Eventful day

[xopher]

Lost a bit of time this morning and need to get back to work, so I'll keep this terse.

Left Milwaukee headed for Chicago and front passenger tire looked suspiciously low. Topped it off, crossed fingers, and got back on the freeway. 10 miles later, wheel started to pull to the right. 5 miles after that, wheel started to make noise. I moved to the right and looked for next freeway exit or appropriate landing runway. Before I got a chance to pick, tire gave out and pretzeled itself around the wheel while I was on a bridge. Brought to a stop calmly. Grimacing, I limped it a quarter mile to a safer bit of shoulder and called for flatbed, as I have no front spare. State Patrol gave us some cover while the flatbed pulled her up. Not excited about the stance of the air ride in the rear; hope nothing got damaged. That was enough excitement for one morning.

Now she is at the local tire shop to replace both front tires. Mechanic was using the lug key and the key sheared apart. Now he's using the "remover tool" to remove all locking lug nuts and put on plain lug nuts, while I will probably replace all 20 with Gorilla or McGard in a couple weeks. Hopefully I wont get another call from the tire shop with any more surprises...

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

Sorry to hear. Any wheel damage?

[03Merc]

Always keep a spare, always use regular lug nuts. Nobody steals wheels anymore unless they are brand new factory's and tires, or they are 26" + in size. At that point, they take the whole car. And no matter what lug nuts they are, somebody will get them off regardless. Good luck on rest of trip!


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[xopher]

Shop got all locking lug nuts off and replaced with plain lug nuts. Can't align today because of bad joints, another thing on my to-do list. Getting it back in a few hours to assess next steps.


Sorry to hear. Any wheel damage?

Wheels weren't virgins, so the tiny amount of rash on the edge will blend well with the other imperfections of years of driving in and around Chicago. ;)



Always keep a spare, always use regular lug nuts. Nobody steals wheels anymore unless they are brand new factory's and tires, or they are 26" + in size. At that point, they take the whole car. And no matter what lug nuts they are, somebody will get them off regardless. Good luck on rest of trip!


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I've always wrestled with myself on keeping two spares in the trunk, and since this is the first time I've had an issue with a front tire in 10+ years, I might continue to only keep a rear spare in the trunk. Thinking about skipping the locking lug nuts, but I get comments about the wheels more than anything else on the car, so I'm on the fence. Thanks for the advice!

[stevengerard]

OK, just curious as to why wouldn't you drive on the bigger tire on the front for a few miles - it will get you a few miles safely.

No different then the doughnut spare on the 04s. I have a rear regular tire as my spare since I upped the size of the front brakes. Don't want to get caught doing two changes for one flat tire - having to put the doughnut on the back and then a back wheel on the front because of one flat tire up front

[Curless]

Just carry a front sized spare, Like Sevengerard said it will provide a safe cushion to get you to a repair facility. Oh... and GET RID OF THE LOCKS. If someone wants your wheels they are going to take them.... thieves have the same tools as good techs, the locks will come off without a key. Glad you did not get hurt.

[fastblackmerc]

The locks make it "unattractive" to steal the wheels and tires.... especially if they have to take 5 locks per wheel.

Two MM's side by side, one with the Gorilla lock system (5 locks per wheel) and the other with no locks. Which one will be minus the wheels and tires?

[fastblackmerc]

Mechanic was using the lug key and the key sheared apart.

Your not supposed to use the key with an impact wrench - at least to tighten or loosen them. I use a lug nut "X" wrench to loosen them and a torque wrench to tighten them.

[Dragcity]

Why isn't the lug key in the car? What to do if you get a flat on the road? Mine key was always in the zip up case for the manual. Guess everyone has their own process.

*****ty to get a flat while driving. No fun changing on the roadside. Dangerous too. People are nuts out there. Glad you were able to control things and stay safe .

[fastblackmerc]

Why isn't the lug key in the car? What to do if you get a flat on the road? Mine key was always in the zip up case for the manual. Guess everyone has their own process.

*****ty to get a flat while driving. No fun changing on the roadside. Dangerous too. People are nuts out there. Glad you were able to control things and stay safe .

I bought a second key. One in the center console, one at home in my tool box. Same for the wife's Charger R/T.

[lji372]

so what are the best wheel locks?

asking for a friend..............

[Logizyme]

McGard - Industry standard, master key sets are held with a decent amount of security but can be had, either way the McGard has the best customer service(they can reproduce your key with just a pic of the locks) and have factory looks and performance and arguably top notch security.

There are only two sizes of gorilla lugs so don't think of those as locks cause everyone and there mom has the two keys