In short. Search the car before anything else: the key is usually with the spare wheel or the tools under the boot floor, or in the glovebox with the handbook, and if the car has just been serviced, ask the garage. Each lock has an individual code, and a key with another code will not turn it. With that code, a replacement key comes from the lock maker or, for a lock supplied with the car by its maker, from the car maker's dealer. Without the code, one lock maker accepts a photo of the pattern on the lock. If you need the wheel off now, a tyre specialist can remove the lock with a tool hammered onto its head and fit a standard nut or a new locking set; the removal destroys the lock, and done badly it marks an alloy wheel. Do not drill or chisel a lock, and do not put a power tool on the key. The replacement nut has to match the wheel's seat, thread and length: in Great Britain, the MOT fails a missing nut or fixings that do not match the wheel.
First, is the key really lost?
Most cars with locking nuts have one per wheel, and one key. Carbuyer lists where it usually lives: in a small compartment next to the spare wheel under the boot floor; where there is no spare, sometimes in a compartment in the boot side panels above the rear wheel arches; in the glovebox with the handbook; under or in the front seats or the rear seat pockets; and, on a car that has changed hands a few times, in a door pocket or the centre console (Carbuyer).
If the wheels came off recently, think about who had them off. Nissan's handbook tells owners to leave the key with the car when it goes for service, because otherwise the wheels cannot be removed (Nissan Juke owner's manual). So a key that has gone missing since the last service or tyre change may simply still be at the workshop: ring the garage or the tyre fitter that last had the wheels off before ordering anything. In the US the same part is usually called a wheel lock or lug nut lock, and the key a wheel lock key; everything below applies.
Why another key will not do
A locking nut, or locking bolt, replaces one ordinary nut or bolt on each wheel. Its head carries a pattern that only its own key fits. Nissan's handbook puts it plainly: the wheel lock bolt has an individual code, and a key with any other code cannot remove it. That is the point of the lock, and it is why a "universal" key sold online is not a key: it cannot be cut to a pattern it does not know.
The code is what lets the maker make your key again. Where it is printed depends on who made the lock:
| Who supplied the lock | Where the code is | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| A lock maker, sold as an accessory (example: McGard, Germany) | The installation instructions and the code card in the pack | A number of 8 or 9, or 17 or 18 digits |
| A lock maker (example: McGard, USA) | An I.D. registration card or sticker in the pack | It identifies the part number, the style and the pattern code of the set |
| Supplied with the car by its maker (example: Nissan) | A key code card; the handbook has a "Security information" page to write the key number in | An individual code per set |
Sources: McGard Germany, McGard USA, Nissan.
McGard says the glove compartment is the most common place for the card or sticker to end up. Look in the handbook wallet, the service book and the paperwork that came with the car before deciding the code is gone.
How to get a replacement key
With the code. Order from whoever made the lock. McGard's German shop lets you order with the code number; McGard in the USA says replacement parts can only be bought direct from McGard, and asks for the I.D. number; its page for Land Rover and Jaguar locks asks for the same I.D. number (McGard Land Rover and Jaguar). For a lock supplied with the car, Nissan's handbook says to contact a dealer for a duplicate with the original key code. The car's handbook is where your maker says which route applies.
Without the code. The answer depends on the lock maker. Carbuyer writes that if the container with the code is lost too, ordering a key by code is not possible. McGard's German shop, though, has a route for a lost code card: email customer service a digital photo of the lock, taken from the front so it shows the coding groove, with the vehicle model, your name and address. If you do not know who made the lock, start with the dealer for your car, since a lock supplied with the car is the car maker's part; a lock fitted later as an accessory belongs to its own maker.
How many. McGard's German shop allows at most two replacement keys, and suggests keeping one in the car and the other at home. McGard also offers to register the code, so that the code is on file if the card is lost.
Order only from the lock maker or the car maker's dealer. A key that fits more than one pattern would defeat the lock, and McGard's US page says replacement parts are sold only by McGard direct.
When the wheel has to come off today
A flat tyre does not wait for a key. The choices, in the order we would take them:
| Route | What happens to the lock | Risk to the wheel | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find the key (car, garage, last fitter) | Kept | None | Carbuyer; Nissan |
| Spare key or code at home: order a key | Kept | None | McGard; Nissan |
| Tyre specialist removes the locks, fits standard nuts or a new locking set | Destroyed | Carbuyer: a specialist's equipment avoids damaging the wheel | Carbuyer |
| Removal kit used yourself | Destroyed | Carbuyer advises a specialist instead, because a specialist has equipment that avoids damaging the wheel | Carbuyer |
| Drilling, chiselling, spiral sockets | Destroyed | A trade magazine for mechanics says these do not solve it and that removal without the right key can damage the alloy | Professional Motor Mechanic, 2016 |
If the tyre is flat and the lock is on that wheel, the car cannot use its spare or its space saver. A tyre repair kit, where the car has one, does not need the wheel off: see spare wheel, space saver or repair kit for its limits, and slow puncture for what a fitter can then repair. Otherwise a breakdown service or a mobile tyre fitter is the call to make; ask, when you ring, whether they can remove a locking nut without the key.
