Inch said:
>
>BTW, it worries me that your tire store doesn't know about these and is
>willing to use a torch to cut them off first.
>
I had a 1963 Ford Falcon Ranchero with 4-lug (yes, that's 4) "mags" with a
locking lug nut per wheel. Well I had the special key but over the years
one of the locking lugs had gotten "stripped". The special key wouldn't
stay in place to do its job. Since I had never heard of these special lug
removal tools I used the heat wrench remove the damaged locking lug.
However, I did NOT burn the lug off, I just heated it red hot to remove its
temper (without damaging the wheel no less.) Before it even cooled off I
used a pipe wrench on the outside of the lug to get it off. Boy did the
pipe wrench teeth really bite into that locking lug! Since this car had
seen better days, I just kept using that lug nut and a pipe wrench for that
wheel.
Maybe that's what the shop was planning to do with their torch?
Why anyone would put these wheels on a base model car with a 170 C.I. 6
cylinder with a 3 on the column is beyond me but I got it cheap and just
used it as a stop gap car. I later traded it for a nice air compressor
which I still have to this day.
Good luck getting your locking lugs off.
Mark Watson
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