Following last week’s saga the car was booked into Ford today to have them use their master key to take the nuts off.
They were then going to sell me 4 new nuts , a key that fits and fit them.
Their power is down and apparently it’s a job that can’t be done without power. I asked the man if it is possible to remove a Ford locking wheel nut at the side of the road and apparently it is not. This would mean that every Ford puncture would have to go to a workshop.
I expect he is talking shit. The upshot is that the wheel can’t be removed, the tyre with the nail can’t be fixed and we can’t go away this weekend.
Please tell me there is another way.

Of course you can take a locking wheel nut off at the side of the road! I have an 11 plate focus, and have done it. The wheel brace fits the back of the lock nut! Not sure why it needs power either, a brace and some arms will do it!!

he is full of shit. maybe he needs the rattle gun to murder the old ones off though. you local friendly indie garage will know how to do it. locking wheel nuts are a pita, and im not that keen on them as it could get you stranded on a rainy motorway in 3am. sod that. the issue is gorillas in tyre shops using the rattle gun on them. one way to mitigate this is to remove the locking wheel nuts and fit the standard nuts or bolts back in for the tyre swaps and then fit the lockers when you get back home. reminds me, the ones on the bus are dodgy, i’ll order some more.

Any indy garage will get them off in minutes and sell you a set of normal wheel nuts so you never have to mess about with the stoopid things ever again.

I asked the man if it is possible to remove a Ford locking wheel nut at the side of the road and apparently it is not.

That’s bollocks, I’ve done it myself using the supplied lock nut key.

What I have had major difficulty with is getting the normal nuts off when they have been overtightened by some ape with a pneumatic wrench. They shed an outer chrome cap and then you are basically buggered.

This would mean that every Ford puncture would have to go to a workshop.

– and presumably on a recovery vehicle unless they’re run flats. What a crock, I somehow managed a roadside wheel change a couple of months ago. No power required.

Can the AA/other motoring org not help? It can’t be unusual for a driver not to be able to lay their hands on the key nut in an emergency can it?

They were then going to sell me 4 new nuts , a key that fits and fit them.
Their power is down and apparently it’s a job that can’t be done without power. I asked the man if it is possible to remove a Ford locking wheel nut at the side of the road and apparently it is not. This would mean that every Ford puncture would have to go to a workshop.

i suspect he is talking about the nuts fitted to your car right now . they wont come off …

id imagine hes going to melle on a socket and stick the impact behind it

if the bolt is correctly fitted torqued to spec with the correct tools – removing it at the road side should be no issue.

You can absolutely remove it with the lock key. That’s what it’s for.

Without the key, who knows. I can’t begin to imagine how a “master key” would work given the design of the Ford locknuts; I expect their master key really involves brute force and swearing.

So many internet experts as ever .

You cannot remove a locking wheel nut at the side of the road unless YOU HAVE THE KEY . I’m guessing you don’t have the key which is why you are posting here ,therefore you , personally , would not be able to remove your wheel at the side of the road .

So how do you think they are going to magically remove your wheels nuts without a key ? Personally , I weld a bolt to the offending wheel nut and undo using the new bolt head . In my experience a lot of lockers are to hard to drill and the special tools available either don’t work or use consumables which are expensive .

Locking wheel nuts which have no matching key cannot be “removed in a matter of minutes” if they could that would render them about as useful as a chocolate fire guard as criminals would also be able to “remove them in a mater of minutes”

So , the moral of this story is, if buying a car always make sure the key comes with it or don’t loose it if you know it’s there .

I missed the part where the internet experts disagreed with anything you said……….

its also worth remembering not all locking wheel nuts are the same as although i never said it in the first place … many can be removed quite easily without special tools or drilling.

So many internet experts as ever .

Either you are misreading the OP or everyone else is.

OP said: “This would mean that every Ford puncture would have to go to a workshop.”

Which isn’t true, because you can remove the locking nut WITH THE KEY at the side of the road. Otherwise they’d be about as useful as a chocolate fire guard.

Following last week’s saga the car was booked into Ford today to have them use their master key to take the nuts off.
They were then going to sell me 4 new nuts , a key that fits and fit them.
Their power is down and apparently it’s a job that can’t be done without power. I asked the man if it is possible to remove a Ford locking wheel nut at the side of the road and apparently it is not. This would mean that every Ford puncture would have to go to a workshop.
I expect he is talking shit. The upshot is that the wheel can’t be removed, the tyre with the nail can’t be fixed and we can’t go away this weekend.
Please tell me there is another way.

They can be removed at the roadside with the right tools.

You seem quick to blame Ford for your problems but they didn’t put four mismatched locking wheel nuts on your vehicle nor did they not check it was all correct before buying it.

Honkie – you’re talking shit.
I have a set of tools in my tool drawers that will take off any locking nut with or without the key.
Admittedly they aren’t easy to get hold of or cheap but they are in there and I know of a number or workshops who carry them for the same reason.
Welding a bolt on is all well and good until it flashes the lacquer and ruins the wheel.

Craigxxl, we bought the car last year secondhand. At that point I didn’t realise what a nightmare these wheel nuts are.
The main dealer didn’t supply us with the key number . I noticed a nail in my tyre 2 weeks back and only then noticed that the key was all chewed up.
Ford should at least stamp the key number on the key or keep a record by chassis number.
The man in the garage was adamant that even with the right key you couldn’t take a wheel off at the roadside. This was after I offered to take the nuts off for them using their key with a breaker bar. No it has to go into the workshop and go on a ramp.
A weapons grade mark one ****.

I’d be asking the garage how long they expect the power to be off for? Surely they can do it tomorrow?

