Locking wheel bolts

How to choose

How locking wheel bolts work

On each wheel, one ordinary bolt or nut is replaced with a locking bolt or locking nut. Its head has no hex - instead it has a pattern cut into it, and it can only be turned with the key supplied in the set. McGard says there is a very large number of code variants, so every set comes with its own code card. Wheel locks, as they are often called, make it harder for someone else to remove a wheel, but McGard states openly in its warranty terms that they are not guaranteed to be theft-proof.

Thread, seat and length have to match, just as with ordinary bolts

A locking bolt holds the wheel in exactly the same way as the others, so it has to match them fully. If the wheel is fixed with bolts, you need locking bolts; if it sits on studs, you need locking nuts. The thread (M12x1.5, M14x1.5, M14x1.25 and others) is set by the car. The seat is set by the wheel: conical 60°, ball R12-R14 or flat. It is the same seat the wheel needs for its ordinary wheel bolts and nuts. Compare the length with the bolt the locking bolt will replace. McGard warns that the wrong size or seat damages the thread and the wheel can come off, so check all three with the car and wheel manufacturers.

Fitting according to McGard's instructions

• Start the locking bolt by hand, one per wheel.
• Do not lubricate the threads. Clean rusty studs with a wire brush first.
• Tighten with the key from the set to the torque given in the car's owner's manual, preferably with a torque wrench. Hold the key straight and push it into the pattern so it does not slip.
• Do not use an impact wrench: according to McGard it can damage the locking bolt, the key and parts of the car.
• The locking bolt goes on last and comes off first. Check the tightening torque again after 40 km.

The key, the code card and a lost key

The code card carries an 8-10 or 17-18 digit code. McGard sells replacement keys against this code, no more than two. The manufacturer recommends keeping one key in the car with the tool kit, so it is to hand at a tyre change or at the roadside with a puncture, and the other at home. Photograph or write down the code somewhere outside the car too. If the pouch with the key and the card goes missing together, a replacement key is harder to get without the code. Take the key with you when you go for a tyre change.

If the key is lost, order a replacement by code from the McGard online shop. Without the card, McGard asks you to email a photo of the front of the locking bolt, with the pattern visible, and the car model. When the wheel has to come off straight away, a tyre service can remove locking bolts without the key using special tools, and it is better not to attempt this yourself. After that, buy a new set.

Keys sold separately

The Bimecc Tuner Key is not a locking bolt key but an adaptor for tuner bolts and nuts. These have a narrow head (20 or 23 mm outer diameter in the Bimecc catalogue) so that it fits into the small bolt holes of some alloy wheels where a standard wheel wrench will not go. The other end of the adaptor is an ordinary hex, shown in the filter as "Wrench size". Japan Racing keys only fit the JR nuts and bolts named in the product title.