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Broken Wheel Lock - Couldn't Remove Tire

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by enerjazz, May 7, 2008.

  1. enerjazz

    enerjazz Energy+Jazz=EnerJazz

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    Yesterday I was returning to the office from a meeting and as I pulled onto the campus I noticed a little odd handling. About the time I got to my parking space my right rear tire had gone flat. I could feel the nail lodged in the middle of the tire.

    Background: My Prius is 3.7 years old with 44,500 miles and the original Integrity tires. I was forced to buy a Gulf States Toyota Add-On Port (pork) package which included wheel locks and extended 6 year / 100,000 mile tire replacement. My Integrity tires looked like they were down to the wear level required for the free (prepaid in reality) replacement so my goal was to get to the Toyota dealer 4 miles away.

    So I opened the hatch and prepared to change the flat tire. Off came lug nuts 1, 2, 3, and 4. I put the key on for the wheel lock, pushed down, and heard a snap. The stupid lug partially broke off in the key. This is a McGard Wheel Lock and they are so poorly made that they sheer off with a 150 lb guy and a tire iron trying to remove them.

    I just needed to go 4 miles, so I found a compressed air tank and lugged it out to the car. I filled up the tire to see if it would last for just 4 miles. It was leaking fast. I caught a ride to the store and picked up a can of flat fix goop. I shot that it and it proceeded to spew out the nail hole around the nail head. I rolled the car so it sat on the nail hoping it would seal. I went in and started checking for flat bed tow truck availability. It was getting late in the afternoon and no one was available right away.

    My wife happened to be coming near my office on her way to our daughter's concert so I called and told her to bring my two battery powered air compressors. The goop had dried and slowed the leak so I pumped the tire, drove a mile, stopped and refilled. I repeated this a few times but got to the dealer.

    At first he said they wouldn't replace under the extended warranty because the tread was just a hair above the allowed limit (it was at 3.5/32nds and they replace at 3/32nds. They were going to make me wait another couple thousand miles. I told them to just patch it for now and went to my daughters concert.

    This morning they called and said the tire was not repairable. The service tech then stepped up and called the warranty company and got them to agree to the replacement. I had to scan and send my records of the every 5,000 mile rotation done only at a Toyota dealer - which I had - and send to them to honor the warranty.

    Once cleared I used the info on Priuschat to recommend several replacement tires as I had a $200 per tire allowance. Hours later, he called to say the only tire available in less than several days was the stock Integrity. I live in a warm weather climate and have not really had any major issues and they lasted 44,000 miles so that's what I got - 4 new tires balanced and mounted. That, and this long story.

    Glad to get that off my chest. Usually things always go my way, but yesterday was not a normal day.

    I had them take off the other 3 wheel locks and am going to ask McGard and Gulf States Toyota to reimburse me for those nuts, the flat goop, and the replacement lug nuts. I'm sure they'll say no, but I'll pester them for a while.
     
  2. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    I never use wheel locks. Like you discovered, if they break - far more likely you lose the damn key when you need it the most - you are so totally SOL

    They barely slow down "pro" thieves, and are otherwise an annoyance to most thieves

    Although some folks like Integrity, a lot of us have had better results with much higher rated tires. At the very least, the better tires last a lot longer than the OEM crap

    Kind of cute how you had to produce service receipts. I've always wondered what an oil change has to do with a flat tire, or vice versa
     
  3. NaptownPrius

    NaptownPrius Getting Greener....

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    Did you loosen them while the car was on the ground or on a jack raised up just a bit, but still touching the ground. If you did it on the ground, could there have been side loads on that, the last lug, which prevented it from coming loose?
     
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I can't imagine that there would be much demand for stolen Prius 15" factory wheels esp. if Goodyear Integrity tires are mounted.

    If you have a broken wheel lock and also have access to a deep socket that will barely fit over the lock, as a desperation move it might help to pound the socket onto the lock with a hammer to force the socket to grab onto the lock; then turn the socket with a ratchet wrench or breaker bar to remove the lock.
     
  5. kohnen

    kohnen Grumpy, Cranky Senior Member

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    Hubcap & Wheel Lock Removal Kit

    Yeah. Wheel locks won't slow pros down at all. The biggest annoyance that it causes them is they can't steal a matched set of lug nuts with the rims.
     
  6. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    That would mean the locking lug nut is very poorly made. I've always loosened lug nuts with the wheel firmly on the ground, never had an issue

    Of course, the dealer here "throws in" locking lugs for any car or truck they sell with aluminum wheels. They also put the regular lugnuts in a bag which is placed with the tire changing kit

    First thing I do is pull off those locking lugnuts and put the real ones back on. If you live in an area that bad, you have a lot more to worry about than a stolen wheel. Like, for example, getting stabbed or shot while walking from your vehicle to your home
     
  7. enerjazz

    enerjazz Energy+Jazz=EnerJazz

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    Location:
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    2007 Prius
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    I didn't want those locks in the first place. Yes, it was the last lug I removed, but I had just barely broken the other regular nuts free before I tried to remove the special one. I hadn't backed any of them out.

    Maybe the security feature is actually just their poor design. :) If someone tries to remove the lug it just breaks. That will slow down a theif a bit.

    They wanted to verify that I had rotated my tires every 5,000 miles and ONLY at a Toyota dealership. That's the way this Gulf States Toyota program is done - has to be at a dealer. It's quite a racket they run down here to milk some extra money out of the buyers. At least I recouped a bit of that add-on package cost with my new tires. I spent $151 for 8 rotations over almost 45,000 miles.