McGard told me to email them and they'll send me a key.

 

You have a spare tire?

LOL

 

I would be OK if my Advance wheels were stolen!

 

Advance comes with a donut.

 

Not the FWD model.

 

mmmmm, donuts.

 

Those are not good for you.



https://www.rover.com/blog/can-dog-eat-donuts/

.

 

Some poor soul had to deliver me my wheel lock key today (although, from what I gather, lots of people are receiving "Christmas" deliveries still due to the huge backlog). It seems to fit. I checked that it locks into the lug nut, but I was not able to unscrew the nut. I think the guy who put it back on was overly enthusiastic with tightening it. I didn't feel like doing the "stand on the tire iron and bounce up and down" maneuver just to check it, however. As long as it clicks into the lug nut, it's fine, right?

 

As long as the key fits the locking lug nut, you’re good to go. I would, however, make sure the lug nuts are not over torqued.

 

You mean by loosening them all and then hand-tightening them?

 

That’s what I would do. If you have access to a torque wrench, that’s even better yet.

 

I don't. Like I said, I'd have to resort to the old "stand and stomp on the tire iron" routine for every lug nut and I'm sort of not into doing that right now.

 

Do you have a Discount Tire or America's Tire Store nearby? They will check and adjust for free, and will rotate your tires or fix a flat free also, no need to have been a customer in the past. GREAT company!

 

None near me. They seem to be the same store. Either that or their websites are identical and their locations are identical. That's good information for others, though. Thanks.

 

Same company, name varies based on location, perhaps state name licensing laws? IDK LOL

 

If you have to do that the lug nuts are way over tightened. The spec is 80 ft-lb which really isn't all that tight...many other vehicles I've had called for 100+ ft-lb. If they're tightened to spec they should be easy to remove unless you're a real weakling. Over tightened lug nuts aren't good but the important thing is that they're all tightened the same or it could lead to distorted rotors which lead to other issues, all expensive to fix. Too many tire mechanics get carried away with their impact tools and don't pay attention to how much torque they're applying.

I once had to remove the front tires on my daughter's old Ford Focus and the lug nuts were so tight I had to do the jump-on-the-tire-iron dance to get them off. I was using a 2 ft long breaker bar and I'm about 220 lb so do the math. I'm surprised that the lugs didn't break. Both fronts were the same. And they had last been tightened by a genuine Ford mechanic at the Ford dealer. I suspect he had his impact tool set a bit too high. Unbelievable.

 

It may be that I'm a weakling, lol. But I do think they're over-tightened.

 

You may want to rethink where you’re having you car serviced. Any tech should know not to over torque lug nuts.

 

It was at my dealer. I'm pretty satisfied with them otherwise, so we'll see.

 

They supposed to torque to 80lb-ft using torque wrench, I do not think they do it, just using air gun with preset torque. I rotated my own tires and used torque wrench

 

I’d mention it to them next time you have it serviced. They could do damage to the rotors or even damage the studs to the point of needing replacement by over torquing the lug nuts. I hate it when mechanics think they need to use an impact wrench on everything. It beats the crap out of the lug nuts too.

 

FYI, I know you don't have a Discount Tire near you, but they ALWAYS use a torque wrench. I don't let my new car dealers ever rotate my tires, I take them to Discount Tire for free tire rotations and inspections.

 

I'll try loosening the lugs maybe in the spring or something, lol. And I'll mention it to the dealer next time I need maintenance.

 

I rotated them myself for these reasons, also had bad experience when my wheel got scratched on previous car, which is impossible to prove.
I got the tools and torque wrench, but its PITA,
I’d rather pay someone to do it - assuming they do it properly....

 

Get a breaker bar from harbor freight. Even when torqued properly, the nuts can be difficult to get off if you’re using a regular ratchet or multi-wrench cross thing-a-ma-bob. They have a few options for under $15. As for zapping lugs on with an impact, there’s nothing wrong with it as long as they’re using torque sticks. I was using them over a decade ago. I can’t imagine any dealer not using them with how easily accessible and cheap they’ve become.

 

I’ll try to find info, but I read that using torque wrench is considered more accurate and preferable. I’ve seen it being used in couple of tire places.

 

Absolutely a torque wrench is preferable ... but I'd have no qualms about someone using a torque stick to put my lugs on. Heck, it'sjust as important how you tighten the bolts as well. I would always seat one lug fully by hand, then drive all the lugs down to seat with a light trigger finger. Then I'd give a quick hit with the gun in a star pattern, and final pass with full torque.

 

Most derlerships and tire shops don't give a **** about torque specifications. I always retorque when I get home. I kept an old torque wrench with a needle that reads both ways, when my wheels are put on with air impact gun that don't use torque sticks, I bring the torque over 150 lbs to loosen the nuts every time.

 

they can use torque stick to do initial tightening with the air gun, but it is preferable that after they lower the vehicle they go over with an actual torque wrench and make sure all bolts are set.
I suppose you can request this during the service, but who knows they will do it. The small privately owned tire place I take my other car does it, and you can see them working on your car. When car at the dealership, you have no idea what they are doing 😀

 

In my car, there was a little black fabric bag in the glove box. In the bag were the original lug nuts removed and the key for the lug nuts they installed. My friend with an RDX had the same thing in his glove box and purchased at another dealership.