I think its what they call pulling your leg!!? Take it elsewhere..

The man in the garage was adamant that even with the right key you couldn’t take a wheel off at the roadside.

Absolute rubbish. The key fits into the locking nut and gives you a bolt head the same size as all the other nuts so you can use the wheel brace in the boot to remove it. I’ve done it loads of times. Why would they give you the wheel brace in with the spare wheel if you couldn’t use it?

Balls… exactly the point I was trying to make to the mechanic.
I’m reluctant to fit more Ford locking nuts is there a good quality ,user friendly alternative out there?

they look like this.

Just get a set af Mcguard nuts, and tighten them with a tyre iron, NOT an air gun, or youll never get them off by hand at the side of the road.

Last time I had a tyre change, it involved a whole can of WD40, 2 trips to the tyre fitter (time in between for the WD40 to sink in, multiple applications) and the fitter still almost burst his biceps with a braker bar.. he was very worried about sheering the nut off.

You dont need a pneumatic air gun, way too much torque. People who put wheel nuts on with air guns need a slap, it’s just lazy.

The key fits into the locking nut and gives you a bolt head the same size as all the other nuts so you can use the wheel brace in the boot to remove it

You would think so, wouldn’t you?

My wife had a car that had 17mm wheel bolts; the key was 19mm. Piece of wee once you know that, but the first time you try it, by the side of the road in the rain, you will be disappointed.

Just fit another standard Ford nut, not a locker. How likely is it anyone steals your wheels? Nobody’s nicked mine yet.

first thing to do when you get a new second hand car – have the wheels off to make sure they actually come off, and check the condition of the locking wheel nuts and the wheel brace and jack, and the condition of the spare. i always carry a trolley jack and a breaker bar and an impact socket. as does my brother, as does my mate. We have all worked in a chassis role for a large OEM and one of us is a wheel and tyre supervisor…

i always carry a trolley jack and a breaker bar and an impact socket. as does my brother, as does my mate.

I just carry an AA membership card. It’s lighter and doesn’t take up so much room 😀

Lighter but so much slower

One of the McGard locking nuts on my car completely sheared off last week under very light pressure. Fortunately there was enough of the nut left on that I could bang on an 18mm socket and get it off (ruined the socket though). I’ve replaced them all with standard nuts and won’t be buying any more lockers. Good job it happened when I was at home and not at the side of the road in the dark.

Had this twice now. I usually swap both cars over to winter wheels ( not time for that argument again) Once the Mcgard key sheared and I had to order more from Germany. Second time I ended up having it drilled out and now just run normal nuts. Rarely park the cars anywhere dodgy and just can’t be bothered by the whole locking wheel nut thing shearing again.

Both times it was after the garage had replaced the affected tyres. Total denial of using pneumatic wrench on it despite me watch them do it some other poor sods car whilst I waited.

I just have steel wheels on my car, which makes me happy.

If someone wants the std manufacturer fit alloys off my van or wife’s car and are prepared to go to the effort of getting them off they are welcome to them. I always get rid of locking nuts and fit std ones after having major hassle with a puncture and locking nut with no key.
If I had a fancy pants set of expensive wheels I may consider having them but I doubt the market in 17″ Ford Focus wheels that my wife has kerbed to death is that big…

^^
Plus earlier quote – “I have a set of tools in my tool drawers that will take off any locking nut with or without the key.”
First thing I do with a new car is remove the locking nuts- they most likely effect of not so doing is being unable to swap a wheel in the wee hours in the pi$$ing rain at the side of a busy road, not the sight of the car on blocks without them.

Oblig:

Having stood in my shed comparing a cassette tool and my locking wheel nut tool I know which one I’d trust to undo my wheel bolts.
The idea is sound , the execution poor.
I did find a man in Reading called we remove wheel nuts .com who looks like an absolute genius.He was as surprised by the mechanics comments as I was.

i have steel wheels and locking wheel nuts on my car……

but its the tyres im worried about not the rims.

None of this is a problem if you have an S-Max.

Since you don’t have a spare wheel ,or space to store one in the car even if you can find a spare, removing wheels at the side of the road is no longer a problem. 🙁

I’ve just remembered that a colleague had a similar problem. Took their recently purchased (second hand) Mondeo to a Ford dealer to have some work done, possibly just a tyre or brake pad change, something minor that involved taking the wheel off. Apart from that there was nothing wrong with it.

The garage phoned to say that they couldn’t do it as the locking nut was missing/faulty/wrong, but they could use their ‘master key’ to get it off, and then sell her a new set of locking nuts as the master key would damage the existing ones. My colleague told them that was fine and to go ahead.

She phoned a few hours later to ask if the car was ready to collect.

“Ummm….we’re just waiting for a new windscreen to come in for it which probably won’t be until tomorrow morning, but we can give you a courtesy car if you need one to get you through to tomorrow”

“Why does it need a new windscreen?” she asked.

Apparently the mechanic was struggling to get the locking nut off and got so annoyed that he lost it and smashed the breaker bar through the windscreen!

I don’t think they charged her for any of the work or the new wheel nuts.

None of this is a problem if you have an S-Max.

We have a grand max and I made them supply us with a spare wheel kit when we bought the car. Even though this meant me removing the 2 seats in the boot so we could access the wheel well. Pretty pointless if we can’t undo the bloody wheel nuts.

Coincidentally, new car turned up today. Not only is every wheel nut a “security” one, but also has dinky plastic caps covering each. Gah!

One of the benefits for me of the steelies is that they’re also smaller than the alternative alloys, so the tyres are kind of normal and relatively cheap (and give a better ride and protect the rims better). I’m not too worried about those either.