After a specialist has removed a lock, Carbuyer notes the cheaper repair is a universal locking set; the nuts are then no longer unique to your car. A new set from the lock maker, with its own code, keeps that.
Removal tools: how they work and why they cost a lock
There are two families of tool, and both work by forcing a hard part onto the lock's head until it grips, then turning lock and tool off together.
| Tool | How it is used, from its maker's instructions | What is left |
|---|---|---|
| Tapered sockets (one maker's kit covers locks of 17 to 24 mm across) | Pick the socket that fits tightly over the lock, hammer it on with a fitting tool and a copper mallet (or an air hammer) until it grips, then turn socket and lock off with a breaker bar or an impact gun | The lock is punched out of the socket in a vice; the kit's maker lists the sockets as consumable parts |
| A blade inside a sliding shroud | Pick the blade for the lock's type from a chart, fit it in the tool, press the tool against the lock, strike it until the blade is embedded, then turn it off with an impact driver, air wrench or breaker bar | The lock comes off with the blade bitten into it and is not reused |
Sources: Laser Tools, kit 6972 instructions; Professional Motor Mechanic (5 January 2016), on a shrouded tool. The first maker says its instructions are for guidance only, to refer to the car maker's data, and that it cannot be held responsible for damage.
The risk is to the wheel, not the car. The lock sits in the wheel's fixing hole, often a close recess on an alloy, and the socket or the tool has to go in and be struck without hitting the face or the seat of the wheel. That is the reason Carbuyer, after describing kits sold online, advises a tyre specialist, and the reason the trade article presents its shrouded tool as removing a lock with no damage to the alloy. The tool makers' instructions use an impact gun on the removal socket once it has bitten, because the lock is being scrapped; that is not the same as using one on a key, as below.
What not to do:
- Drill, chisel or use a spiral extractor on the lock: the trade article says these do not solve the problem, and that removal without the right key can damage the alloy.
- Hammer on a socket that is not made for it. The kit sockets are tapered, in chrome molybdenum steel, and sized to grip; an ordinary socket is not made to be driven onto a lock.
- Buy a "master" or universal key. Each lock has an individual code (Nissan), so a key that is not cut to it cannot turn it, and McGard warns that uneven pressure on a key can damage the lock.
- Put a power tool on the key without reading the handbook. Nissan says not to use a power tool to remove its wheel lock bolts. McGard says impact guns cannot usually be set to give the right fitting torque and should not be used to fit a lock; for removal it does not normally recommend one, although its instructions for an over-tightened lock say an impact gun works best when the key is not attached to a cable, and warn that using one on a key with a cable can cause serious injury. Our reading: the car's handbook decides, and where it says no power tool, use none.
- Drive with a nut missing while you wait for a key: see the MOT below.
A wheel marked during removal goes to the guide on alloy wheel repair for what can be done.
A damaged locking nut or key
A lock that will not turn with its own key has usually been over-tightened; McGard notes that impact guns cannot usually be set to the right torque. Its instructions for freeing one (McGard):
- Tighten all the other nuts on that wheel further, to take the load off the lock, without going as far as damaging the studs or threads.
- Turn the lock with the key, keeping a direct inward pressure on it; if it is not free after a few minutes, use a ratchet or a breaker bar, still pressing inward.
- If it still will not move, loosen one nut opposite the lock on a four-stud wheel, or two on a five-stud wheel, and repeat step 2.
- If it still will not come off, call the lock maker's customer service.
McGard asks for eye protection when removing an over-tightened lock. Do this with the wheel on the ground, so it cannot turn; lift the car only to take the wheel off, and never put any part of yourself under a car held by the jack alone: it must be lifted and resting on axle stands.
McGard says to keep the key's pattern firmly and squarely engaged, because uneven pressure can damage the lock or the key; its German shop asks for pressure along the axis of the wrench, so the key does not slip or tilt. The same pressure matters when you loosen.
If the key has already slipped and the pattern on it or on the lock is worn or chewed, stop forcing it: every slip rounds it further. A worn key is a new key to order with the code; a chewed lock is a lock for a specialist to remove, with the tools above, which one maker describes as made to be hammered onto damaged locking wheel nuts.
What to have ready when you ring a lock maker, a dealer or a fitter:
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| The code card, I.D. sticker or handbook page, or a photo of it | The code is what makes the key |
| A sharp photo of one lock, taken square to its face | McGard's German shop accepts a front view of the coding groove when the card is lost |
| The car's model | Asked by McGard's German shop with the photo; a dealer works from the car |
| Your name and address | Asked by the same shop, to send the key |
| Alloy or steel wheel, and whether the lock sits in a deep recess | Helps a fitter choose a removal tool that reaches it |
After the locks come off
The nut or bolt that replaces a lock is a wheel fixing like any other, and it has to match the wheel. EUWA, the wheel makers' association, says any wrong combination of type, shape of seat or length may cause the fixing to loosen or the wheel to fail (EUWA ES 1.07, 3.3). Cone, ball and flat seats, threads and thread length are covered in wheel nut torque: how tight, which nuts, locking nuts; the pattern and the bore are in the PCD and centre bore guide.
