Lost my alloy wheels lock key!

geek84

Hi Folks

Please forgive me if this is the wrong forum to post my query

I have a fiesta flight 2002 which has alloy wheels. I now need to change one of the tyres. For that, I obviously need to unscrew the nuts on the alloy wheels. However, I cannot find the nut key. (The nut you use to open the other nuts around the alloy wheel).

How do I go about opening the nuts? If I do need to buy another key, how much do you thnk a new nut key will cost? Shall I look for one on ebay (which would hopefully be cheaper than going to my local Ford dealership?

Please advice
.
Thanks in advance.

pendulum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEpG7p0arQw

(Socket size may vary)

todolistsocd

Hi,

Normal keys are anything from £5.00 onwards from the shop depending on how old the wheels are and for what make/model.
Already on eBay right now and their dirt cheap.
For instance, look at this particular post: 330546317376 Ford Lockable wheel nuts and key set. Brand spanking new in the packet 1 day 3 hours left, no bids yet, 99p start £1.99P&P or £5.00 Buy it Now.
This post is under the title wheel nut key but if you put in "Ford locking wheel nut key" lowest price & P&P first, sets go from £10.00 buy it now and £3.50 P&P, but it's still cheaper than the shops.

Hope this helps!

geek84

Hi Folks

Many thanks for your replies.

If I buy it over the internet, how can I be sure that it is the right key? Do I need to changed the nuts which are already on the alloys?

Thanks

todolistsocd

Hi,

Had the same problem when I purchased a 2nd hand Vauxhall Cavalier some years ago.
It had alloy wheels on each of the four tyresand one out of the four had nuts on each wheel were locked.
Front N/S tyre kept on going down every two minutes & I couldn't change the spare, as I never had the key.
Like you, I had no idea where to get a key or whether I would even get the right one or not So,
what I did, was take the vehicle to an ordinary local tyre fitters as obvsiouly, if no-one else, tyre fitters will most certainly have the key as they wouldn't be able to change your tyre.
He showed me what key I needed however; he also showed me once loosend, how to do it with a butter knife, would you believe?

So your best option is just to take it to a local tyre place and they will show you what key you are looking for, as even if you do get a brand new set of nuts and key, you'll still have the problem of getting the wheels of the vehicles first.

Hope this helps!

geek84

Hi

Many thanks for your advice todolistsocd.

I think I will do that.

rev_henry

pendulum wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEpG7p0arQw

(Socket size may vary)

Yup, just take a hammer and socket set to it. Lol that 'wheellok' case thing is a bit of an extreme solution!

deanos

If you are in the RAC or AA they have wheel lock removal thingys, although they didnt work on my Vauxhall ones, had to pay a garage £30 to hack them off

todolistsocd

deanos wrote: »

If you are in the RAC or AA they have wheel lock removal thingys, although they didnt work on my Vauxhall ones, had to pay a garage £30 to hack them off

Hi Deanos.

1st thing I would say is ouch, that's rough man!
I just hope the garage didn't do any damage did they?

All the best:)

Flyboy152

Hammer and chisel, I'm afraid.

The whole point of the locking wheel nuts, is that they can't be removed easily without the original key.

Some manufacturers do have "universal keys," but they are rare.

paddedjohn

Hi, i had the same problem with the locking nuts on our Corsa, i took it to the Vauxhall dealers and they sorted it in 5 mins. There are only about a dozen different keys apparantly. Try taking the car to the local Ford dealer and see if they can help before you use the socket method.