Bleedin McGard locking bolts Grrrr

[monte]

Anyone else had bother with these £50+ crappy locking bolts?

Well today I Finally  got round to putting my Satin black Pescara's back on for winter.....or so I thought.

I got to taking off my 3rd Monza and the bolt was rather a tight little bugger to say the least.  (these were put on with an air gun at my local tyre shop)

Anyway I thought it had loosened but to my surprise all it had done was shear off some of the edges of the key (sort of a cloverleaf pattern)

I messed about with it for about half an hour before realising that I need to put the Monza's back on. (with some other lockers I had)

So I have checked on the website, and basically the guarantee is not worth $£%@. Whatsmore it will cost £18 to order a new key from Germany, which I don't mind really, but I would have liked it soon. They state that you have to send a Cheque or Cash in an envelope with your key number and then they will send the key. 


Why can't you get them from UK, or at least buy the key online. Then they can send it out straight away 

Just hope the next key doesn't sheer off. 

Any idea's?

[rdfcpete]

I've never had any problem with McGard on two sets of wheels Monte. Sorry to hear you're having problems.

In fact they've been excellent. Where are yours from?
I would highly recommend William @ http://www.performancealloys.com in future (they're in Northern Ireland) - I've spent well over £2,000 on wheels and bolts with them in recent times and they've never failed to sort me out.

[rich83]

VW Lockers... at least if your key gets stuffed you can get one from any VW garage! :-)

[monte]

Pete,

Does William sell the keys ???

Still can't believe a multi national company doesn't have an online checkout though  :roll eye:

Rich,

The VW lockers seem much stronger as well, but they are the wrong seat pattern. 

[rich83]

Thats a PITA... are you sure they only do 1 seat type?

[monte]

Thats a PITA... are you sure they only do 1 seat type?

Well when I first got my Monza's I asked the Parts Manager at the dealers if they had the deep flange bolts and he said no.  But I remember he didn't look on the system or anything, he just straight said No! 

Suppose I could just take 1 wheel bolt in and see if they can match it up 

[Tfsi_Mike]

Bummer :( had to smash mine off over summer as I was having my NQSBBK fitted and left the lockers in Germany.

Very lucky I didn't Have a blowout!  I carry the repair foam tin.

[RedRobin]

Anyone else had bother with these £50+ crappy locking bolts?

Well today I Finally  got round to putting my Satin black Pescara's back on for winter.....or so I thought.

I got to taking off my 3rd Monza and the bolt was rather a tight little bugger to say the least.   (these were put on with an air gun at my local tyre shop)

....Sorry to tell you this after the event, but air guns should NEVER be used on McGards. Should always be done by hand with a proper torque wrench with readout/preset.

[Beddie]

I had the same problem when they had been air gun tightened after a service at vw  
I got my replacement key via the mcgard website and all ordering was done online with my credit card and it arrived in 3 days, went for the offer on 2 keys for 30 euro  

I'd imagine that you ended up on the mcgard.com (US) website which doesnt allow online ordering of replacement keys?

Give www.mcgard.de a whirl and here's a direct link to the online key ordering page https://www.wheellockkeys.com/homepage/deutschland/englisch/bestellung.php  or alternatively just call Mcgard CS on freephone number  00800 25993400 and order over the phone with your card, they speak German, English, French, and Spanish so you should get sorted  

As a tip for the future, if the car goes in for any work I remove the locker from each wheel and replace with a regular bolt so that I won't have any air gun monkey related problems again and just pop the locker back in when I get home..

[jimk04]

No help here just an observation - but I never use any locking nuts anymore - not since several  expensive and annoying experiences in the past with bent/rounded/sheared keys!

[phil1975]

Its not just volkswagen, I'm ordered a new locking wheel nut key from the local ford dealer in 2003 and I'm still waiting...............

McGuard used to win the autoexpress tests a few years ago, but all keys seem to a limited life if used often.

[monte]

Thanks Beddie,

What website was I looking at  I certainly didn't see that order page???
It just said to send 18 euro by cash or cheque

I'll order two I think....

I hope I don't ruin another key 

[PND]

As a tip for the future, if the car goes in for any work I remove the locker from each wheel and replace with a regular bolt so that I won't have any air gun monkey related problems again and just pop the locker back in when I get home..

Good idea!  I normally have a set of VW locking nuts on (not much use as there are only a small number of different key patterns!) and a set of the McGuard ones.  I removed the McGuard ones this morning as my car is in today having MOT, service and brake fluid change, so hopefully all will be well later on! 

When removing/swapping your wheels, don't forget to put copper grease on the inside of the wheel where it makes contact with the hub, and also a bit on the thread of the nuts before you refit.  Makes removing the wheel next time a lot easier! ..and tighten with a torque wrench to 120 if you can!

[monte]

As a tip for the future, if the car goes in for any work I remove the locker from each wheel and replace with a regular bolt so that I won't have any air gun monkey related problems again and just pop the locker back in when I get home..

Good idea!  I normally have a set of VW locking nuts on (not much use as there are only a small number of different key patterns!) and a set of the McGuard ones.  I removed the McGuard ones this morning as my car is in today having MOT, service and brake fluid change, so hopefully all will be well later on! 

When removing/swapping your wheels, don't forget to put copper grease on the inside of the wheel where it makes contact with the hub, and also a bit on the thread of the nuts before you refit.  Makes removing the wheel next time a lot easier! ..and tighten with a torque wrench to 120 if you can!

Cheers buddy, is that 120ft/llbs? and is that for all the bolts?

I put copper grease on my Pescaras and their bolts but when I had the monza tyres fitted the tyre guy fitted the wheels and I forgot to stick some copper grease on the bolts for him!

I'll remember next time 

[Beddie]

Thanks Beddie,

What website was I looking at  I certainly didn't see that order page???
It just said to send 18 euro by cash or cheque

I'll order two I think....

I hope I don't ruin another key 

No probs mate, glad I could help 

When you come to have a go at getting it out again, try to tighten up the 4 normal bolts a little more if possible as that should take off the tension on the locker a little and if you have a cross brace type wheel wrench then use that as you can apply some horizontal force to the bolt whilst also turning it, it's usually the twisting motion you get with the oem brace that causes the key to slip if the bolt is very tight