Tighten the new nuts to the car maker's figure, with a torque wrench; Nissan's handbook says its locks take the same torque as the normal wheel bolts. McGard asks for a check after 25 miles.
In Great Britain, the MOT inspection manual records a wheel with a missing nut, bolt or stud as a major defect, more than one missing as dangerous, and a wheel and fixings that are not compatible as major (MOT inspection manual, 5.2.1 and 5.2.2). The manual has no separate item for locking wheel nuts; our reading is that a missing lock counts as a missing nut. Driving with a nut missing until a key arrives is therefore not a stopgap. The rest of the wheel MOT items are in new wheels and the MOT.
So it does not happen again
- The key in the car, the code out of it. Nissan asks owners to write the key number in the handbook and keep it "in a safe place, not in the vehicle"; McGard suggests one key in the car and the other at home. Photograph the code card and the head of one lock.
- Register the code with the lock maker where it offers this.
- Leave the key with the car at every service and tyre change, and check it is back in its place when you collect the car.
- Buying a used car: ask for the key and the code card at the handover, and look at the head of one lock to check the key fits.
Wheels from Onyx Forged
Locks are a fixing like the others: they must suit the seat, the thread and the length the wheel was designed for. If you fit locks to a made-to-order wheel, ask customer service which fixings it takes before fitting, not after. The Onyx Forged design office does not give a torque or a fixing for your car: those are the car maker's and the wheel's fitting sheet. Onyx Forged does not recommend a size or an offset either: it compares, and refers you to the car maker's documents.
Frequently asked questions
Can a garage remove locking wheel nuts without the key?
Yes. A tyre specialist hammers a tapered socket or a shrouded blade onto each lock until it grips, turns it off, and fits standard nuts or a new locking set. The locks are destroyed in the process. Carbuyer advises a specialist over a home removal kit because a specialist has equipment that avoids damaging the wheel.
Where is the locking wheel nut code?
On the code card or the installation instructions that came with the set, or on an I.D. card or sticker, depending on the maker; for a lock supplied with the car, on the key code card, and some handbooks have a page to write it in. The glove compartment and the handbook wallet are the usual places.
Can a dealer supply a locking wheel nut key?
For a lock supplied with the car by its maker, yes: Nissan's handbook, for example, says to contact a dealer for a duplicate with the original key code. For an accessory lock, order from the lock maker.
What if I have lost the key and the code?
Ask the lock maker. McGard's German shop takes a photo of the lock's coding groove with the vehicle model in place of a lost code card. Some sources say no key can be supplied without the code; if no route works, a specialist removes the locks.
Is a universal locking wheel nut key a good idea?
No. Each lock has an individual code, and a key with another code cannot remove it. Buy only from the lock maker or the dealer.
Can I use a power tool or an impact gun on a locking wheel nut?
Not to fit one, and not to remove one where the handbook forbids it. Nissan says not to use a power tool to remove its locks; McGard says impact guns cannot usually be set to the right fitting torque and does not normally recommend them for removal, except on an over-tightened lock with a key that has no cable. Removal tools, which destroy the lock, are turned off with a breaker bar or an impact gun by their makers' instructions.
Can I drive with a locking nut missing?
Not as a plan. The MOT fails a wheel with one missing nut, bolt or stud as major and more than one as dangerous. Fit a matching nut, tightened to the car maker's figure.
How many replacement keys can I order?
McGard's German shop allows two at most. Keep one in the car and one at home, with the code.
Where to go next
For the roadside change itself, read how to change a wheel safely; for the torque and the right nuts, wheel nut torque. Onyx Forged is a French brand of made-to-order forged wheels, designed to JWL/VIA standards: see Onyx Forged and the catalogue.
Sources
- McGard (Germany), web shop FAQ; McGard (USA), customer service FAQs; McGard, Land Rover and Jaguar replacement wheel lock keys; McGard, installation and removal instructions.
- Nissan, Juke owner's manual (2024), wheel lock bolts.
- Laser Tools, kit 6972, instructions; Professional Motor Mechanic, how to remove locking wheel nuts (5 January 2016).
- Carbuyer, locking wheel nuts explained (17 May 2021).
- EUWA, ES 1.07, Safety and Service Instructions for the use of Wheels in Tyre Workshops (June 2020), section 3.3.
- GOV.UK, MOT inspection manual, sections 5.2.1 and 5.2.2.
All pages were read on 15 October 2026.
The Onyx Forged design office.