Kwik Fit - snapped locking nut key

Westmead_Fan

where i work we would never think to try & get a locking wheel nut off with any air gun, its always using a breaker bar & tighten with a torque wrench.

i know all about snapped/damaged locking wheel nut keys especially the non standard fancy ones when other garages or customers over tighten them then come to us when they can't shift them.

why do people need them plenty of customers loose them, you just need standard wheel nuts saves alot of money when things like this happen

photome

Westmead_Fan wrote: »

where i work we would never think to try & get a locking wheel nut off with any air gun, its always using a breaker bar & tighten with a torque wrench.

i know all about snapped/damaged locking wheel nut keys especially the non standard fancy ones when other garages or customers over tighten them then come to us when they can't shift them.

why do people need them plenty of customers loose them, you just need standard wheel nuts saves alot of money when things like this happen

I wonder the same, do alloys really get stolen?

withabix

photome wrote: »

I wonder the same, do alloys really get stolen?

Have you never been to Liverpool??


Wheels get stolen:

For the wheels
For the tyres

To sell for drug money.

andygb

The last few times I have had new tyres fitted (in three different places) the procedure was this:

Undo the locking nut using the torque wrench/breaker bar, then release the others using the air wrench.
When replacing the bolts, the airwrench was used to "spin" the bolts and nip them up, the final tightening done manually by torque wrench.

Bolts will tend to bind/sieze up a bit if the wheel has not been removed for some time, thus resulting in a higher level of torque required to release them.

Any fitters who only use the airwrench for putting the wheels back on should be sacked.
I would advise all car drivers to uinvest £50 in a torque wrench and check the tightness of wheel nuts on a regular basis.

nickcc

The reason why tyre fitters don't follow the correct procedure is because the company they work for allows them to do this. The problem usually starts at the top due to lack of supervision, time management and increased profit.

Chopper_Read

andygb wrote: »

The last few times I have had new tyres fitted (in three different places) the procedure was this:

Undo the locking nut using the torque wrench/breaker bar, then release the others using the air wrench.
When replacing the bolts, the airwrench was used to "spin" the bolts and nip them up, the final tightening done manually by torque wrench.

Bolts will tend to bind/sieze up a bit if the wheel has not been removed for some time, thus resulting in a higher level of torque required to release them.

Any fitters who only use the airwrench for putting the wheels back on should be sacked.
I would advise all car drivers to uinvest £50 in a torque wrench and check the tightness of wheel nuts on a regular basis.

And NEVER use a torque wrench to undo things.

interstellaflyer

A lot of talk about the snapped wheel nut key which may or may not have been down to bad luck, no-one seems bothered that the fitter turned up with the wrong tyres, ie not the tyres the OP ordered and payed for.

nickcc

interstellaflyer wrote: »

A lot of talk about the snapped wheel nut key which may or may not have been down to bad luck, no-one seems bothered that the fitter turned up with the wrong tyres, ie not the tyres the OP ordered and payed for.

That's because no ones surprised as it was Kwik fit.;)

Chopper_Read

interstellaflyer wrote: »

A lot of talk about the snapped wheel nut key which may or may not have been down to bad luck, no-one seems bothered that the fitter turned up with the wrong tyres, ie not the tyres the OP ordered and payed for.

So why bother to start the job?

ntb1

nickcc wrote: »

Not sure about using the small independants, used my local for two new front tyres on ali wheels, used the air gun to remove all the nuts including the locking nuts then tightened them all back up with the air gun and no sign off a torque wrench, or copaslip on the studs Loosened them all off when I got back home and torqued them up correctly. Company I worked for a few years ago used KTS and later ATS for all our tyre maintenance, all their fitters were correctly trained and always used the correct equipment including torque wrenches and tyre cages, but they would never have used Kwik fit.

I have to say I've found the opposite twice Kwik fit have put wrong tyres on my car - the only two times I've used them. Found my local indies to be unbeatable on both service and price.