S60 Locking wheel nut problem

[spee]

Guys, (I'm not actually a complete newbe, I've posted a fair few times recently but my ID seems to have been wiped out by the forum crash!)

Anyway! I have a problem, my recently aquired S60 has thrown it's parking brake shoes! A known problem I know and one that I can't believe has happened to me so soon after buying the car!

Well, I have managed to get the car to where I stay work nights and planned to remove the guts from the hub so I could use the car to get me home (albeit with no handbrake of course)

However, I can't get the locking nuts off the wheels, one attempt to remove them with the nut key has killed the key! I thinks its the original volvo key for info, they look like standard equipment locks to me.

So, how do I remove them? I can't risk driving the car to a tyre place which would be the place to go. I have limited tooling here, enough to do what I had planned to do but nothing more, I have the wheel brace (OE) and a small socket set, enough to do remove the caliper and disc which was the plan.

Any suggestions would be more than welcome, I'm staying in the Queensferry/Hawarden area of North Wales if anyone has a removal kit they'd be willing to lend me or any other ideas welcome.

Thanks people

Gareth

[Clan]

A volvo dealer probably has the most experience of trying to remove these and they can have access to the master set to determine the key number but it can take a few days .. they probaby have developed a method of removing them too . Tyre places seem hopless at this .. conventional removal kits are no good on the newer volvo locking bolts ( 2002- 2003 and later )

[billynomates]

This happened to me and I ended up having to get a bolt welded to the locking nuts to remove them.

Volvo locking nuts cannot be removed with any of the removal tools currently on the market

[spee]

Originally Posted by Clan

A volvo dealer probably has the most experience of trying to remove these and they can have access to the master set to determine the key number but it can take a few days .. they probaby have developed a method of removing them too . Tyre places seem hopless at this .. conventional removal kits are no good on the newer volvo locking bolts ( 2002- 2003 and later )

Not really what I wanted to hear! But thanks anyway!

Problem is, I can't get to a dealer, and the key having broken once trying to remove the locking nut, the same is very likely to happen with a replacement I'd have thought.

Who the hell steals wheels these days anyway??? And if they do, they probably come tooled up for the job!

Once I have them off, they won't be going back on again for sure!

Anyone tried drilling these later locking nuts, I imagine they are quite hard to drill!

Well, at least it being stranded is saving on fuel and general wear and tear!

Bloody cars!

[Simon Jones]

Just been thru the same prob with my V70. One locking bolt was so tight that I wrecked the key trying to undo it. As a result, I couldn't remove the other 3 either.

The standard locking wheel bolts are made by McGard in Germany & they can supply new keys for €18 if you send a photo of the pattern on the bolt. I tried the local Volvo dealer who said there are no records of the serial numbers for the locking bolts held by Volvo, so if there is nothing written down in the service book, then you're a bit stuffed. They did offer to remove the bolts for £60 using a Dynomec tool (as used by the AA), but I decided to shop around first.

None of the tyre centres would touch it as they said they would be liable for any damage to the alloy during removal. Eventually, a local independent garage said they had 3 different tools & were confident they could do it in half an hour for £45. Anyway, 2 hours later they managed to get the last one off having destroyed their removal tools! In the end, they had to weld a nut on & use a 4 ft bar to undo it. There was some minor damage to the wheel as the nuts are quite deeply recessed, but I was past worrying at that point. They only charged me the price they quoted even though it took 4 times as long, so I can't fault them for decent service.

Lessons learn:

• Whenever you have wheels removed / refitted - ask if you can tighten the locking nut yourself, rather than trust them with their air tools. Alternatively, ask them to use a torque wrench & let them know the correct value.
  
• Consider replacing the locking bolts with standard ones
  
• Maybe even put a light smear of copper grease on the threads?

I was lucky in that I only needed to remove the wheels to do some maintenance, as opposed to being stuck on the hard shoulder with a puncture. I've just bought an XC70 & the first thing I've done is removed the locking bolts (to fit on the old V70) & replaced them with new locking bolts of a better design.

[spee]

Originally Posted by Simon Jones

Just been thru the same prob with my V70. One locking bolt was so tight that I wrecked the key trying to undo it. As a result, I couldn't remove the other 3 either.

The standard locking wheel bolts are made by McGard in Germany & they can supply new keys for €18 if you send a photo of the pattern on the bolt. I tried the local Volvo dealer who said there are no records of the serial numbers for the locking bolts held by Volvo, so if there is nothing written down in the service book, then you're a bit stuffed. They did offer to remove the bolts for £60 using a Dynomec tool (as used by the AA), but I decided to shop around first.

None of the tyre centres would touch it as they said they would be liable for any damage to the alloy during removal. Eventually, a local independent garage said they had 3 different tools & were confident they could do it in half an hour for £45. Anyway, 2 hours later they managed to get the last one off having destroyed their removal tools! In the end, they had to weld a nut on & use a 4 ft bar to undo it. There was some minor damage to the wheel as the nuts are quite deeply recessed, but I was past worrying at that point. They only charged me the price they quoted even though it took 4 times as long, so I can't fault them for decent service.

Lessons learn:

• Whenever you have wheels removed / refitted - ask if you can tighten the locking nut yourself, rather than trust them with their air tools. Alternatively, ask them to use a torque wrench & let them know the correct value.
  
• Consider replacing the locking bolts with standard ones
  
• Maybe even put a light smear of copper grease on the threads?

I was lucky in that I only needed to remove the wheels to do some maintenance, as opposed to being stuck on the hard shoulder with a puncture. I've just bought an XC70 & the first thing I've done is removed the locking bolts (to fit on the old V70) & replaced them with new locking bolts of a better design.

So is your V70 a post 03 car with the super duper locking bolts, if so and the Dynamec can remove them, I may well be able to source that.

G

[leeleefocus]

This is how i got mine off after some bell end at a garage did them up with the air gun.

12" socket extension bar attached to the appropriate socket and then a 2 foot breaker bar. I couldn't move them with my 18" breaker bar that's how tight they were.

The use of the extension allows you to keep the socket and key perfectly square while applying loads of torque. While you pull up on the breaker bar you push down on the elbow where the breaker bar attaches to the extension and using your knee put a little inward pressure to keep it all seated correctly.

I know this probably won't help you as your key is knackered but hopefully it may help someone else.

I was suprised how much torque the key actually took and how much my snap on breaker bar was bending.

[leedsladmatt]

I had the same issue with my '53 plate S60. Over tightened by an over zealous tyre centre! Destroyed two volvo keys trying to get them off. Fortunatly I work in a HGV Trailer rental office with some skilled welders on hand. Ended up welding Bolts to them and cracking them off - the worst offended required a 6' strong bar! After which they were promply replaced with standard nuts from the local volvo dealer - about £2.85+VAT at Harratts Leeds. After having similar issues with my previous car (51 plate Audi A6) I have to say locking nuts are more trouble than they're worth and if my S60 every gets replaced the first job on my list will be to remove the things.

[Bill_56]

My previous car wasn't quite Volvo, but at least it was in some ways close... a Saab.

As soon as it was out of warranty I ceased using the main dealers and switched to an Indie'. One of the first, of many, useful pieces of advice he gave me was to throw away the locking nuts and replace them with proper bolts. They'd seen so many cars with knackered bolts, and been unpopular for having to add it to service costs.

I must now take a mental note to take my own advice and buy some wheel bolts next week

[ctautos]

under sized socket wack on take off i have made sockets to fit