Wheel Lock Nuts

For anyone who has those special lock nuts on your vehicle wheels...

My wife's car is a 2014 Honda Odyssey, which she loves and takes great care of (it's our 3rd Odyssey). I rarely drive the van, other than to take it to the dealer for service or when we're on vacation. She started to go shopping a few days ago and discovered the van had a flat tire, so I was tasked with changing the tire. I started to do that, then immediately discovered that the wheels were equipped with special lug nuts that can only be removed with a matching key-socket (I had no idea that they were there up to that point). Anyway, I started looking for the key, searched the van from front to rear without finding it; wife had no idea about it, either. Finally, I decided to just call AAA and let them deal with it -- surely, I thought, they would have some sort of master key. AAA said no, their only option would be to tow the vehicle to a dealership who would have such a master. I called around to several tire/auto shops looking for some better solution. A couple suggested driving a 12-pt socket over the locking lug so it could be removed; I'm sure that would have worked, but only as a last resort. After most of a day I was ready to call AAA and have the van towed, then a friend mentioned that her sister had a 2012 Odyssey and I should try her key. I was sure that was pointless, but she was insistent so I took the key home to try. Surprise! It fit perfectly and unscrewed the lug nut. I removed the flat (which I discovered had what appeared to be a huge nail thru the tread) and installed the emergency spare, then drove to dealership expecting to need a new tire. It turned out the nail just had a big head, so they were able to simply plug the tire. More interesting was my discussion with the tire tech there -- he was amazed that I found a key that would fit, said that was a "1 in a million" chance.

I have no idea what the odds of my finding a useful key really were, but I was left wondering just how much security those special nuts actually provide...(?) And we just got back from a road trip up to VA -- I can imagine just how aggravating it would have been if we had experienced that flat tire somewhere on the road!

If you have those security lug nuts on your vehicle, I would suggest you take a moment to verify the location of the key!

It is usually in the glove box when a vehicle is purchased new. A used vehicle is another story.

There is usualy a key to let the spare tire down from under the car also. Found this out while on the road but the key was in with the jack handle case. The key for the wheels is usually in the glove box.

I have a mcguard security lug along with spline drive lugs on all of my wheels, but I have 24" wheels. If I had stock wheels that weren't popular like my wife's car, I would probably go with standard lugs which she has.

PPBart said:

More interesting was my discussion with the tire tech there -- he was amazed that I found a key that would fit, said that was a "1 in a million"

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I have my doubts about this^!

But, you know what else may surprise you and others in regards to proprietary keys, lugs, locks, etc. from companies? If you have automated garage or gate openers, unless you physically change the code pattern, any thug criminal can go purchase the few different transmitter keys on the market and gain easy access to your yard / garage. They are all set to a default. It's like having your password as 1,2,3,4,5.......

Honda prob has 10 different keys. You can always bring them her sisters key to match a new one for purchase.

But for a honda oddessy, you probably don't need them. More of a hassle than anything.

Emperor said:

I have my doubts about this^!

But, you know what else may surprise you and others in regards to proprietary keys, lugs, locks, etc. from companies? If you have automated garage or gate openers, unless you physically change the code pattern, any thug criminal can go purchase the few different transmitter keys on the market and gain easy access to your yard / garage. They are all set to a default. It's like having your password as 1,2,3,4,5.......

Click to expand...

I installed garage doors, openers and gates in the late 90's. Newer openers (as in late 90's and up) have a rolling code controlled by the opener C/B. You synch the remote and the opener and every time you use it, the code changes. The opener will only recognize codes within a certain range of it's own. If you ever only use one of your remotes and keep the other in a drawer or something, and a while goes by and you try to use it, you may find you need to re-synch it to the opener. You can tell if you have this or not by looking at the back of your opener. If you have a button, it's likely rolling code. Switches to set, nope. You should change the code from the default because you are correct.

Emperor said:

I have my doubts about this^!

But, you know what else may surprise you and others in regards to proprietary keys, lugs, locks, etc. from companies? If you have automated garage or gate openers, unless you physically change the code pattern, any thug criminal can go purchase the few different transmitter keys on the market and gain easy access to your yard / garage. They are all set to a default. It's like having your password as 1,2,3,4,5.......

