Locking wheel nut key failed

From a previous life as a fatal accident investigator, it’s my experience that blowouts are thankfully very rare, and often can be avoided with regular routine maintenance. Genuine tyre failure (without external influences such as tyre pressure) are similarly rare.

In this case it looks to me like old damage which has given way.

The most frequent cause of a ‘blowout’ is inappropriate tyre pressures. The pressure may just be too low, or it may be the vehicles usual pressure but now with a really heavy load.

Either way the effect is the same.
Imaging viewing a section through the Wheel/tyre from the rear.
An under inflated tyre’s sidewalls bulges and bows out significantly at the bottom of the tyre, whilst the rest (90%) of the tyre’s side walls are relaxed.
As the wheel rotates and as each portion of the wheel’s circumference becomes the contact patch, the sidewalls go from relaxed to bowed And they do this thousands of times a minute.

It’s this flexing from being bowed to being relaxed that causes heat and the decomposition/ delamination of the tyre structure and.... bang, all of a sudden it let’s go.

Simple maintenance
Keep an eye on damage to your sidewalls
Regularly check tyre pressures
When you stop, like a motorway services, put the flat of your hand on each tyre’s sidewall. If the odd 1or 2 of them are running significantly hot, there’s likely a critical problem

Vehicles with non standard wheels may not come with recommended tyre pressures so you’ll need to be particularly sensitive to managing your pressures

HTHs
 
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From a previous life as a fatal accident investigator, it’s my experience that blowouts are thankfully very rare, and often can be avoided with regular routine maintenance. Genuine tyre failure (without external influences such as tyre pressure) are similarly rare.

In this case it looks to me like old damage which has given way.

The most frequent cause of a ‘blowout’ is inappropriate tyre pressures. The pressure may just be too low, or it may be the vehicles usual pressure but now with a really heavy load.

Either way the effect is the same.
Imaging viewing a section through the Wheel/tyre from the rear.
An under inflated tyre’s sidewalls bulges and bows out significantly at the bottom of the tyre, whilst the rest (90%) of the tyre’s side walls are relaxed.
As the wheel rotates and as each portion of the wheel’s circumference becomes the contact patch, the sidewalls go from relaxed to bowed And they do this thousands of times a minute.

It’s this flexing from being bowed to being relaxed that causes heat and the decomposition/ delamination of the tyre structure and.... bang, all of a sudden it let’s go.

Simple maintenance
Keep an eye on damage to your sidewalls
Regularly check tyre pressures
When you stop, like a motorway services, put the flat of your hand on each tyre’s sidewall. If 1or 2 of them are running significantly hot, there’s likely a critical problem

Vehicles with non standard wheels may not come with recommended tyre pressures so you’ll need to be particularly sensitive to managing your pressures

HTHs
Great information. Also it might be worth noting that if your tyre has been running at a low pressure and got very hot it might be worth checking it out as the flexing of the tyre wall can damage the inside. I have seen a tyre runlike this and outside looked ok, however inside it was full of rubber 'marbles' that has come from the inside tyre walls.
 
Thanks for the information... food for thought there...

The tyre had done less than 1000 miles... and based on recommendations on here run at 42-43psi all round on the 255/45/19

I would say the van was loaded only with the weight of the camper conversion +80kg in extras and had been parked in direct sunlight most of the day...

It does sound like a manufacturing flaw or previous unknown side wall damage causing it to blow out... thankfully it didn't blow out on the motorway...
 
Yes

Yes, i suppose its a lesson learnt there... i will look into a better jack and also look to replace the oem security bolts as it started chewing up and slipping off trying to undo it...
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I don’t know where you are. But up in Yorkshire there is a guy called the whee bolt man. He can remove locking wheel bolts that have turned to cheese and can sell harder replacements. He has done a couple of my Volvos. Apparently they are renowned for being made of plasticine. He can get them off without smashing wheel nuts. He may have a website.
 
We've had something similar with our Skoda Superb. New tyres fitted by Tyres on the Drive and as luck would have it a few weeks late damage to the side wall. The standard VAG locking bolt wasn't for budging and started to chew up straight away. Green Flag came out and couldn't get it to move without chewing it up even more. At this point I was blaming Tyres on the Drive for over tightening the bolts. First Green Flag man reckoned he was going to cause more damage to the bolt the more he tried and wasn't sure he'd get it off. He called his expert mate in who took about half an hour to get it off but destroyed the bolt in the process. Torques checked and found to be OK so I couldn't blame Tyres on the Drive. Looks like rubbish VAG locking bolts so I replaced them.............better get the T6 done after these posts! Great service from Green Flag by the way.
 
Had rear tyres changed yesterday and watching the guy there is no way I'd be able to change the wheel at the road side. Just getting the nut caps off was a nightmare. Need to sort out a decent jack and tools for any possible flat tyres. Sadly the Europarts jack linked above is out of stock around my area.
 
Evening all, the dreaded locking wheel nut key has failed on my Davenport's. I've ordered a replacement key from a well known auction site.

However, if that fails, I am going to have to use another method to remove it. Such as those on YouTube.

I don't think I'll be buying another set of locking wheel nuts. So what I'd like to know is, what normal wheel bolts can I use instead to match the other normal ones I have.

Many thanks for your answers.
 
Do you mean go to standard wheel bolts ?
Two things that kill locking wheel bolts
Overtightened wheel bolts
Air guns ( I don’t mean the bb type )
 
Do you mean go to standard wheel bolts ?
Two things that kill locking wheel bolts
Overtightened wheel bolts
Air guns ( I don’t mean the bb type )
Yes, so that they match the remaining non locking type of bolts I have on the Davenport's which are loosened by a 19mm socket? I don't have an air gun, only torque wrench, but suppose when I've had new tyres, garages always use them.
 
Just get four new standard bolts and covers
Tyre places are shite for it just rattling them on and off with a gun
 
Just get four new standard bolts and covers
Tyre places are shite for it just rattling them on and off with a gun
Brill, I'll take a look on the internet and see what's available. Any suggestions on what to use if the replacement key fails?
 
I just use a set of snap on locking wheel but removers or an old multi splined socket beaten onto the damaged bolt
 
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