OT Help To Change Olds 98 Tire-Stranded

[Bingster]

Hi. This is off topic but the tire came off the rim on my daughter's boyfriend's Olds 98 Regency and he just called (11:00 at night) telling me that the car is stranded and he apparently needs some special wrench to remove a nut on the wheel?? He said there is some cap over it.

I have no idea right now what he's referring to but will look at the car Sunday morning. Anybody have any ideas about this? Of course he doesn't have the special tool in his trunk. What could I use?

Thanks.

[BobT-47P15]

Could be that dome thing to which a wire wheel cover is attached.

I think they do take some sort of special wrench, but don't know

what kind.

What year model is the car?

Look in the glove box.....sometimes those wheel cover wrenches were kept there.

1985 to 1992 wheel cover wrench looks like this........

(sorry bout the big pictures)

Edited December 5, 2010 by BobT-47P15

[PatS....]

Those old GM's that had wire type hubcaps needed a special wrench to get the hubcap off, not the wheel.

Gotta check the trunk and the glove box and under the seat.

Good luck

[Bingster]

That's great info, guys. Thanks. He says it's somewhere between 89-92. Typical, egh? Ah, he's a nice kid. Rather frustrated at the moment. Gee, we've all been there done that. I'll look in the glove box. Who would have that wrench on a Sunday?

[Young Ed]

Could be a special wrench for the fake wires but I'd say its more likely that its got a locking lug nut on each wheel. 89-92 is more likely to have aluminum rims and people were afraid of them getting thefted. Once again the car should have came with the matching adaptor to remove them.

[WatchingWolf]

Here's the issue....You can't just buy one of those wrenches usually. Many were "keyed" in one of 20 or more patterns to discourage theft of hubcaps. Look on top of the spare tire in the tire well. There was a holder that slid over the hold down stud for the spare in these cars. Spare should be under the trunk floor. If it has the optional tire tool box, the wrench will be in a holder in the box lid on the inside of the left rear fender. Take the biggest wrecking bar you have along as well. You will wreck the cap, but it will pry off with a bit of force. Old Olds wire caps are easy to find and replace now days because due to the locks, they never fell off.

[Bingster]

Thanks again. I'll let you know what happened.

[Dodgeb4ya]

When the special key is lost-very common I always just used a thin screw driver jammed in one part of the triangle and un screw it-gotta use some muscle too. Done it many times.

Bob

[Plymouthy Adams]

surprised the flat tire trick still works....lol

[Big_John]

I'd check that boy's Man Card. First, he couldn't change the tire. Second, he don't know what year car he's got.

[greg g]

Uh!!! Fix a Flat is usually sold in C stores, and other fine auto supply houses. Just the thing for getting off the sie of the road and to somehere where the problem can be dealt with without folks blowing by at 70 or so.

[JerseyHarold]

The hubcap key sometimes cam tied onto the lug wrench. There was a master kit that GM dealers had so they could get the wheelcover off if the car didn't have the key. Once you find a match, the key can be ordered by number.

[oldodge41]

Everyone should make sure their kids have fix-a-flat (although with the tire off the rim it won't work this time), tire tools, a spare and the knowledge to use them. My daughters ex-boyfriend hit a curb and cut a tire, she had to change it for him. They came here, I went and got him a tire but made him change it. His Dad is a mechanic, gotta drive him crazy that his kid has no mechanical aptitude.

[Bingster]

Actually he does have Fix-A-Flat but being off the rim it doesn't apply here.

Tried to get the special lug nut off and could not do it. Froze my feet trying. Tomorrow we're going to the Firestone dealer two blocks down and let them deal with it.

Thanks for all your input. I appreciate it very much. Take care.

David

[greg g]

yup guess I mis remembered that part of the description.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I have always had success driving a socket over the round tapered crown of the special lugnut and twirl them right off without problem..

[Rodney Bullock]

Ah, the old flat tire in the wilderness trick:cool: I tried it once. She got out and FIXED THE TIRE. So I married her.

[Captain Neon]

This sounds like a young man that needs to be mentored on basic maintenance and mechanics. If he is unwilling to learn, you may want to introduce your daughter to better suited young men. Other wise, you will end up with grand children with a "double dose of Fokker." Were it not for my '46 more door, my father-in-law would have never allowed me to marry his daughter.

[Bingster]

Got a car repair guy to remove the wheel and bought a new tire at Wal-Mart. The repair guy had a socket that did fit over the stuck socket and he got it off. So all ended okay.

I can't blame the kid for not getting the tire fixed. I couldn't get it off with the tools I had and didn't want to screw up any good tools or buy new ones. Hence, let the repair guy do it and the kid's mother paid for it.

To his credit, he tried at ten o'clock at night on zero degree weather to get that rim off. There was no way he could have done it. So he tried the conventional methods and if that special wrench had of been there he'd have been on his way.

That's another story. His parents bought him the car and it apparently didn't come with the wrench intact where it should have been. This was his first flat and so he found out the hard way about locking lug nuts.

Also, there is a huge behind the scenes thing going on with him and his folks. It's been very stressful for all of us. Yeah, some thing has to be done about the mom. This kid's got to make some choices. My daughter does not like his family and who wants to be stuck with them for life? So something has to be done.

Thanks again for the input.