Thanksgiving Day Road trip
 

Ahhh, managed to get away from work a day early for the family Thanksgiving feast in the mountains of Murphy NC.
I was leaving from St Pete Fl and looking forward to the drive, esp the mountain roads!

Made it as far as Lake City Fl and had a blowout on I-75.
Rolled off the exit into a Shell station and discovered the tread had seperated from the sidewall.
Spent the next couple of hours calling and recalling every tire dealer in the area.

Finally found someone that was willing to drive to Jacksonville to pick up a tire for me.
Yea!!! Called a tow company and headed for the tire store, Wasden's.

Trip salvaged. [tire was $270 plus $100 for them to pick it up in Jax].

2 hours later the tire arrived and the boys removed the coverplate.
And asked where the wheel lock key was...

Ripped the car apart and found...no key.

Now its getting late so I checked into a local hotel. Nothing like Thanksgiving in a motel room. Hey, I'm not complaining! I had good company and the honey baked ham I was taking to Murphy!

Day after Thanksgiving, I tried to track down a wheel lock removal tool through all the other tire shops in town. Nothing.

Ended up calling UHaul to rent a truck and dolly to tow the car back to St Pete.

Well...
The guys at Murphy's Tire in Lake City said they could change the tire on the car.
So we drove back to the tire store that had the tire.

And they did change it. Or I should say, three of us wrestled wih it.

An hour later, and I was back on the road.

Motel room... $130
Tire... $370
A different tire company to mount the tire on the car... $100

But the lesson? Find your wheel lock key. Or order one. I searched the forum for the wheel lock issue and it appears there are others of us that have had a lock issue. Or rather, lack of a key issue. I'm following the info on the wheel locks and contacting McGuard Monday.

Peace to All.

Re: Thanksgiving Day Road trip
 

I take it that YOU put those locks on YOUR car, right? There are no locks from the factory on Crossfires, or are there, because I haven't found a key in my car yet.

Re: Thanksgiving Day Road trip
 

?? My '05 Ltd came with locks, keep the key in the glove box. I'm surprised the tire guys didn't get your lock off, even without a key there's a way to do it. You end up ruining a socket but it can be done.

Pat

Re: Thanksgiving Day Road trip
 

Wow. That is some Thanksgiving. Glad you are OK.
As far as I know, wheel locks are a 'dealer installed option.'

Re: Thanksgiving Day Road trip
 

my car came with the locks. of course, i didn't know the locks were installed.

Re: Thanksgiving Day Road trip
 

Mine did not come with wheel locks I purchased them when I bought the car in 2004.

Re: Thanksgiving Day Road trip
 

perhaps. the tire place only had thicker, impact wrench sockets.
i tried today to use the thin wall socket trick. no luck. just wasn't enough clearance between the lock and the wheel to make it work.
i suppose i could try more sockets until i find some 'thinner' thin wall.
but my conclusion at this point is to find the key or buy one of the several removal kits until i find one that works.
if i go that route, i'll put the info up so everyone can benefit.

Re: Thanksgiving Day Road trip
 

look under the cardboard floor panel in the 'luggage' area. its where the spare would be if we had a spare. there is a compressor, jack and tire sealant kit. IF you have a key, its supposed to be there.