Lug nut removal without key

[gpjlytham]

Hi All

I recently bought a 2011 Genesis 4.6. I want to check the brakes but the wheels have a locking wheel nut and the car didn't come with the lug nut key. Picture attached.

1. Did all 2011 Genesis cars come with a locking lug nut and key?
2. is the key available?
3. If this is an after market locking lug nut, how do i get it off without the key?

I see on youtube where people hammer a socket onto the locking lug nut, but that must put a crazy strain on the wheel/hub etc.

Looking for suggestions.

Thanks
Gareth

 

[Mark_888]

Wheel locks are a distributor (HMA) or a new car dealer option. You should go to the dealer where you bought your used car, and demand that they either put a regular lug nut on, and give you the key. It should be their problem to worry about.

You might want to look around inside the car and see if you can find the key. Could be glove department, or where the jack tools are located (look everywhere).

 

[gpjlytham]

I have looked all over the car but i'm not finding it and it. I will pull the spare wheel out perhaps it's hiding under it. The car was a private sale through a guy that buys and sells a few cars a year. So he hasn't got the key.

 

[Mark_888]

I have looked all over the car but i'm not finding it and it. I will pull the spare wheel out perhaps it's hiding under it. The car was a private sale through a guy that buys and sells a few cars a year. So he hasn't got the key.

Take it to a tire shop like Discount Tire and ask their opinion. You should buy some non-locking OEM lug nuts before-hand and have them available for when you are able to get the locking nuts removed.

Personally, I would take the guy to small claims court.

 

[EdP]

Hi All

I recently bought a 2011 Genesis 4.6. I want to check the brakes but the wheels have a locking wheel nut and the car didn't come with the lug nut key. Picture attached.

1. Did all 2011 Genesis cars come with a locking lug nut and key?
2. is the key available?

Wheel locks were a common dealer installed option. A Hyundai dealer may be able to help if it was a Hyundai lock set. If not, try a good sized tire dealer. They may have a key and either sell you a key or new set of locks if you want locks.

I'd not wait too long either. If you were to get a flat tire at an inconvenient time you may not need a key. You'd be so PO'd you could rip it off with your bare hands.

 

[AgentSmith007]

Hi All

I recently bought a 2011 Genesis 4.6. I want to check the brakes but the wheels have a locking wheel nut and the car didn't come with the lug nut key. Picture attached.

1. Did all 2011 Genesis cars come with a locking lug nut and key?

Mine didn't

 

[NJTom]

We had the similar issue with our Honda. I contacted the dealer and they said they have a 'universal' key to remove those lugs. It's worth a shot.

To my knowledge from research, there are two major companies that sell locking lug nuts. Gorilla and McGard.
http://www.gorilla-auto.com/
The acorn open end lock looks like the culprit you are dealing with. 12mm*1.50 thread is part #78631N

http://www.mcgard.com/automotive-2/wheel-locks
From the packaging (re-branding) I've seen at dealers, this is what they use.

 

[gpjlytham]

I went to the dealer and they told me that they do offer wheel lock nuts but the ones on the car were after market lock nuts.
I went to O'Reily auto parts and they sold me some new lug nuts but suggested I go to a tire place to have the lock nuts removed.
I went to Discount tire and the tech said that they hammer a socket like tool onto the lock nut and that would remove the nut, however he thought that the tool they had would mess up the wheel.
I went home, found a slightly too small socket, hammered it onto the nut and i was able to get it off. Then i had to drive the lock nut out of the socket. It worked on all the nuts. now we are free of the pesky lock nuts.

 

[the.tru.albertan]

I had the same problem with my girlfriends RVR. Private sale, no lug key. They were the McGard lugs. I went to a a few autopart stores to try and find a key but they all said the same thing... Key combos are all different. I went to a tire shop and asked them. They said they would 'extract' the locking lug. Made it sound like I was going to get teeth pulled lol!!!

They did it for 10 bucks a wheel. I didn't want to hammer one of my own sockets on or risk damage to something. I then put normal lugs in and all is well now.

