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Old 09-08-2016, 01:47 PM   #38
78F350
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 3,673
Garage
I hate locking lugs.

Rick will be picking up the car this weekend and there is little left for me to do. He is going to bring his own wheels along and I am going to keep the wheels that are presently on it. Today I decided to make sure that there won't be any problems swapping out the wheels. Glad I did. The lug- key that came with the car worked great on the first three, then split as I was taking off the fourth. No hammering or abuse. It just reached the end of it's design-life and split. Glad I wasn't out on the road.


It's been covered on the forum before and I have done it quite a few times now with salvage cars. At home in my garage it's not a big deal.
-Take a 12 point 17mm or 11/16ths socket and drive it onto the lug with a hammer.
-Give it some short taps with an impact wrench, then spin it out.


My opinion of these lugs is that they do not provide any real protection and they do cause a potential hazard. Any competent thief can remove your wheels in less time than it would take for most people to find the lug key. If the lug key is lost or breaks while you are on the road, you are stranded. You can not change your tire until someone comes along with a tool to get it off.

Glad this happened today. It reminded me that I still have to replace the locking lugs with plain ones on one of my other cars.
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