Unable to remove locking wheel nut coz garage did up to tight

trollied

I had my car serviced back in september 2009 and also had two new tyres fitted at a local garage. Today I went over to kwik fit to replace my near side front only to be told that the locking wheel nut had been tightened so much that they were not prepared to carry on with the work as they said that theres a good chance of the locking wheel nut being disformed and therefore unable to remove the rest oif the wheels. If I was to go to the garage that fitted the tyres, are they responsable and if so is the work to remove wheel chargable? Thanks

border_collie

I suppose it would be difficult for you to prove to them that those wheels haven't been messed with since they fitted them

harveybobbles

I'm sure if you told KwikFit that you wanted new discs, pads, shockers etc then theyd have a good go at removing the locking nut!

Cool_Username

I suppose you have nothing to lose by getting in touch with the garage that apparently tightened the nut too much - perhaps they'll attempt to take it off for you. To be honest you'll have a difficult time getting anyone to admit responsibility for something like this - you're probably gonna end up having to sort it out at your own expense unfortunately.

I would've thought (in my ignorance) that the guns that garages use to tighten wheel nuts just did them up to a certain torque anyway - would've thought one of these guns would have no problem removing a nut that was done up by another.

thescouselander

Garages usually do the nuts up too tight - I always go over the wheel nuts myself with a torque wrench after any work has been done to make sure they have been tightened to the correct torque.

Anyway, no need to panic - if the wheel nut went on without snapping it will probably come off with a little persuasion. My recommendation would be to leave to car to cool down (preferably on cold night) and then try to loosen the bolt. First off see it will budge using the wheel brace with a little pressure from your foot. If not then get a lump hammer and give the end of the wheel brace a few wacks (in the direction to undo the bolt) to try and shock the nut loose - be patient, it will move in the end.

molerat

Hammer on a slightly too small socket (my old whitworth set comes in handy sometimes) or get a set of these http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_196491_langId_-1_categoryId_165469

kittiej

I agree with scouselander from a phisicist/chemist point of view since cold = contraction.

I also think that Kwickcrap were a bit OTT. If the wheelnut goes so What? buy a replacement or is it a special wheelnut that is only made the once?

I hope you get it sorted, with less fuss from the garage xxx

Kurtis_Blue

trollied wrote: »

kwik fit to replace my near side front only to be told that the locking wheel nut had been tightened so much that they were not prepared to carry on with the work as they said that theres a good chance of the locking wheel nut being disformed and therefore unable to remove the rest oif the wheels.

If they were worried about taking the rest of the wheels of, it seems they were talking about dis forming the key not the old nut.

Either buy a spare key and give it a go OR as others have mentioned go to a decent garage locking, wheel nuts are easy to remove, key or no key. and unless you have something super spangley throw them away and fit normal nuts.

anewman

Maybe try tighten the other bolts a little bit more first, this should take the tightness off the locking one a little.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Kwik Fit are just playing safe, they'll have tried it with their powertool, which will have failed. Undo it yourself, with a wrench and a bit of scaffold tubing.

Wig

Buy four normal hex head bolts to replace your useless locking bolts with.

Change the locking wheel bolts from the other 3 wheels first before having a go at the one that is stubborn.