In need of a bright idea

[5i1ver8ack]

I ordered my California in February and originally anticipated arrival in early September, just as our holiday to France would be coming to an end.

And then, it arrived. About 4 weeks ago.

Much happiness. And it has brought us safely to the South of France.

All very enjoyable and as anticipated. Overnight stays on the way down a great success!

And today we picked up a spike in the tyre. Between me, the vw assistance man and the mechanic in the local vw garage, we have failed to remove the locking wheel nut. We have succeeded in destroying the pattern on the nut so that the nut cannot now be removed.

I thought I had seen a previous post (HC) on how utterly useless the vw locking wheel nuts were, but can't find it now.

Anyone with a bright idea?

 

[Loz]

Use a tyre string to repair the puncture and carry on..

A few years back a friend had a locking nut problem and a workshop used a grinding bit to grind slots down the side of the bolt, then made a socket to fit..

 

[5i1ver8ack]

I should have said....

The vw assistance man was able to effect a (temporary) repair with the wheel in situ. So we have made it back to base..

But i need to get it sorted properly.

 

[5i1ver8ack]

I'm not familiar with the terminology... Tyre string.

 

[5i1ver8ack]

Is that what the vw assistance man would have used?

 

[5i1ver8ack]

In which case. Thank you Loz. I shall carry on.

 

[WelshGas]

I ordered my California in February and originally anticipated arrival in early September, just as our holiday to France would be coming to an end.

And then, it arrived. About 4 weeks ago.

Much happiness. And it has brought us safely to the South of France.

All very enjoyable and as anticipated. Overnight stays on the way down a great success!

And today we picked up a spike in the tyre. Between me, the vw assistance man and the mechanic in the local vw garage, we have failed to remove the locking wheel nut. We have succeeded in destroying the pattern on the nut so that the nut cannot now be removed.

I thought I had seen a previous post (HC) on how utterly useless the vw locking wheel nuts were, but can't find it now.

Anyone with a bright idea?

Nothing wrong with the Locking Bolts when fitted to a wheel, but absolutely useless if used on the spare wheel carrier as they can easily be removed with a Mole Wrench as the head is not shrouded as it is on a wheel. Sounds as if the Bolt might have been cross threaded during assembly. Interesting dilemma for VW to repair. Might mean butchering the wheel and replacing the hub etc: , unless they have some special means of removing the bolt.
My local garage use a sacrificial socket that they hammer onto the Locking bolt/nut to remove it.

 

[Hotel California]

 

[sidepod]

As per normal solutions, either belt a socket on to the nut or weld a bolt to it and undo as normal.

Both solutions will require a new set of bolts.

 

[Loz]

I remove mine on trips for standard bolts.

 

[CampervanTime]

I had a really bad one on an old Volvo i had. Ended up tig welding a stud onto the end of the bolt head and the combination of the heat that generated into the bolt plus then the massive meter long breaker bar we used on the stud afterwards managed to get it off. Alloy then went off for a professional refurb!!

Talking to the mechanic, I now NEVER torque up to full pressure the locking wheel bolt and make sure you NEVER grease the threads, even with copper slip as this affects how they torque up. Many lessons learnt!!

 

[5i1ver8ack]

In the end, a vw garage mechanic (the next day) simply broke the cardinal rule of locking wheel nuts and used an air gun. The locking key is somewhat damaged and the nut(s) and key will need to be replaced. No one else had been willing to try this solution, but faced with the options, eventually this was the solution.

Although damaged, that key still works provided the locking nuts aren't over-tightened. Which seems to be the key point.

Happy ww didn't end up welding.

Disappointed no-one wanted to try this solution earlier.

 

[5i1ver8ack]

On the plus side....

Very happy with the overall performance of the California. The "unequal tyre pressure, puncture" warning was effective.

Per all modern vehicles now have this? My 15 year old Land Rover doesn't!

 

[briwy]

It may have been a thread I did a while ago about a stripped locking bolt. IMO the standard VW ones are crap and the Cali specialist at our dealer agrees. The depth of serations is far too shallow.
I was fortunate in that I had the winter steel wheels on so the bolt head wasn't in a hole like the alloys. I managed to get it off using a large stillson wrench and a long bar. I should add that the bolts were all tightened according to the VW torque setting.
Now all replaced with aftermarket ones with about 15mm depth on the serations.
On the alloys perhaps Sidepods suggestions are the best bet as you need to destroy or clamp the rotating ring on the bolt.

 

[5i1ver8ack]

May I ask which aftermarket ones you now use? You're right - the serrations on the vw ones are too shallow.

 

[briwy]

I ended up with the Ripspeed ones from Halfords, similar to these. Probably not foolproof but at least you can get them off.
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/ca...heel-nuts/ripspeed-locking-wheel-bolts-bc1204

I did look at these McGuard ones which are recommeded by Autoexpress but again put off by the shallow serations.
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/42530/mcgard-ultra

 

[5i1ver8ack]

Thank you!

 

[flying banana]

tricky but a good mechanic would get that off. I find the belting on a smaller socket works...the impact sockets are best for this. glad the air gun worked. good tip Is to put a bit of copper slip on wheel bolts once they've been off to stop them.seizing up like that.

 

[briwy]

Wheel bolts should not be greased

 

[flying banana]

now we have an argument. you can use coppaslip on wheel threads. not the conical bit. it prevents seizing. they do not come loose or come out as the tensile torque holds them rock steady tight. I've beven doing it for 30 years no problem. it even recommends wheel bolts on the tin

 

[flying banana]

if it's meant to move. use grease. if it isn't use copperslip. I didn't say grease

 

[flying banana]

Wheel bolts should not be greased

agree. but I never said grease

 

[briwy]

All been done to death many times before.

 

[flying banana]

wonder if I smear some on my bonce I won't have a seizure?