Hi all,

I trusted the wife to take my trusty Focus to have a tyre replaced due to a slow puncture. My usual (trusted) garage was too busy so she took it to a local independent "tyre place" they managed to strip the inside of the key so couldn't remove the nut. They swore blind they had the key on straight etc but my wife had her doubts.

Anyway they wanted £60 to remove the locking nuts & replace them & the locking key with Ford supplied parts. I called them & asked how much to replace the locking nuts with standard nuts & was told it was still £60 as they had to get them from Ford. I told them to "F*ck off" as standard wheel nuts come in "standard" sizes.

On a previous car I removed a locking nut using the methods shown on youtube e.g. slightly undersized socket, bash it on & away you go.

This option does seem to be viable for my Focus as the locking nut appears to have a collar round it, I also can't get a standard socket over it due to there only being a tiny gap between the nut collar & the wheel itself.

Has anyone successfully managed to remove one of these type successfully? If so how? (Do I need to chisel off the collar & I'll then have room/access to the nut itself) I though it best to ask for advice before taking a 4lb lump hammer & a cold chisel to it, lol)

I've attached a couple of pictures to try & show it a little better. One is a fleabay pic of the same type of locking nut

& the other is a pic of my issue with a lack of clearance/room between the collar & the wheel itself

All sensible suggestions are welcome! :D

Yep. It is possible.

Not sure on posting it in an open forum...I'll PM you - and if a moderator sees this and says I can post it, I will

If you have the code for the key mcgaurd will send a replacement for about £18 delivered from Germany the old ones do break mine did

Yep. It is possible.

Not sure on posting it in an open forum...I'll PM you - and if a moderator sees this and says I can post it, I will

Great, thanks mate

If you have the code for the key mcgaurd will send a replacement for about £18 delivered from Germany the old ones do break mine did

Although the car came with the service booklet etc & the code for the radio, unfortunately (for me) it didn't come with the locking nut code

I had this issue and I took it to a tyre local garage and they removed it and put the ones I brought with me for £12 they have a specialist tool to remove any locking nut though much better than forcing a socket on it which I was tempted to do too.

I had this issue and I took it to a tyre local garage and they removed it and put the ones I brought with me for £12 they have a specialist tool to remove any locking nut though much better than forcing a socket on it which I was tempted to do too.

Can you remember if your locking nuts had the collar on them like mine or were they the collarless type which feature on all the youtube vids?

If you go to a Ford dealers they should have a master set in their service centre (should unless they have lost/nacked their own sets).

If you go to a Ford dealers they should have a master set in their service centre (should unless they have lost/nacked their own sets).

They quoted a girl in work £60 for the locking nuts plus however many hours it takes to get the old ones off at Trust Ford.

Its worth trying your neighbours, family and friends locking nuts too as im sure there are only 50 different patterns. You never know you might get lucky. Failing that then i would pay a garage to remove them and if they damage the wheel then they will have to sort it.

Mcguard nuts are a pain in the !Removed!. I had them removed on my Ztt by a Mr Tyre. They managed to do two with a new locking nut I got from Mcguard but two would mot come off. They chisseled the collar off one and used a slightly smaller socket to get it off, on the last one they could not get it undone with the collar off so plenty of heat and they did it. All 4 required heating and that has discoloured the alloys but they badly needed refurbing anyway. I needed them off to do work for the MOT so they had to come off no matter what. They also used a dymec nut removal tool to remove one actually. It has a blade and they smack ot with a lump hammer which cuts the blade into the key shape and then use it yo undo the nuts. Doesn't always work depends on how badly mashed the key pattern is.

If you order a new key looking at that picture they seem decent enough. You will need to contact mcguard then pay 18 quid and take a photo of the locking nut very clear if you don't have the key code plus send a copy of the V5 and take a photo of the car from the front showing the registration as well and proof of your ID. They were pretty quick at getting a new key out to me. That would be the least possible amount of damage to remove them.

Good to know that is an option Simcor, i never knew about that service.

The problem is that garages whack the lock nuts on with an air ratchet, they should only ever be done with a hand bar and torque wrench.

Putting them on too tight is what strips the face off the locking stud.

Done these before get a decent metal drill and drill between the collar and nut then get a thin drift and knock in between the two and it will break the spinning collar off then just use the under size socket to remove nut

If you go to a Ford dealers they should have a master set in their service centre (should unless they have lost/nacked their own sets).

If I go to Ford directly I might as well bend over now in preparation for getting rodgered!

Can you remember if your locking nuts had the collar on them like mine or were they the collarless type which feature on all the youtube vids?

Yes they had a collar on them. Again they don't hammer a socket onto the locking nut so that it doesn't matter. I can't remember how they said they did it but they have a specialist tool for removing them without damaging the alloys too and I think he said they drilled into the center of them. It's worth asking your local garage as mine was cheap enough :)

If you go to a Ford dealers they should have a master set in their service centre (should unless they have lost/nacked their own sets).

They were going to charge me a special rate of £35 to try the master keys...but it was strongly hinted at that it wouldn't work. So they were going to charge £75 PER WHEEL to remove them.

I stopped listening when he quoted me for new wheels & hubs all round - but at least they would have swapped my tyres over to the new wheels free of charge.

Went round the corner, bunged a guy a fiver and he had 'em off in 10 minutes lol

If I go to Ford directly I might as well bend over now in preparation for getting rodgered!

Exactly - see above!! The copper grease as lube is extra...

as long as the locking nuts themselves are not to damaged, then ford dealer should have them off with there master set in 5 mins tops, then fit a new set in 5 mins again. some dealers will try to rip you off and others wont.

Yeah, the chap I spoke to was obviously a salesman demoted to the parts department. His attempts at upselling were so obvious! I only go in there if I know exactly what I want (generally just wipers - the Ford ones are good and do last well for about the same price as the Bosch ones. Biggest advantage is the dealer is at the end of the road - ECP are behind them if I want to order stuff online and pick it up lol)

Big bolt, a decent mig, no mess, 10 minutes to get the lot off and bin them, if you live or work in an area that is less reputable replace them with another type, if not then I would not bother with lock nuts, so few alloys are stolen compared to years gone by.

Big bolt, a decent mig, no mess, 10 minutes to get the lot off and bin them, if you live or work in an area that is less reputable replace them with another type, if not then I would not bother with lock nuts, so few alloys are stolen compared to years gone by.

Once I can be bothered I will be ditching the locking nuts, can't see anyone being desperate to nick standard Zetec alloy wheels, and if they do, then I pity them. Sure they are nice but worth the effort? Meh.

Sent via the 'Clacks'

GNU STP

Just thought I'd let you guys know how I got on. My regular garage removed all 4 for me, fitted me a new tyre all for £65 so I can't be unhappy with that. They used the plasma cutter to get the collars off, my wheel nuts are hidden behind the wheel cover so I told them beforehand to use whatever was the quickest method for them. (saves me a bit of labour)

I've just fitted normal nuts to replace the locking ones.

Now to treat her to a new satin silver gear knob (thank you MK4 mondeo) & 4 new wheel covers (been meaning to swap them for a while but the £17 each cost on ebay kepy putting me off).

Thats a good price then Damian in the end!

On 6/24/2015 at 10:48 PM, artscot79 said:

If you have the code for the key mcgaurd will send a replacement for about £18 delivered from Germany the old ones do break mine did

Could you kindly tell me where can I get these?

11 minutes ago, EastLondonLiving said:

tell me where can I get these

Do you know the code number for your key ?