Wrong Wheel Locknuts put on car by Dealer!!!

csv8 · 12-01-2013, 05:43 PM

Five and half years ago I bought a new car. I had lock nuts put on by the dealer. In that time the dealer has changed the tyres twice.
Today,the car got a puncture and RACQ said "the lock nuts are illegal as they aren't tapered" .
When I took the tyre in to get repaired ,I asked the tyre shop ,if the RACQ was right ? and they are.
So, interesting !! if I had an accident, would I have been covered ???
Car now has correct lock nuts on it.

MNM96 · 12-01-2013, 05:46 PM

If, how, where, when, what?

Who cares, you are all safe, and thankfully, never had to find out the reality of your question.

XR Martin · 12-01-2013, 11:53 PM

Never heard of an accident happening from one out of five wheels nuts not being correct.

Kryton · 12-01-2013, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Never heard of an accident happening from one out of five wheels nuts not being correct.

Exactly.
You could even remove 1 wheel nut from each wheel and still nothing would happen.

dieseltrain79 · 13-01-2013, 07:48 AM

I think he is saying , the fact the wheel nuts were illegal , may have voided insurance ?

That's how I read it .

mike_nofx · 13-01-2013, 08:17 AM

The way I understand it, and i well may be wrong, but insurance would only be voided if the accident was a result (or it contributed) of the illegal part?

bangm001 · 13-01-2013, 08:28 AM

What type of car was it?
All of my falcons (Ba onwards) have tapered locknuts from factory.

Simple6 · 13-01-2013, 09:04 AM

What's a tapered wheel nut? Is it just the 10mm or so area tapered at the end that sits in the wheel?

XR Martin · 13-01-2013, 10:07 AM

There is no laws that dictate what wheel nuts a car has to have, thus it cant be 'illegal' if the wrong ones are used.
However there are rules that govern what wheel nuts should be used, but unknowingly having the wrong ones will not suddenly void your insurance, even if it could be somehow linked to an accident occuring.

Ive known of an accident where the cause was bald tyres, and the insurance still payed out. Why? The driver claimed they did not know the tyres were bald, they also claimed they were not an expert in tyres and didnt know what the difference between a roadworthy tyre and unroadworthy ones was. Also they argued the car was serviced a few months earlier and the condition of the tyres werent mentioned.

If the insurance company cant prove that they knew you were driving a defective vehicle, it is very hard for them to void a claim based on that.

duaned · 13-01-2013, 11:03 AM

Sorry to go a little off topic, but does anyone find that their factory locknut key does not fit the spanner that comes as part of the scissor jack? Mine sure as hell doesn't!

galaxy xr8 · 13-01-2013, 11:36 AM

Time to bring in CSi for this........LOL.

**MercurySilver** · 13-01-2013, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duaned

Sorry to go a little off topic, but does anyone find that their factory locknut key does not fit the spanner that comes as part of the scissor jack? Mine sure as hell doesn't!

all good here

svo supporter · 13-01-2013, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

There is no laws that dictate what wheel nuts a car has to have, thus it cant be 'illegal' if the wrong ones are used.

.

There is a law governing wheel nuts.....The wheel nuts must have the correct taper of the wheel to enable them to hold the wheel in situ, without them coming undone due to driving.

In the case of an accident and subsequent insurance claim.....The problem then arises trying to prove that the owner knew the wheel nuts were the wrong ones....So this then makes it a very grey area for the insurance company to reject the claim based on the wrong wheel nuts being used.

In the case of the OP's....The number of cars I see with the wrong wheel nut fitted adds upto plenty....Why the dealership didn't say anything is maybe due to the mechanics not having direct contact with you, therefore making it difficult to mention you have the wrong locknut.

Of course there is the flip side, where they failed to write it on the report for it to be mentioned.....

My suggestion for this whole scenario is, replace the locknuts with the correct tapered ones...It'll save the problem of them working loose and having to replace them due to them falling off and you loosing them.

csv8 · 13-01-2013, 12:33 PM

svo supporter..correct wheel nuts are on the car, now,,,,I know 1 out of 5 being wrong wouldn't affect the cars handling etc but insurance companies can be so pedantic. Just look at the Queensland flood claims..I posted out of interest....

xisled · 13-01-2013, 08:18 PM

So many insurance experts on this forum love it.

A few years of working in insurance claims. Got to laugh.

GTP534 · 14-01-2013, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duaned

Sorry to go a little off topic, but does anyone find that their factory locknut key does not fit the spanner that comes as part of the scissor jack? Mine sure as hell doesn't!

