised her that somebody should look at the Skoda forums.

 

Colin

Edited 4 April, 2016 by eribaMotters

[EvoT]

What good customer empathy from Skoda !! There was a time when it was taboo to put anything on a wheel stud or bolt but times have changed beacause they do rust up from the back of the bolt in the disc not via the wheel chamfer. crap metal like the wheel brace supplied with the car.

 

How do we get them off ? drill the bolt and tap it with a left handed tap to put a bolt in ? a very thin air gun chisel to try and start it to un do ? try and chisel a slot in the bolt head and the knock it with a chisel and hammer  ? plenty of plus gas down the wheel centre  where it fits agaist the disc so it runs into the bolt thread may take several applications best to this one before you do any major desruction of the bolt, sorry mate if all else fails you will need to take the wheel of by destroying it around the bolt hole it all sounds a major job and expensive, then take the disc off and buy a new rim.

[Llanigraham]

Or you go to your local garage who has a nice little special tool, like a socket with teeth inside. They power that onto the broken bolt/nut head and it unscrews it.

I took my locking nuts off ages ago as wheel theft does not appear to be that common nowadays.

[rarrar]

Have also removed my locking wheel nuts after failing to remove my wheels.

It is the socket that is soft and goes rather than the wheel bolt itself.

Local dealer intimated that the problem was common and he frequently was asked to change the locking bolts for normal ones.

[Falmouthboy]

Here's a submission that'll start an argument: Every time I swap my winters over (Spring and Autumn, obviously) I clean and polish the wheels and check treads etc....BUT here comes the fly in the ointment......I smear a bit of copper grease on the threads and the mating surfaces of the studs as well as the wheel/hub mating surfaces. I understand the wheel/hub is universally approved of as it helps with the reaction between alloy and steel (or something along those lines)....but I've seen vehement debate about greasing the threads (in fact I might have got involved in such exchanges in the past).

However, I never have any trouble removing the wheels due to them being stuck to the hubs - and - I don't have any trouble undoing the wheel nuts either.

By doing this twice yearly procedure I know I'll be able to get a wheel off in the event of a puncture.

Whether it's hazardous seems arguable but I'm inclined to carry on exercising care when tightening them up and checking for tightness with the wrench held at the right angle etc and and haven't lost a wheel yet.

I must confess I always used to do this too. Until I had the wheels on a previous car refurbished by a well respected local wheel specialist. He threw up his arms in horror when he saw what I had done. Fine, indeed good practice greasing the mating surface between wheel and hub, and if you must a little bit on the stud thread. However, he said under no circumstances get grease on the area of stud that contacts the wheel. The recommended torque setting is based on a reliance of the friction effect of the stud on the wheel. Grease it and you need far more torque to achieve the same effect - no different to putting grease on the friction surface of a brake pad he said!

[VAGCF]

The older spline design was great, if you ever lost the removal tool you could just get another random one and hammer it in 

 

 

Wheel theft is still common enough, they just target the more desirable wheels like the 19" VRS wheels and those Audi Rotor wheels

Gulp!

[EvoT]

Very suprised the Skoda dealer never said anything about this special tool in post#39 Can't believe that a dealer has NEVER come across this problem when a car is in the workshop??  Anyway its worth checking on this before you do any damage to the wheel and the nut.

 

Let us all know how the situation ends.

[eribaMotters]

Well I have also been caught out now.

Today I started swapping over winter to summer wheels. I had fitted winter wheels at correct torque and had no problems getting normal bolts out, but not the security bolts.

I now have two summer wheels on passenger side and two winter wheels on drivers side. Tomorrow I will be taking my wifes car and get 4 standard bolts from Euro Carparts or similar. This will be followed by a mile drive to my local friendly independent to [hopefully] swap the offending bolts over. Then I can finish swapping the wheels over.

When I book the car in for its second service I will present the security bolts and adaptor and see what they offer. Ideally I would like 4 new standard bolts and protective caps for the heads.

At the moment I am being positive and telling myself I am lucky this has happened on my drive and not at the side of the road when trying to change a puncture in the cold/rain/dark etc.

 

Colin

 

Posted Yesterday, 16:27

Update.

I spoke to my Skoda garage and the reply was basically hard luck, so I bought 4 plastic bolt caps/covers.

I then spoke to Skoda UK customer services. They confirmed that it is hard luck.

They also infomed they they were totally unaware of any issues regarding difficult to remove locking wheel bolts.

The lady made a note on the system and I advised her that somebody should look at the Skoda forums.

 

Colin

 

 

Sorry, I missed the in between bit out, and do not know how to do MultiQuotes so this reads correctly:-

 

I bought 4 bolts from EuroCarparts and took them to my local independent garage. This is only a mile away and I taught the owner/manager who is an MOT inspector.

He got onto the job immediately for me and swapped all four bolts over. The first came out as usual using the cordless, but the others required progressively more effort using the air line gun. A large copper mallet was used extensively to both shock the bolt and break the seal, alongst with driving the adaptor onto the bolt head to ensure the best location possible.

He agreed I would not have been able to do this at the roadside, and admitted that when refitting the security bolts they do not torque them up to the stated load. If you do they do not come off as they should.

The job took him about 15 minutes of actual work time and cost me a drink.

 

Colin

Edited 5 April, 2016 by eribaMotters

[EvoT]

Well done Colin and your mate you will sleep tonight !!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:  the drinks are on me boys !!!!!!!

[rarrar]

Just about to pick up new L&K.

Are the current locking wheel bolts the same design as 4 years ago with the softish special socket which seems to fail after a few uses ?

Need to know whether to get the dealer to change them for plain unlocking bolts before I take delivery.

[eribaMotters]

I would not risk it, no matter what the garage tells you.Get them to remove them.

After my experience I vow never to collect a new to me car from a garage unless it has "normal" bolts/nuts all round. It is not worth the risk.

 

Colin

[Clive]

This type of locking wheel nuts are horrible things , I've seen far too many failures so I binned mine within a couple of weeks of buying the car .

 

 

 

[rarrar]

Thanks for the opinions. So another thing to "discuss" when I sign the paperwork on Sunday.

[mumpsim]

Car Mechanics,  November 2016 issue, had an article on whether to use grease or not.  There was an authoritative contribution by someone who as far as I can see was a quality assurance engineer with the Ministry of Defence.  It's a two-page spread, so too long to quote here.  In short, he does not grease bolt threads but does grease their taper section. He greases the centre spigot.  As for the hub face, he greases it lightly but then wipes it off with a cloth, leaving some grease in the valleys but not on the peaks of the metal surfaces. And he uses lithium grease, never copper. He gives reasons for all of this.