csmminer82

I had a real issue with the locking nuts on my V70R - some lunatic tyre fitter managed to wind them on so tight I never thought I'd get them off. They are quite deeply recessed and also have that wierd metal anti-theft spinner on them.....whoever thought that was a good idea. Loosened one but the key got wrecked in the process; ordered another key from www.wheelnutkeys.com; found another tyre place that hammered the crap out of the nuts, got two off, but wrecked key no.2. Fourth one was incredibly tight - trusty RAC man with his Dynomec couldn't remotely shift it. Drilling was going to be expensive and take two hours per nut IF I could find anyone brave enough to do it!! Frustration had set in by this stage - three weeks with a set of front struts, rear discs, cv joint, and droplinks to go on the car and I couldn't get the #@*%$£ wheels off! Original tyre fitter (they know who they are Billy) didn't want to know - oh no mate, we never use a windy gun blah blah. Last resort was a local engineering works who recommended a local steel fabrication shop (D J Camp in Shildon - great job lads!). They covered the wheel in tape, then cuit a short length of pipe to fit exactly to the diameter of the nut head, welded the inside of the pipe to the head with a MIG, and then welded a 40mm AF headed bolt into the pipe. And it still took two of them and a metre long extension bar to get it off!! Did the job in the end but I wish I'd gone to them first as the hammering didn't do the other wheels a lot of good. The welding left a bit of a scorch mark on the lacquer but that's rubbed out. I have now binned said locking nuts and have fitted common or garden ones instead....I'm not going through that palaver again!!