 

[jimmy buoy]

From the photo, yours don't look like McGuard locks. I had the same problem but found the original 4 lug nuts in the McGuard package (in the trunk) but NO KEY. Fortunately the papers were still with the package that had the exact Model# and Keycode for it. I ordered a new key online with McGuard for $20 and removed the locks from all 4 wheels.

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[PMCErnie]

No doubt you should be visiting a Hyundai dealer for other reasons since you just bought the car. Be a big spender. Get an oil change and tire rotation. They can easily remove any lock nuts and install standard nuts. The cost won't break your wallet.

 

[Mark_888]

No doubt you should be visiting a Hyundai dealer for other reasons since you just bought the car. Be a big spender. Get an oil change and tire rotation. They can easily remove any lock nuts and install standard nuts. The cost won't break your wallet.

A car dealer is the last place I would go to for a tire rotation, or for removing wheel locks. People at places like Discount Tire (or other tire shops) do both of those on a routine basis and are experts at it.

Personally, I wouldn't let a dealer do an oil change either (my dealer botched it the one time I let them do it).

 

[gpjlytham]

oil change and tire rotation: - many years ago, i had a dealer do an oil change on a gmc jimmy. the next day I drove from AZ to NM and stayed a night in a hotel. In the morning I parked the car outside the hotel (left it running as it was cold) and went in to settle the bill. when I pulled away from the hotel I noticed in my rear view mirror that there was a pool of fluid where i had parked. i reversed and looked at the pool..... OIL... The dealer hadn't tightened the oil filter, amazingly it must have just started to leak as the engine still had enough oil in it. wow was i lucky.

A friend wasn't so lucky, she took her suburban to the dealer for an oil change and tire rotation. The following day she was setting off from AZ to CA but she only made it across town, her wheel came off. the dealer had forgotten to tighten the wheel nuts, it ruined the brakes and the rear axle. She continued to use the same dealer and bought her next car from them. I was heading to work and saw her new car smashed at an intersection. I called her to see if she was ok, she was fine, her car was at the dealer for a service. Someone from the dealer had taken the car to a burger place to get a coffee and or breakfast and had smashed her car. They repaired her car but she never went to that dealer again.

After those horror stories I took my daily driver, Toyota Tacoma to the dealer yesterday for prop shaft work, hopefully that will be covered under warranty.

 

[BARRYW]

Any car shop or mechanic shop can put it on a lift, heat it with a torch to make it come off easier using a couple of different methods.

 

[PMCErnie]

Personally, I would take the guy to small claims court.

 

[Mark_888]

Confused? The guy who sold him the car should be responsible for providing the key or getting the wheel locks removed.

 

[EdP]

Confused? The guy who sold him the car should be responsible for providing the key or getting the wheel locks removed.

If bought "as is, where is" he is SOL.

 

[WCLamb]

FWIW -
Too many places use an impact wrench on lug nuts (like when rotating tires) even when one has the proper key. The impact wrench has a tendency to destroy (distort) the key so that it is severely weakened and may or may not work on the other lug nuts, even if it doesn't break.
McGard will replace a damaged key for a nominal fee IF you have the key's code, which is usually attached to the key or stored with it. When you return the damaged key to them, they will refund the replacement cost. This is of little help in this situation (i.e., missing key) but should be noted for future replacement. AND, one MUST SPECIFY that lug nuts are NOT to be loosened or tightened with an impact wrench. *It's hard to do these days since "insurance regulations" prevent you from being in the shop where you can monitor the means in which your wheels are removed or replaced. Let the mechanic/dealer/whomever know they will be responsible for damage to the wheel locks or the key if they use an impact wrench.

 

[Mark_888]

If bought "as is, where is" he is SOL.

Who said he bought it "as is"? I must have missed that. Was "as is" on the sales contract? Don't know what you mean by "where is" since a car is mobile.

 

[pmckechnie]

The easy way to get the locking lug nuts off is go downtown, look for the corner with several people standing around and offer them 20 bucks to take them off. They will be off before you can get the money out of your pocket.
Then think about the problems the locking lug nuts have caused you and and the time it took the thugs to get them off.
A lock only keeps a honest man honest.
If I buy a car with locking lug nuts, the first thing I do is take them off and replace them with regular lug nuts. Problem solved.