Bet you've never used your felling wedge for this...

[stee6043]

I was washing my truck today and happened to lock the keys in the car while I was drying it. No spare...of course. I've owned the car for 1.5 years and keep saying I need to get one. I'll be getting one made on Monday.

So what to do? Truck locked, in the middle of the garage, and the oldest kids car seat is in the back seat. I google some locksmiths and see that unlocking will cost $50 +/-. No thanks.

After a beer and some deep thinking I grab my felling wedge, pry the far corner of the door away from the weather stripping and go to work. I taped a golf towel hook to the end of a piece of bamboo and managed to fish the keys out of the ingition. I tried unlocking the car with the button first but apparently the unlock switch becomes disabled (I think) after a certain amount of time being locked with nobody in it.

Moral of the story - my Stihl felling wedge saved me at least $50 today! ha. I'll have a beer now...

 

[Swedishchef]

LOL
No pics?!
Nice story!

Andrew

 

[Cazimere]

First thing i do when i get a new vehicle is install a spare key underneath the vehicle somewhere.

 

[stee6043]

I was too caught up in the moment to take a photo. I wasn't 100% sure it was going to work right up until the end! ha. Another beer worthy experience I must say...

 

[bsa0021]

I was too caught up in the moment to take a photo. I wasn't 100% sure it was going to work right up until the end! ha. Another beer worthy experience I must say...

If there is too much pressure on the door because of the wedge , the lock will not release when you hit the unlock button.

 

[jimbom]

My brother visiting from out of town locked his only keys in his car. My auto parts guy sold me a door opener thingy for $7.00 and told me exactly how to open a Camry right off the top of his head. I was amazed at his knowledge because there are few Camrys in our area. The guy is legit and has been in the parts store forever.

My brother lives in a big urban core. Carries a vicious knife and pistol. His wife and daughters carry Glocks. His yard is fenced right down to the sidewalk and he has a big dog. His AC unit is in a cage. Even so, his cars get screwed with all the time.

I slipped that opener down into the door where the parts guy said and opened it on the first try. Then my brother was looking at me funny, "How did you know how to do that?" I told him it comes from living on the mean gravel roads in the Ozarks.

 

[WES999]

I always carry a spare key in my wallet, just a regular key without the chip, it will open the door only. Inside the truck I have PATS key hidden the that will start the truck.

Years ago the spare key in the walled saved my but big time. I had a Dodge van that would lock the door all by itself. :ahhh: This happened one day during a snowstorm when I got out to clear snow off the windshield, with the engine running while stopped on the highway(traffic had come to a stop).

Another thing if you have 2 PATS keys you can program a spare. You can purchase them for about $15.00 If you lose one key and have to go to the stealership go get one programed it will cost a lot more. So make extra keys before you lose one.