Desparate measures

[briwy]

Changed the winter wheels today for the summer ones and the locknut tool kept slipping off the bolts.
Had to resort to this to get them off.
Two things,
1. The locking bolt tool is rubbish, had the same on the Yeti and finally found some which have longitudinal splines about 20mm long so they get a good purchase unlike the Cali ones where the star shape on the tool is only about 3mm deep so is bound to wear out quickly and slip off.
2. Shows how easy it is for the thieves to cicumnavigate the standard locknuts.







You can clearly see how the tool is burred over.
Now off to get get some decent locking bolts.

Edit. Just realised thios method wouldn't work with the alloys as the bolts is too deep in the recess in wheel so lucky that the wheels were steel.

 

[sidepod]

Like it. Proper old school pipe wrench with a bit of pipe to help.

 

[DM]

Were the correctly torqued when last put on? Us amateurs have a tendency to over-tighten which can cause these problems later.

 

[DM]

PS. Desparate Measures is the name of a great Kayak store in Nottingham - I need to go paddling

 

[snowy55]

I never torque up the locking wheel bolt on any vehicle.
The caps are generally made of cheese.
Finger tight and then just nip it up.
If I know I'm going to a tyre house or a service where the wheels need to come off I take the locking wheel bolts off at home take it in with just just 4 bolts and then replace them when I get home.

Too many idiots about with air wrenches.

Still here to tell the tale so it must work

 

[T6 CFO]

I never torque up the locking wheel bolt on any vehicle.
The caps are generally made of cheese.
Finger tight and then just nip it up.
If I know I'm going to a tyre house or a service where the wheels need to come off I take the locking wheel bolts off at home take it in with just just 4 bolts and then replace them when I get home.

Too many idiots about with air wrenches.

Still here to tell the tale so it must work

Good idea

Mike

 

[Hotel California]

If i am correct @briwy uses a torque wrench ...something must gave gone wrong there...
Don't have safety bolts on mine , never liked them on my previous cars anyway.

 

[briwy]

Yes, torqued up correctly. Two front ones were fine, both back ones had to have the desperate measures.
Nothing wrong Wim, just the inadequate locking tool. From an engineering point of view expecting a 3mm interface to deal with that torque is ridiculous.
Now ordered some new locking bolts with decent splines on them.

 

[GrannyJen]

I just call the AA

The only wrench That I know of is when I leave my wine glass half full because the taxi has arrived

 

[alter]

Strange, on my Audi TT 1999 anti-theft bolts have never given problems .... probably the materials of the past were more reliable .... I wondered why still use these bolts ..... who now steals the wheels ?, or takes away the Cali whole or be miserable !!

 

[Stuart]

It's not so much that the security bolts can't handle the torque, but more that they are not very tolerant when the torque is applied in slightly the wrong direction.

I managed to trash one of mine and had to get VW assistance to come out and remove it. He said it's very hard to remove the locking nut with the standard wrench, and that using a spider wrench would be much easier as you can ensure the torque is applied correctly.

I've since noticed that pulling up on the standard wrench (rather than pushing down) makes it easier to control the direction of torque. But a greater chance of hurting your back!

In summary, yes they are annoying!

 

[Erbster]

What's a spider wrench?


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[WelshGas]

What's a spider wrench?


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[Erbster]

Thanks. One for the tool set


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[Hotel California]

Use the spider wrench all the time , standard kit in each of my verhicles...and thats still three at the moment...
In Belgium (Dutch) we call it : Kruissleutel ...witch would be Xkey translated to englisch.

 

[Erbster]

Yes, I'd call it a cross spanner. Lost mine with previous vehicle. I'll get another.


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[Loz]

I can't see the point of a spider wrench, when only one of the sockets fit and you don't get much leverage, far better to have a " breaker bar" and a long reach nylon coated socket.

 

[Borris]

I carry a purpose made long handled chrome bar which has a universal joint and the appropriate socket attached at one end. Any good tool shop should stock them. It's about three feet long (that's very nearly a metre to you young whipper snappers). It makes wheel nut removal easy. I always torque up the nuts as per the hand book. So far nothing's got stuck, stripped or fallen off.

I must say though that VW could have come up with a better jacking system. When using the vehicle jack supplied you can easily miss locate the jack on the reinforced chassis jacking point, possibly leading to body damage. You either have to get down on your hands and knees (usually on a dark, wet night on the hard sholder of a busy motorway) to see if it has located properly or feel around with your pinkies. Whilst feeling that it's located properly you also have to adjust the scissor jack to take up the slack whilst dodging the traffic. On other vehicles I have owned there has been a much more positive jacking arrangement where no mistake can be made. For a vehicle that weighs so much the current system is rubbish.

 

[Amarillo]

For a vehicle that weighs so much the current system is rubbish.

When ordering, there is an option for a "heavy duty" jack. That might be better.

 

[Borris]

When ordering, there is an option for a "heavy duty" jack. That might be better.

Yes. I have seen that in the brochure. Can anyone supply a photo of what a heavy duty jack looks like? Has anyone used one yet? How did you get on? Any issues?

Our Cali was an ex demo so we got what it came with, the standard offering. Mind you the heavy duty version would still use the same jacking system!

 

[briwy]

Just for info these are the locking bolts I have bought.
Good length of splines on these so no more slipping off.



BTW we carry a small hydraulic bottle jack and a piece of 20mm ply for it to stand on. Much quicker, safer and easier than the standard jack.