Locking wheel nuts (otherwise known as lug nuts or alloy wheel nuts) are used by car manufacturers all over the world to keep wheels secure to a vehicle.
They’ve been instrumental in combating car wheel theft as it makes it extremely difficult to remove a locking wheel nut without a locking wheel nut key.
Why Are Locking Wheel Nuts Used?
Where standard wheel nuts can be removed with minimal effort using an ordinary wheel brace, locking wheel nuts require the use of a locking wheel nut key.
A locking wheel nut doesn’t have a regular hexagonal head like a standard nut/bolt, meaning your car wheel will stay firmly on the vehicle unless you remove it using a locking wheel nut key.
What Does a Locking Wheel Nut Key Look Like?
A locking wheel nut key is a metal tool that is cylindrical at one end and hexagonal at the other.
Each key is unique; you wouldn’t be able to use a Hyundai wheel nut key for your BMW! Locking wheel nut keys are notoriously small and are very easy to misplace, it is worth checking when you get a new car that you’re being provided with the locking wheel nut key.
Where Are Locking Wheel Nuts Kept?
No idea where your locking wheel nuts are? The majority of people don’t even consider where their locking wheel nut is kept until they desperately need it! The chances are it’s where the manufacturer of the vehicle or previous owner stored it. A few places we tend to find them are:
The glove box: Most vehicle manufacturers or previous owners store them in the glove box, so it makes sense to check here first.
With your spare wheel: In the majority of occasions, your spare wheel is kept in the boot. Many car manufacturers will store the wheel nut key in a compartment next to the spare wheel itself, so looking here is a wise decision.
Boot storage: Some vehicles have a special locking wheel nut slot in the boot of the car. It is worth checking if your vehicle has this!
In or under the seats: Checked everywhere? It’s worth checking under your car seats, who knows, they may have rolled underneath at some point.
You can purchase a locking wheel nut key storage bag from many retailers, including Amazon.
What To Do If You’ve Lost Your Locking Wheel Nut Key
If you’ve looked everywhere for your locking wheel nut key but can’t seem to find it – don’t worry, Lindleys Autocentres have a mobile locking wheel nut service in which we can come to you and remove each locking wheel nut during tyre repair or replacement using a piece of specialist equipment that can remove the nut without damaging alloys.
If we have to use the specialist tool to remove damaged or over-tightened nuts, we won’t be able to put them back on, so we advise that you purchase new vehicle-manufacturer-approved wheel nuts or ask us to provide a quote for supplying prior to our arrival so that we can fit the new ones for you when the tyres have been replaced.
If you need our locking wheel nut removal service, please visit mobile locking wheel nut.
We’ll always try our best, but we can’t guarantee the removal
We will always attempt to remove every locking wheel nut, but if they are too tight for our specialist tool, or if they have become corroded, we may have to refer your vehicle to one of our 9 car garages to have the locking nuts drilled out.
In such cases, you may be charged a standard call-out fee of £30 to cover our basic costs, plus the cost of each failed insert we used in the tool.
