Lost Lug Nut Key

Thanks everybody for all of your suggestions and helpful advice.

After none of the local shops being of any help, especially my ford dealership, and all of my attempts at hammering sockets onto the locks ending in failure, I almost gave in to despair.

Luckily, a friend of my father's friend heard of my plight and lent me his lock nut removal kit. I did not know such things existed but it sure worked great! The kit was made up of different oversized sockets without edges in them, just smooth cylinders. The inside had some super friction lining. It had a little hammering extension that fit inside the opposite side of the socket so that it would never warp. I hammered the sockets on, and they twisted right off without ever coming loose. Once you get a lock off it's stuck in the socket pretty good, so the kit even comes with a small diameter cylindrical shaft to hammer the lock out.

Using this kit worked in just a few minutes where I had spent hours trying different things with plain sockets, like trying to line the inside of the socket with pieces of rubber and mechanics wire in order to create friction.

This kit reinforces that any impossible task is easy with right tools. This kit also taught me that wheel locks do jack crap to protect you wheels from being stolen. A thief armed with a kit similar to this one would have no trouble taking any kind of lock nuts off. I recommend to anyone that has lock nuts to save themselves the trouble and go ahead and pitch them because they are not offering any protection at all, only annoyance to you.

I got them off last night, and I was so excited that I stayed up until 1am in my garage installing my new Tokico Springs Shocks and Struts that had just been sitting against the wall for almost 2 weeks. For those who wanted to know how I liked them once I got them on: I can't say enough about these parts. The ride quality has not diminished yet I feel like my car is glued to the road. I never have to worry about losing my rear wheel traction anymore, even when making a fast left turn out onto a busy street. They're worth every penny.

Thanks again, everybody