Once I drove my newly purchased F-Type R home all the way from LA (7 hours drive) I realized that the car did not have the key to remove the wheel locking-lugs. A 2 hours round-trip drive to my local dealer was also unsuccessful; the serviceman tried probably 60 different lock keys and none of them fit. Alarmingly, he stated that this happened before in his experiences. I suggested that I was not sure but, likely they were Jaguar installed locking lugs, since the window sticker listed those under the options. Still, I was stuck with wheel locks without the means to remove the wheels.

Once home, I decided to try the removal method that requires a specific size, 12 point socket to be hammered over the smooth, cylindrical lug tightly enough to break that lug loose. I do have extensive sets of tools and the only one socket that was close enough to be hammered over the locking-lug was my Metric, 21mm size. The equivalent closest Standard size would be 13/16 but that fit proved to be too small to go over the locking cylinder.

I tried to hammer the socket only partly over the locking-lug cylinder. No luck, the socket simply spun and came off without breaking the lug loose. I used a 4 lbs hammer to pound it fully over the locking-nut at which point all 4 locking-lugs came loose.

But, that was the easy part! Removing the locking lugs from the socket proved a lot harder. Due to the unusual shape of the Jaguar locking lug, the only way I could try to remove them from the 21mm socket was to place them in the vise super tightly and use a bolt through the socket to beat out the locking lug. This was very difficult, as the locking lugs were now seated very tightly in the socket. The most difficult one took a good 30 minutes of beating with the 4lbs hammer to finally come out.

As the pictures show the Jaguar lugnuts are unique in their mounting. While most other lugnuts use a cone shape surface that mates-up with a similar cone-shape wheel seat, the Jaguar lugnuts use a smaller cone at the end of the lugnut to center the wheel but, the actual mounting surfaces are flat both on the wheels and on the lugnuts. So, no doubt that I had a Jaguar locking nut installed and not sure why the dealer did not have the correct key.

The attached pictures show the locking lug-nut from different angles to show the mounting surfaces, as well as the one picture shows the removed socket/locking nut assembly in my vise with the bolt inserted. On that picture the socket is only part-way inserted, just to show the method of hammering it out with the help of the bolt.

I always worried about losing the key on my cars with locking lug nuts. As it seems, not without a reason. I don't think that I would use them from here on. Also of interest that when I showed up at the dealer I asked him to remove the locking lugs and replace them with regular lug-nuts. He said that the whole dealership DID NOT have any lug-nuts! Yes, no surprise, dealers do not seem to keep any parts in stock anymore. Of course, I was prepared and had with me a set of Jaguar specific lug-nuts, the only ones that would work with the flat wheel mounting surfaces. I purchased them online.

 

Wow, that was some ordeal alright. Too bad that you didn't get the key. Those locking lug nuts look like the type made by McGard and are different than the ones shown on the Jaguar website as a $135 option which is kind of ridiculous as the McGards are usually around half of that price. Here are photos of both. McGard supplies a postcard with a serial or lot number with each set of locks and if you lose the key, you can order a replacement by providing that number.

 

These are the ones I have.

 

Interesting! However, as I look at these they would not fit the Gyrodyne wheels on my car as they have the flat lugnut mounting surfaces, instead of the cone shaped ones, like shown in your picture. All my previous 6 Jaguars used the cone shaped surfaces on both the wheels and the lugnuts. Could they only be using these unique lugnuts on the Gyrodyne wheels? It is hard to see but, those mounting surfaces on the Gyrodyne wheels are flat, instead of cone shaped. My particular wheels are black with machined spoke surfaces. It was a 1K option on the car.

https://www.autorimshop.com/wheel/ja...yne-59914.html

 

My F-Type came with the Jaguar/McGard locking wheelnuts installed on all 4 wheels. The possibility of losing the key was resl enough to make me uninstall those nuts immediately. The spectre of being at the side of the road with a flat tire 100kms from home, and without the key, made the decision easy.

 

As far as I know all Jags since at least 2008 have the "flat washer" (aka mag seat) lug nuts, and that includes all F-Types regardless of wheel design or name.

 

One of our members tried welding a regular lug nut onto the locking one (no key.) Don’t remember if that
ultimately worked or not.

 

Axr6,
Next time you need to remove a nut or bolt from a socket, just heat the circumference of the socket with a propane torch while holding the socket with some pliers. If the stuck part doesn’t fall out, just poking it with a screwdriver will do the trick.

 

Thanks, that is a good advice. I actually considered it and forgot to try it. Probably there will not be a next time since I will not put a locking lug on any of my cars. They all are safely parked in my garage and I hardly ever leave them alone on public places.

 

Likely would damage the wheels as the locking nuts are sunk deep under the outer surface of my particular wheel (Gyrodyne). I could see it working with lugnuts that stick out a fair distance to allow for some spark protection to be applied.

 

Likely true because when I searched online for F-type lugnuts these with the flat washer mounting came up. I am pretty sure that they will not properly work with the conventional cone shaped wheel seats. Actually, given the fact that they have a partial cone shaped end (see my pictures), they might "appear" to tighten the wheel but, the flat washer part that is designed to be the primary mounting-contact surface would never engage with anything. So, got to be careful in selecting the proper lugnut design for the particular wheels.

 

Glad to see the socket actually worked on all 4. I can't believe the socket didn't crack at some point.

 

Thanks for the professional quality sockets!

 

Regarding the possibility of losing the lug nut key, I have just taken a utility knife and cut a space for it in the styrofoam that is common in many cars in the trunk area where the jack and other tools are. I don't like the idea of storing it in the glovebox or console.

My cars have always been garaged at night and I seldom go to any sketchy areas where theft is a high probability. But I will never forget one night coming out of a concert in San Diego near the bay and seeing a newer Porsche 911 in the parking lot across the street sitting up on cinder blocks with all 4 wheels missing.

 

There is already a dedicated space for the key in the trunk of my F-type. Molded into the foam, right in front of the large battery. It was just EMPTY when I got the car. Same here, my car is garaged and I live in a very rural area with very little crime rate. Car is not seen to be left alone in populated areas for any lengths of time.

 

The F-Type is the first Jag I've kept the locking nuts on because it was so new that the nuts actually work. On my previous Jags the nuts were getting a bit manky so I replaced them with standard nuts (especially after the hassle my mechanic had getting them off an XK8 I had, even with the key!). Does anyone steal alloy wheels these days?

 

These are also the ones that I have on my 2014 with the blade wheel. Only one actually locks.

Funny story to tell. First I bought my car used. It came with the tow hook and wheel lock key in the compartment in the boot/trunk.

A little over a month ago I had my car in to the dealer for the diff and brake fluid change. This of course requires the wheels to be removed.
A week after I noticed that the wheel key was missing form the compartment. I called the dealer, had to leave a message. After a day of no call back
I drove down and talked to the service rep who, tried to tell me that they have a m"master set" and would not have used mine. I politely insisted that
the key was there when I dropped the car off for service, As I check everything before leaving my car. They said they would see what they could do.
They came out to my car at least 6 different times to try wheel keys. They finally came out and apologized and said the tech did have the key in his tool chest.
I was on my way. I went straight home and painted the key orange and printed a label that said return to customer.
In the future I would recommend that anyone take a picture of the contents of your car before leaving at any location for service. if something goes missing you have proof
it was there.

I feel lucky as these wheel keys seem hard to find.
Anyone know where to buy spares?

 

Yes, if you have the correct code recorded, you can order keys (and replacement locks if needed) directly from McGard who manufactures the sets for Jag.

 

I don't think mine is the Mcgard type with the scroll work on top. It is the odd ball socket style.