Trilock Locking Wheel Bolts

[chairman_mo]

Good afternoon

Like a numpty I have managed to lose the key for the locking wheel bolts on my Coupe and didn't get the serial no. from the previous owner.

They are Trilock bolts and each bolt head has three round holes that engage with three pegs on the key.

Does anyone know if all Trilock keys are the same or are they different??

Cheers

mo

[zollaf]

they are all different. the three pins are placed in slightly different places. i have managed to get them off though, by using another different key, and just gently tapping it on with a very big hammer. these can be a pain to remove due to the collar that spins, preventing most normal methods of removal from working. i would take a photo of the pins, then find somewhere with a selection of sets and try to find the closest match, then just tap it on and hope they wernt overtightened with a windy gun. a set is about £15, but far cheaper than getting them removed any other way.

[chairman_mo]

Zollaf, many thanks for this, they are at 100Nm so should shift without too much grief. The only other idea I had was to get a left hand thread stud extractor which I can probably borrow from work, drill the bolt heads and wind them out.

[ini]

On alloys that have room for it around the bolt, hammering on a strong 12-point socket has always removed every locking wheelbolt I have had a problem with, even the rotating collar type designed to prevent it.

[Crasher]

I beat the living daylights out of them with a 3lb lump hammer and a long inch thick brass bar down the wheel bore. After a few blows they often just wind out using a pair of pin nosed pliers.

[chairman_mo]

Errrr, I'll pass on that one Crasher, but thank you anyway

[NickPicks]

On alloys that have room for it around the bolt, hammering on a strong 12-point socket has always removed every locking wheelbolt I have had a problem with, even the rotating collar type designed to prevent it.

+1 from me for this method. It worked on my tri locks when the holes in one of the bolts got rounded off from the pins slipping out. We hammered on the socket which wouldn't quite fot over the collar, and wound it out with a breaker bar.

We did try drilling them first, and the small drill went in fine for a pilot hole, but the larger we went, the more difficult it got - we assumed they were case hardened, so harder on the outside than the middle. Then a colleague came along and suggested the socket method.

[chairman_mo]

Managed to get three off at the weekend. First method was to enlarge the three holes by half a millimetre and use another Trilock tool, got two off this way. Then the tool distorted. Method two was to drill out the centre of the bolt and use LH thread stud extractor, got one out this way. Then sheared off the stud extractor in the forth, arsecakes.

[vwcabriolet1971]

I hope the sheared stud extractor is not the tapered "easyout" type. They invariably break and can be difficult to get out as they are quite hard. I used them once many years ago , never again.
Whoever first called them "easyout" should be shot. I always use a parallel spline type bit with square drive .

[chairman_mo]

It was a tapered easyout type that sheared off. I tried the splined variety but destroyed the splines without shifting the bolt. Gods knows how much torque was on the bolts.

[vwcabriolet1971]

If the bolt is seized solid by corrosion then maybe you'll have to heat it and give the Crasher treatment to break the corrosion joint . If you heat it with a gas welding torch you can then drill out the easyout but you will need to put a heat mask around the bolt head to prevent damage to alloy wheel ( risky) . A biggish hammer ( 2 1/2 lb min) and chisel on the outer part of the head to turn it sometimes works but if the bolt head is deeply recessed this will be difficult. If you can find an undersized socket that can be driven on with a 3lb hammer this can work.
There are special driver bits designed to remove wheel bolts by gripping on the O.D. of the bolt head . These are a bit like a female L.H. easyout. I have never used these but understand the trade use them.I would try these first .Some of them require an impact wrench to get the best out of them. If you do a google search for " locking wheel bolt removal tool" it should give some alternative sources.
If you have breakdown cover it may be worth calling them out as I'm sure that they run into this kind of problem all the time and will have the correct gear.
Good luck.