Change your security lug nuts.

[HUMMER/Expeditions]

it was a pleasure to meet you guys,
I am glad our team work saved the day, I absolutely agree sometimes when you are exhausted, even an easy task becomes an ordeal,

What a small world who would think two expedition portal members would meet and help each other,

I ordered the lugnuts for the Tacoma, I learned my lesson too ?

dogs came back about an hour later, I took a nap, the male husky howled and woke me up ?

next time you guys to out to explore please let me know, I would love to join your group.

 

[4runnerteq]

Wow. I just told my buddy @jgatliff last weekend to take the ones off his 4 runner. These things blow. The key is always lost and even if it's not they are nearly impossible to get off with the factory lug wrench. Popular add on at the dealership. Add $30 to $60 bucks to every new car you sell. Adds up. If you have them, I suggest you trash them and replace with regular nuts.

 

[Silverback07]

I had the same thing happen to me, thankfully I was just rotating tires in the garage. I ended up using some good (sharp, Cobalt ) drill bits and drilled out the center of the lock and then replacing the stud as well. It was a McGard lock which I thought would not break, I was wrong. Pulled the other 4 (spare had one as well) off and replaced with splined nuts that was on the rest. I also keep a spare splined socket for them in the glovebox.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I had one strip out on my 1st gen Tundra a few years ago. Had to buy a set of special sockets that you beat on and then they will grab the nut and you can take them off.

I now carry the sockets with me "just in case."

 

[kb1ejh]

My local mechanic told me years ago that they break quite often when we were talking one day. I went home and removed them from all my vehicles. I only run factory rims and nothing super special for tires so I wasn't worried about theft. I am also not in a city that may have wheel theft issues. I hope I don't find the vehicle on blocks in the morning...

 

[robert]

What’s up Ron,
in most cases its NO TOOLS at all ?‍♂️?‍♂️

In the truck I have, welding kit, cutter, drill, 3000 watt power inverter , radiator repair kit, 2 gallons of ATF, 2 gallons of motor oil,
12 ft 3/8 hose ( if fuel tank raptures )
u never know, I go way to deep in the middle of nowhere by myself.

took this pictures at the Playa where burning man is every year, breakdown here will be catastrophic.

to put in in prospective how flat and big and remote it is, you can drive 65 mph for half an hour and not touch your steering wheel hands free, there is not even half inch change on the road surface.
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I can't tell if you have the crappy factory Toyota lugs nuts with the chrome cap/covers but I'd ditch them as well. When the cover strips off, and it eventually will with the poorly fitting factory lug wrench, you're left with a 20mm lug nut- who the hell carries a 20mm socket? I can't think of anything else I've come across that uses a 20mm socket. I've currently got a mix of original chrome covered lug nuts and Toyota plain black Tacoma lug nuts because the dealer put them back that way after my last alignment. The POS factory lug wrench will bend as well if you have to put a lot of force on it because you forgot to recheck the torque on the lug nuts after the dealer did the alignment. Needless to say I've been carrying a 1/2" breaker bar and deep 20 and 21mm impact sockets. The sockets live in a little tool pouch with some spare lug nuts. I need to change my front brakes so I'll probably get around to changing out all of the nuts when I do that but I'll leave the 20mm socket in the truck in case I ever come across another Toyota with the same problem.

Yeah, I carry a 1/2" cold chisel in my tool bag as well. I keep an inexpensive pair of ANSI rated safety glasses in the truck too.

 

[barongan]

nice thread, thanks for sharing

 

[nomad_games]

On the newer vehicles the tow point is hidden behind a little cutout on the bumper and tow hook is usually in the trunk.

was going to say this. I've towed a bunch of newer vehicles out of snow banks at backcountry skiing trailheads. the tow point is almost always hidden in the bumper behind a small square paint matched panel, and the hook itself is usually in the trunk by the spare. you have to open the panel in the bumper and then screw the hook in.

 

[HUMMER/Expeditions]

My girlfriends Subaru was stuck in snow, I had to pull her sideways by using that hidden wimpy attachment, it bent, almost broke.
And if the car is running, airbag may even deploy if pulled side ways.

 

[Doc_]

I just want to say that as a front parts counter guy at a dealership, wheel locks are the bane of my existence.
Everybody loses them, and they all think that we can just magic up a replacement for them over the phone when in reality these things are randomly assigned to vehicles and we have to spot-match them in the service drive.
When we bought our 4Runner as a family truckster, I took those locks off and cast them into the fires of Mount Doom where they belong - or put them in their box by the recover tools.

 

[MTVR]

And if the car is running, airbag may even deploy if pulled sideways.

Airbags do not deploy from pulling- they only deploy from impacts. And even then, the impacts have to meet certain criteria in terms of timing and force, before the airbag computer will fire any airbags.

 

[MTVR]

Airbags are not designed to protect against rollovers- they are designed to protect against very specific impacts. I've seen numerous rollovers that did not deploy any airbags...

 

[MTVR]

...and the Subaru above appears to be being pulled by an elastic strap, which is a very gentle way to pull a vehicle out. It's not like he was using a logging chain...

 

[alanymarce]

I'd sooner do an insurance claim for stolen tires than get a flat without the key thingamajig.

Take your point, however... if your wheels are stolen in the middle of the Congo then you could have a major problem, especially if your vehicle has unusual wheels...

 

[dreadlocks]

funny enough, none of my expensive Luxury vehicles ever came with wheel locks.. but all my cheap economy vehicles did.. and my lux suv has all sorts of additional security on it, cant even swap components w/electronic modules out of junkyard cars without software that connects to master database and makes sure the donor vehicle's vin is not blacklisted as stolen.. but wheel locks? nah.. guess they assume the original owner who paid 6 figures for it was gonna park it in a garage and those wheel locks were just dumb and inconvenient.

I always rock OEM wheels so I always tossed the locks, never had wheels stolen.. I have had radios, doors, lights, and other aftermarket stuff stolen, so now I keep all that stuff original.. nobody is stealing the tape deck outta my jeep.