I had to take a front wheel off the GTP earlier this year; the spanner fitted the lock nut but did not fit the other 4 nuts. Ended up using the spanner from the Territory, it fitted the other 4 nuts but not the lock nut. When I sold her (after 9 years of ownership) I did let the new owner know.

LTDHO · 14-01-2013, 07:51 AM

Lock nuts are a waste of time/money anyway.

superfly · 14-01-2013, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Lock nuts are a waste of time/money anyway.

I ended up taking mine off as it also looked stupid having one longer wheel nut than the other 4.

jamesson1980 · 17-03-2013, 07:32 PM

Sorry to dig up a 3 month old thread, but I aint gonna start something new just for what is hopefully a simple question.

The lock nuts that come on the car from factory (in my case, 2009 FG XR6), are these all the same from one car to the next? Is there just 5 or 10 different ones? Or are they mostly all different from each other?

I never thought of it whilst I had the 17's on but I recently upgraded to some 19" Dark Agents (which look outstanding) and it made me wonder if any scumbag with access to a few spare FG lock nut keys could get them off.. It especially occurred to me as I pulled into home tonight to see a pair of really seedy looking characters lurking on my street.. they glared at me as I pulled in and then as the roller door came down, I looked back out to the street to see one of them at my letterbox craning his neck around to see the situation inside my garage.. I've never seen anyone admire a car that fiercely so I'm thinking they might be visualising the next weeks drugs being paid for by my wheels

Thanks in advance to anyone who knows

pottery beige · 17-03-2013, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duaned

Sorry to go a little off topic, but does anyone find that their factory locknut key does not fit the spanner that comes as part of the scissor jack? Mine sure as hell doesn't!

factory tube spanner is a chrome nut chewing load of crap..

13/16 socket and breaker bar ftw

Ibanezteve · 17-03-2013, 08:38 PM

Spark plug socket and ratchet for sure, heaps quicker and easier on the arms

Mr G8 · 17-03-2013, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ibanezteve

Spark plug socket and ratchet for sure, heaps quicker and easier on the arms

That's what I used!

my_gxl · 17-03-2013, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesson1980

Sorry to dig up a 3 month old thread, but I aint gonna start something new just for what is hopefully a simple question.

The lock nuts that come on the car from factory (in my case, 2009 FG XR6), are these all the same from one car to the next? Is there just 5 or 10 different ones? Or are they mostly all different from each other?

I never thought of it whilst I had the 17's on but I recently upgraded to some 19" Dark Agents (which look outstanding) and it made me wonder if any scumbag with access to a few spare FG lock nut keys could get them off.. It especially occurred to me as I pulled into home tonight to see a pair of really seedy looking characters lurking on my street.. they glared at me as I pulled in and then as the roller door came down, I looked back out to the street to see one of them at my letterbox craning his neck around to see the situation inside my garage.. I've never seen anyone admire a car that fiercely so I'm thinking they might be visualising the next weeks drugs being paid for by my wheels

Thanks in advance to anyone who knows

My car was stolen last year, and the buggers stole my breaker bar, socket, and lock nut tool.

I have purchased the car back, then had to come up with a way to get my wheel off (which strangely weren't stolen).

I have an old lock nut tool that doesn't fit anything else i have, but the beauty of it is that its hardened steel. A nice lump hammer and portable 18V rattle gun made short work of them.

If they want your wheels they will get them. Lock nuts only deter some theives.

svo supporter · 17-03-2013, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesson1980

Sorry to dig up a 3 month old thread, but I aint gonna start something new just for what is hopefully a simple question.

The lock nuts that come on the car from factory (in my case, 2009 FG XR6), are these all the same from one car to the next? Is there just 5 or 10 different ones? Or are they mostly all different from each other?

I never thought of it whilst I had the 17's on but I recently upgraded to some 19" Dark Agents (which look outstanding) and it made me wonder if any scumbag with access to a few spare FG lock nut keys could get them off.. It especially occurred to me as I pulled into home tonight to see a pair of really seedy looking characters lurking on my street.. they glared at me as I pulled in and then as the roller door came down, I looked back out to the street to see one of them at my letterbox craning his neck around to see the situation inside my garage.. I've never seen anyone admire a car that fiercely so I'm thinking they might be visualising the next weeks drugs being paid for by my wheels

Thanks in advance to anyone who knows

Every locknut maker only has a few variations on how many locknut keys are available.....

Locknuts are only deterants