Click to expand...

You right a lot of push button-locks have default codes when I install one I always help them change it I don't want to know what they use but make sure it is not easy.
On a side note I have never had a call to unlock a tire, all the tire locks I have had were the same within manufactures.
Wingate (AKA Captain's Lock & Key)

my wife's Honda had these, and by the spare had extra standard nuts to install if you choose. I did, as I didn't see the need for them on stock first gen Honda fit rims. There is a small number of the different sockets, and your odds were much better than 1 in a million. Think of the tooling cost to manufacture much more than 20 styles, especially since you know customers will lose these. Then your dealers would have to stock millions of sockets.

general mills said:

I installed garage doors, openers and gates in the late 90's. Newer openers (as in late 90's and up) have a rolling code controlled by the opener C/B. You synch the remote and the opener and every time you use it, the code changes. The opener will only recognize codes within a certain range of it's own. If you ever only use one of your remotes and keep the other in a drawer or something, and a while goes by and you try to use it, you may find you need to re-synch it to the opener. You can tell if you have this or not by looking at the back of your opener. If you have a button, it's likely rolling code. Switches to set, nope. You should change the code from the default because you are correct.

Click to expand...

How many people do you think actually take the time to set the DIP switches in their remotes? I bet it's less than 1 out of 25! If not less! I can tell you a make of gate opener that you can open all day long right out of the box if they owner or installer didn't manually make the adjustment.

But I won't!

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general mills said:

my wife's Honda had these, and by the spare had extra standard nuts to install if you choose. I did, as I didn't see the need for them on stock first gen Honda fit rims. There is a small number of the different sockets, and your odds were much better than 1 in a million. Think of the tooling cost to manufacture much more than 20 styles, especially since you know customers will lose these. Then your dealers would have to stock millions of sockets.

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Exactly!

noob said:

I have a mcguard security lug ...

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That's the brand we have. Like Emperor, I had my doubts about the odds of finding a useful key, but I'm glad I did.

Even WITH the key it is sometimes difficult to remove wheel locks. Had a set on a Corvette I once owned, had to change a tire (thankfully at home) and the lock kept popping off the lug, wouldn't stay in the shallow grooves. Took about a day to finally get it off and it stayed off after that. Regular lug nuts from then on.

Emperor said:

I have my doubts about this^!

But, you know what else may surprise you and others in regards to proprietary keys, lugs, locks, etc. from companies? If you have automated garage or gate openers, unless you physically change the code pattern, any thug criminal can go purchase the few different transmitter keys on the market and gain easy access to your yard / garage. They are all set to a default. It's like having your password as 1,2,3,4,5.......

Click to expand...

Agree. I opened the drivers door of a locked/running Chevy truck once with the ignition key for my Pontiac Bonneville. I've used Isuzu keys to open an S-10, twice. Also for an added measure of garage door opener security my power outlet is switched and always off at night.

FORman said:

Agree. I opened the drivers door of a locked/running Chevy truck once with the ignition key for my Pontiac Bonneville. I've used Isuzu keys to open an S-10, twice. Also for an added measure of garage door opener security my power outlet is switched and always off at night.

Click to expand...

I once had a someone borrow my Ford truck key from me so he could open the door of his car he had inadvertently left running and locked when responding to a code brown. I was very confused as to why he was asking who owned the Ford in the parking lot, apparently its pretty common that keys interchange. He said you can get into most Fords of that era with most keys, they won't start but the door opens.

I am not surprised that the key worked on the lug. I once opened a friend's 1997 Civic with the key from mine. They were master keyed on the passenger side and he didn't know that.

When I did mechanic work, we would keep all our cracked impact sockets just for removing security lug nuts. Find a tight fitting one and drive it over it with a hammer then remove with an impact gun. Throw that thing away and replace with a standard lug nut.

If you're not cheap and are actually using a Security 1.0 or better radio system (not openers cheap-from-china), it's not really possible to "copy" the code used. Assuming that someone had the time to record dozens of keypress actions, they may crack that particular authentication code in 3 years using a supercomputer.