I had a slow leak in my rear blizzak ....
 

tire and did not get on it right away. Anyway I drove on it a short while and got home and it was flat. I had driven on it flat for a while. The rim is acceptable apparently. According to the tire shop the tire is toast and so I am going to get two new rear snow tires. I put the all season radial back on the right rear and was going to do the same to the left rear but the security key socket split trying to get the security bolt off and now I am stuck with a blizzak on the rear and an a/s tire on the other side until 1) I get to the Porsche stealership to get a new one. Are the key security sockets all the same - I have a 2001 base Box? I will ph tomorrow to see if the stealership has one.

and 2) is it okay to drive a short distance 5-10 miles to my indy shop to get new snow tires put on. They might have the key to get the wheel off. Am I correct in saying it will not harm the car with a 16 inch rim with blizzak on one side and a 17 inch rim with a/s on the other? If I had put on the mini spare on instead that would have been assymetrical as well so I like to think that assymetry on the differential/ cv joints is acceptable?

I will definitely get rid of the security bolts and put on regular lug nuts but I have to get the security bolt off first....

Thanks for your input in advance!

Assuming your tires are similar outer diameter, there should not be any worries about transmission parts.

There are several different lug key patterns. I pounded a socket over my locking lug bolts to get them out after I misplaced my key.

There is no worry driving short distances with the two different wheels, everything will be fine.

And I'd take off the remaining three wheel locks, throw them away, and replace with standard lug bolts. Unless you have very expensive aftermarket wheels, there are very few thieves looking for used OEM wheels.

Thanks for the replies. I talked to the Porsche stealership parts dept. and they do not have the key/socket replacement that I needed. They say you have to go to McGards to get a wheel lock kit.They have these keys in their shop but of course they are not going to loan them out.

There is no parts number on the key socket. So I have ordered two snow tires(Pirelli sottozero) from my indy shop and they are going to look after the removal of all the security key lugnut bolts and replace them with the regular lugbolts.

So I think that cold weather makes it hard to remove lugbolts.

All this because I ignored a slow leak in a tire which led to a flat tire, some minor damage to a rim and ended up damaging a tire which cannot be fixed. Better that this happens in my own garage than in the middle of nowhere.

Cheers, G.

If you take a picture of your security bolt, maybe someone here can loan you their key? I have bought 4 new bolts to replace my security ones but I just haven't gotten around to switching. If yours matches mine I would be happy to loan you my key.

Steve

Thanks for the offer Steve. Apparently there are many different patterns of Boxster key to get the lugbolts off. I phoned my indy shop and they said to take mine in and they would try to fix it up. It has a split along the side. They said this is not the first time this has happened. If a person does not have fancy rims I think that regular lugbolts should be sufficient. Porsche dealership has the master set and they are not about to share that with the indy shop. Because I change rims/tires due weather every six months, the key takes a beating. I should splurge and go buy a breaker bar instead of using that mickey mouse foot wrench from the tool kit.

As someone noted prior it would be prudent to take a digital picture of your existing key, send it to McGard and they will sell you a "Back-up" key. My locking lugs and the keys are always removed, placed into tupperware containers and quickly replaced with regular lug nuts soon after I get the cars.

I will do that Coreseller. Thanks for that!

+1 on getting rid of the wheel locks - my dealer pulled them off with their master set of lock sockets and traded me 4 standard lug bolts from a big box of them they had. I try not to park my car in areas where they'd steal a set of used wheels...

+1 and +1

Well I talked to McGard and they suggested sending pics of the security bolt on the wheel. And then I took pics of the security socket.....

Then I thought I would adopt the suggestion of the indy shop to drop the split socket which is what I did. The mechanic said it could be welded and used again but if that did not work he has other means. In the meantime snow tires are on order for the rear - Pirelli sottozero and the Box sits in the garage with assymetrical rims and tires. Getting withdrawal already. Thanks for tips...

Good better best ...tires
 

Been to my indy garage just yesterday and they managed to get security lock bolts removed with existing split security socket. The good news is that I got two Pirelli Winter Sottozero snow tires put on the rear. They have the split pattern- one half of the tire is different to the other half. My a/s Michelin tires were good, blizzaks better but these Pirelli's are by far the best on slippery roads. When going from a stop and an immediate turn is required and I hit the gas, the back end does not break away so readily. Bought 6 tires in two months. Likely won't happen again in my lifetime....