Funny thing happened on the way to rotating my tires.....

(a) my rear tires belong on the front and the front tires belong on the rear

(b) it seems that I have a wheel lock lugnut on each of my 4 wheels.....

I inherited this '88 Fiero GT (V-6, 5-speed, standard) from my father in law and I'm going to check to see if the wheel lock key is anywhere to be found... however if it isn't... is there any hope for getting my tires on the correct axles?? Right now the larger tires are on the front and the smaller ones are on the back.... kinda messed up... Thanks

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"Liquid Nitrogen is for sissies, Liquid Hydrogen is where it is at!"

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I heard that you can use an impact gun and a socket that fits snugly over the wheel lock to remove it.

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And once you get the locking lugs off, throw them away! Nobody will steal your wheels. It takes less time to jack your entire car.

What the guy at the garage told me was they could attempt to force the locking lugs off but it might wreck the lug nut (not a concern here.... I'm getting rid of those things!) or wreck the bolt (?!?!?) .... I'm sure it's more likely that the lugnut will be wrecked than the bolt but if the bolt is wrecked... what would it cost if I needed to repair a damaged bolt??

Thankx

I hear you guys there! those things are a pain in the butt and if you lose the lock and call that 1 800 number forgot the name, it costs $80 bucks to get another key!

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Do all wheel locks have the same key?!?! I got this from my father in law.... and he got it from some one else.... I'm not sure who exactly put the wheel locks on but I don't think it was my father in law.... if different brands have different keys... is there a way to figure out which one I have?? I could post a pic of the wheel with the lug nut on it.... (all four wheels are locked) but I'm assuming the numbnut that locked one of the wheels got the same lock for the other 3....

Just go to a tire shop and pay the few bucks to have the wheels done, they have ways of getting the locks off.

either get a cheap socket abd drive it onto the lock with a hammer and loosen it that way or go to pretty much any tire shop and pay $10-$15 for them to pull the locks.
No not all keys are the same then what would be the point of the locks.

hmmm.....

a "tire shop" you say... I went to NTB (National Tire and Battery) .... and they couldn't guarantee what would happen if they tried to force the lugnut off.... they mentioned the downsides of this might be:
(a) wreck the wheel lock (locking lugnut)
(b) wreck the bolt

Now, (a) don't bother me much... but (b) scares me.... are they just playing this CYA (Cover Your @ss)?? or is there a good chance that this will result in a busted/broken/wrecked bolt on the wheel.... ???

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"Liquid Nitrogen is for sissies, Liquid Hydrogen is where it is at!"

AOL IM: buhocky13
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Find a MATCO or Snapon dealer. They sell a tool to get the wheel locks off. It looks like a socket with no flats inside. It is hammered over the lug and turned off with a breaker bar.

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• Red 88 GT T-TOP
  
• Red 86 GT
  

I have a suggestion for Fiero owners everywhere (maybe this is something our new international club can do)...

I understand there are about 17 to 19 different wheel lock patterns, with their respective "keys". Maybe those of us who are removing them for good could donate the keys so we can have a complete set for loaning out to those in need. I myself will have two of them when I remove my locks.

It's too late for this idea to help me. I've already resorted to trying a cold chisel & BFH, and have succeeded in deforming the lug. Now I'm going to look up MATCO or Snap-On as skitime recommended. Otherwise, I'll be trying to find someone to weld a regular lug nut onto it. I've tried drilling out the stud but haven't made much progress with that.

I got one of mine off with a 21mm socket, but somehow it slips on the other one. A 19mm is too small, and I can't find a 20mm anywhere (don't they make em?).

quote Originally posted by Monkeyman: And once you get the locking lugs off, throw them away! Nobody will steal your wheels. It takes less time to jack your entire car.

I really do hate to point this out but 'bout 2 weeks ago my tires (along w/ ALOT of other stuff) was stolen out/off of my '88 coupe...

[edited for spelling and grammer]

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'88 coupe, 5 speed.
"The car formerly know as Dj's Fiero."

[This message has been edited by Pheagey (edited 11-17-2001).]

Skitime is right, I had this problem when geting my GTZ wheels off the car they cam on at work. I asked the same question you did. Then I asked my boss he went to our shop and puled out a red box that said Snapon on the front I opened it up and WOW 5 of the suckers you just knock the right size one on the lock and impact it of took like 10 min. to get them all off. My boss says a single "one size fits all" from snapon is about $30-40 well worth it if you ask me

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Tom's Page Tomtom81@webtv.net

I bought one from snap on. It cost me around $22. I have used it about twenty times sp far. Piece of cake. Plus it does not damage the locknuts and can be used to put them back on if so desired. I use it in the yards quite often. The only tools you will need to work it is like ski said, a hammer, short or long 1/2" extension and a ratchet or breaker bar.
BU, Welcome to the forum. If you are not in a hurry. Give me your address and I will ship mine out to you to borrow. Dave

There is an adapter (the gater?) that adapts to a LOT of the keys. I saw it on a tv ad. it conforms to the shape of the nut.

fixed....

The wheel locks were factory installed....

So, my local pontiac dealer could remove them and I bought a new set to protect my alumninum wheels ....

I just tack weld on a nut to the end of them and take an impact gun and they come off lickiddy split... No sh1t

Had locks on my 86SE, all I did was take a socket that was a bit to small and hammered it on...then used my ratchet and took it off...I went and bought 4 cheap sockets out of a discount bin...got all 4 for 1$...easy as that...then just replacement lugnuts.

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Lance
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