Locking Wheelnuts

[harrylime]

Hi all

I hope I'm not asking too many questions here, relating to my new 1999 LS 400. I had a locking wheelnut fall off in my street, and then found the wheelnut key was badly damaged. I assume they have damaged it when refurbishing the wheels and have put the last locking wheelnut on by hand!.

Looking at the locking wheelnut it is not a sleeved design, it is a standard chamfered design. Is this correct or could it be a factor in it not being secure?

thanks in advance for any advice

[ambermarine]

Lexus Locking wheel nuts are of the lug & socket type.

[steve2006]

If you have OEM Lexus wheels fitted they are all as far as I am aware the sleeved type as shown on the photograph below, tapered nuts can come loose and damage the wheels.

If you look at the wheel holes you should see there is no taper shoulder on them.

What can happen is a previous owner fits aftermarket wheels with the tapered nuts then swops back to OEM using the wrong nuts as the originals have been lost.

[harrylime]

steve

Thank you for taking the trouble to upload that pic. I appreciate itAs far as I know they are original DHP wheels (total Lexus newbie). I have only checked the locking wheel nuts and intend to sample the other wheelnuts and check them in the morning. The locking wheelnuts are definitely chamfered, and three of the four were only hand tight. I assume the key was damaged after / while fitting the first wheel after refurbishment. (I can only guess how long it will be before they need refurbishing again)

So I have one locking nut to remove without a key, and then I need to decide whether to fit ordinary nuts, sourced from somewhere, or to source a proper set of locking wheelnuts.

So I drove home across the Pennines with three wheelnuts only hand tight. I bought the car from a bit of a back street operation in Stockport, but having spoken at length to the previous owner of ten years, which reassured me no end. He was distraught at having had to sell it - for a Toyota Prius !. The salesman who sold me the car asked for a review on google., reviewcentre etc, I am leaving it a week or two, then it is safe to say he will get a review,( having first had the chance to cough up for a set of locking nuts - I am not holding my breath)

[ManicMark]

Toyota locking nuts are the same if you go for the sleeved ones.

[harrylime]

Thanks chaps, the existing locking nuts are Toyota but clearly the wrong type

[harrylime]

Well I have checked the wheel nuts fitted and they are chamfered only with no sleeves. The wheels are, I think, standard 17" wheels fitted to DHP cars. There is room around the stud for a thin sleeve so I am totally confused now and concerned whether they are the right type. I will call lexus dealer today but not sure how switched on they will be with old models

[Maduggo]

I know it's difficult, any chance of a close-up piccy of the offending items.

I replaced my originals due to damage to the key tool for the locknuts. The 3 prongs had twisted, i think the previous owners garage had used an air gun to fasten them up and then a 10foot bar to finish the job.

I replaced them with these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALLOY-WHEEL-LOCKING-NUTS-FOR-LEXUS-LS-430-460-600-SECURITY-LUG-BOLTS-6A-/321033512822?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Wheels_tyres_Trim_Nuts_ET&hash=item4abf16a776 Have got no complaints at all, they do as they should and the tool is very sturdy.

Scroll down the advert and you see a photo with dimensions to give you an idea what you get.

[harrylime]

Chris

I think the same thing happened to mine. One locking nut is still in place, I'm taking it to a trusted tyre place tomorrow to remove. A couple of the others are a bit chewed up so have bought some McGard locking nuts from Halfords, they did cost 37 squid though. They are said to be original fittings to some cars. I use eBay and online shopping a lot but wanted to physically check the fit. Had a bit of a result because against expectations, I managed to talk the manager of the garage that sold me the car to reimburse the cost. I will also be loosening all the wheel nuts and torquing them up to the right level when I get time.