Went to get new tires installed today (BF Goodrich KDW2 245-40-18) and the wheel lock that came on my wheels cracked in half when they tried to remove it. I rotate my own tires and have installed / removed them several times with no problems except the last time this one "popped" when I was hogging it down. They tried to chisel it the rest of the way off but had no luck but did manage to ding my wheel up. They are saying take it to the Mazda dealer. Does anybody know how or if Mazda can get that sucker off? Will they replace the damaged wheel due to faulty wheel lock? A good day gone bad. I feel sick.

 

What was the torque spec when you were "hogging it down"....

 

Same thing happened to me on my Mazda 626.

I took it to Costco to get new tires and they snapped the wheel lock in half. (thank you Mr. Airgun!)
Long story short: Took it to Mazda and they used a small chizel to get the little guy off. Though the tech was very careful when doing this, there was still some damage to my rim.
Mazda blamed the incident on Costco and they would only reimburse me for the wheel lock. (which I made them pay for a new set of 4)

So in other words: Don't think Mazda is going to give you a new rim... If the lock would have broken while "being serviced at an authorized dealer...blah blah blah" then MAYBE they'd give you a new rim.

 

100 ft./lb.
Maybe that is too much on the wheel lock?

 

108 is what mazda recomends if I remember correctly. So what do you think of the tires I'm going with the same tire and size in about a week, so spill it, besides the unfortuate mishap whats your impression of the tires??

 

I had two crack on me. I took it to the dealer and they charged me 300 bucks to fix it. To make matters worse they destroyed my rim. There was chisel marks all over it and was missing chunks of Al. I complained and the manager finally gave me a new wheel. It took quite a lot of bitching. After all if the deal said they couldn't fix it without severely damaging my wheel then I would have been cool with it. To add insult to injury they left greasy handprints all over the front of my car.

 

The KDW's looked awesome sitting on the floor of the shop. Huge. I haven't got them on yet due to this wheel lock malfunction. I will post impressions as soon as I get them on and broken in. I ain't paying $300 no way to get this fixed. This is on the passenger side rear. That tire has a temporary plug in it also. I am replacing factory Dunlops with 30K on them. I feel like I'm riding on credit and now this nightmare to deal with. Things could be worse I guess.

 

I have the KDW2's on my car and they are an excellent tire; look good and perform a lot better than the stock tires.

 

Will one of these Gator sockets work? The torque might destroy it, but might last long enough to do the job:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...28013&v=glance

If it does hold up to the torque, then something like this makes wheels locks useless.

 

browning mazda in socal took off my wheel locks when they cracked and did not chip my wheels at all. bravo

 

Took the car into Wray Mazda first thing this morning to see if they could get the wheel off. Had to leave it all day. They drilled out the stud and charged me $80 (1 hr.). No warranty coverage just like Jedi54 said above. If the lock would have broken while "being serviced at an authorized dealer...blah blah blah". So to replace the stud... drumroll please.... possibly $300 + I DON'T THINK SO. You can't just knock it out , there's not room so you have to take the rotor/hub off and press out a bearing that usually cracks. $95 for the new bearing which they don't have in stock. I did order another nice used wheel (thanks Paul) so now I will actually have a spare tire. Hopefully will have new tires and a nice wheel mounted tomorrow (minus 1 stud to be replaced later) and life will get back to normal.

BOTTOM LINE:
I don't really need wheel locks where I live. Who would steal stock wheels anyway The remaining locks are history. I would advise anyone who has them to trash em. Just my opinion.

 

these will take them off every time... dunno if this is the right size set though.. http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...168000&tab=des

 

I agree do people still get wheels stolen these days? What I think happened was the 'tech' had / used his air gun on forward in instead of reverse and applied full power to an already torque nut.

 

Mine broke off, I took it to three tire shops and none would touch it, bought three different types of tools, Gator Grip, Hardened reverse thread socket, and Bolt out. None worked. The dealer worked on it for three hours and said they would have to destroy the rim to get it off, ordering now, comes in next week. They said Mazda will pick up the tab this time only, and is a case by case call. Otherwise it would of been $900.00 for labor, mounting, ballancing, new rim, new lugs... ouch. Thank God it was my winter wheels on stock rims and not my Racing Enkie FRP1 summer wheels, or I would of been stuck with the bill. Be warned. Replace your stock Lock lugs while you can.

 

Snap -on makes a cool tool for removing locks...it is a tapering sleeve that you pound on to the lock...and then use an impact to remove. I've used them on mine when I forgot the key.....hardly left a mark on the lock...nothing else was touched.

It was evident to me that locks don't work worth s**t if you have the right tools

 

Mine broke off, I took it to three tire shops and none would touch it, bought three different types of tools, Gator Grip, Hardened reverse thread socket, and Bolt out. None worked. The dealer worked on it for three hours and said they would have to destroy the rim to get it off, ordering now, comes in next week. They said Mazda will pick up the tab this time only, and is a case by case call. Otherwise it would of been $900.00 for labor, mounting, ballancing, new rim, new lugs... ouch. Thank God it was my winter wheels on stock rims and not my Racing Enkie FRP1 summer wheels, or I would of been stuck with the bill. Be warned. Replace your stock Lock lugs while you can.

 

McGard states wheel locks should not be torqued to the same level as regular lugs. For the RX-8 I thought standard torque was 88 ft/lbs, not 108?

 

my mazda locks broke too.. i use aftermarket ones now

 

They updated it in TSB to solve a "snapping" noise when turning.

 

My locks were put on by hand with a medium sized lug wrench to the specification of "good and tight." They are simply defective. (in response to an e-mail on my post)

 

My car spent more than 2 hours at the dealer to tell me they would have to cut the wheel off. Ten days later my car spent an entire day at dealer, after a couple hours waiting they gave me a loaner car to leave, the idiot cut the wheel off with a torch and the heat melted my TPMS. They are ordering a new one, I have to go back and have it installed in a couple weeks when it comes in. They are billing Mazda for the whole thing, over $1,000.00 now for a $2.00 defective wheel lock.
Mazda knows there is a problem and told dealers to evaluate it on a case by case basis approved by a Mazda corp. rep. The service rep said Mazda is reluctant to pay for these and read me their Procedures for Cracked wheel lock. He said mine was the second in a week there. I said Mazda is responsible and if they didn't think they had a problem with the wheel locks they wouldn't be releasing procedures to deal with them. Hopefully the saga will end when they replace my TPMS sensor after I take my car back for a third time. Then my "check tires" warning light will fade off as well.

 

This has got to be the stupidist thing I've heard anyone do for a long time

Cutting aluminum wheels off with a torch?? I guess they have never seen aluminum burn.....damn this is unbelievable......I could see cutting off the nut and maybe damaging and replacing the stud...... but cutting off a wheel OMG

 

128 Mazda broke 2 of my OEM wheel locks and managed to get them off without damaging the wheel.

They tried to charge me for the new ones and I said NO WAY; you broke them.

They said they would pay for them this time, but that in the future I should be aware that the OEM wheel locks are only good for 4-5 loosen/tighten cycles before they crack.

I said I've never had a problem, and never heard of such poor quality products.

 

That's okay, I only plan on using my car for a half dozen trips before I toss it in the garbage.