Spare keys...

Brettj3876 · Jan 27, 2023

D.Tibbitt said: ↑

I has a dedicated key for the ignition... That is to small to work for the doors... So it stays in the ignition on its own key ring... The original key goes with me at all times... I have a rule anytime i get out of the truck. i either have the window down or keys in my pocket .. Its a habit i picked up on the first car i drove that liked to lock the doors at random times. Always when u get out for some reason.. Learned the hard way many times... Evrr since i adopted that rule, never locked myself out but had to reach inside the open window many many times lol
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My 1st car a Hyundai sonata would lock itself randomly Lol. I was able to get a metal coat hanger and fish it in the window to hit the lock button. Took over a hour

abyliks · Jan 27, 2023

kylefitzy said: ↑

If I have to use the hidden key to unlock the door, it gets put back in its hiding spot before I get in the truck. You feel real silly when you lock your main key and your hidden key in the cab because you forgot to put it back.
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this, although I now have two hidden keys for this reason….

local lock shop cut 5 for me and I bought one blank for places that insist on “surrendering” keys

Lexuslane · Jan 27, 2023

I now drive a Chevy Silverado for the company I work for , and having a
a spare key is a lifesaver

I’ve had to crawl under and retrieve it several times

do NOT use the magnetic boxes
Use a bread twist tie
Or a zip tie or a miniature turnbuckle carabiner thing .

MacLean · Jan 27, 2023

I always keep one zip tied under the hood and another on the battery. Cheap insurance. And yes, you can open the hood from outside on even a Volvo, you’ll just have dirty forearms.

The Railsplitter · Jan 27, 2023

Brettj3876 said: ↑

Before replacing the door handles they would hang up and lock themselves sometimes. Mine has no lock button, you just push in on the handle instead. A stupid system. I would always keep the wing window unlocked so I could push it open and reach the door. One time I didn't and it locked on me. Took about 30 minutes fighting with pliers trying to twist the wing window lock open from the outside. I was just about ready to bust out the passenger side wing window
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I almost hate to say it in an open forum, but anybody with a pair of Vise-Grips can break in through the wing window in seconds flat... just tightly clamp the Vise-Grips on the circular outer part of the wing window lock and crank it forward. The lock will be broken, but nobody can tell by looking at it from the outside. Don't ask me how I know this...

MACK E-6 · Jan 27, 2023

The Railsplitter said: ↑

Crashed early last night, so now I'm up early... having a cuppa hot chocolate before going back to bed, lol. Truth be told, sometimes I drink a cold beer at zero-dark-thirty, then crawl back to bed, but today I opted for hot chocolate, and it's mighty tasty. Anyway, I noticed one site member goes by the handle 'LostMyKey' and that reminded me of my own "idiot-proof system" for preventing lockouts at the worst possible time. Of course, I had to learn this system the hard way, but with the help and advice of some older hands, I finally got it down to a science. Whenever I started driving for an outfit, I cut additional keys at the earliest opportunity... usually three of 'em, so I had four all total.

One key would remain in the ignition, particularly during winter & summer when I wanted to keep the heat or A/C going... this was back when APUs weren't quite so prevalent, you understand. Another key was put on a chain or fob, and I would generally use that to get back into the locked truck after being away from the rig. A third key was stashed in my wallet... the wallet didn't always exit the truck with me, but it was a good place to stash a backup key. The fourth key would go under the hood, wired or zip-tied back by the firewall or some other unobtrusive location, then taped up with electrical tape so it didn't look like a key, 10-4? Now, some tractors had hood latch releases in the cab, but for those with standard hood latches, a key stashed under the hood was often a lifesaver.

I can't tell you how many times I had to pry viewing ports out of the shotgun door before I developed this system, usually on the fuel island at 0300 in a freakin' blizzard, after my truck door locked itself... those pesky Freightshakers were known to pull that trick on drivers. And one time when this happened at 0300 on a Pilot fuel island in Bentleyville, PA, the view port had one of those hard plastic seals instead of a soft rubber one, and I was in a hurry to cross the state, so I asked the fuel desk clerk for a hammer so I could smash the view port... there was nobody else around, so the clerk followed me out to watch me smash the glass, lol. Cheap thrills in Bentleyville, I reckon... but I vowed to find a better way to deal with such situations, and I ultimately developed the "idiot-proof system" I've already mentioned.

Perhaps this advice will help a hand just starting out, and spare that hand the frustration and embarrassment of being locked out, lol... and trust me, these lockouts only happen at the worst possible time, never in a nice convenient location, 10-4? Oh, yeah, for those truckers who don't have standard hood latches, find some other spot to stash that fourth key, maybe under the catwalk or in some other unobtrusive location. I never really liked those magnetic key boxes, as they can be dislodged with a hard enough bump, and some of those bumps in road work are heller hard, lol. Wire or small zip-ties work better, just don't forget to tape the key afterward so it doesn't look like a key. Enough said, hope this helps some hand... CHEERS!!!

P.S. You mods, if there's already a thread on this topic, feel free to move my post, and thanks in advance...
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I’ve had my Peterbilt lock itself one day. Usually you can only lock the driver’s door from the outside.

mpow66m · Jan 27, 2023

I dont get out of the tractor.....theres people out there

Val_Caldera · Jan 28, 2023

abyliks said: ↑

this, although I now have two hidden keys for this reason….

local lock shop cut 5 for me and I bought one blank for places that insist on “surrendering” keys
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10-2, 10-4.
Some keys may have been to another Truck, not that any customer would have known.
Sadly, not just the very GREEN Drivers have and will hand over their ONLY KEY.

"Yes , that's the only Truck key I have , so please do not lose it".

kemosabi49 · Jan 28, 2023

The Railsplitter said: ↑

I almost hate to say it in an open forum, but anybody with a pair of Vise-Grips can break in through the wing window in seconds flat... just tightly clamp the Vise-Grips on the circular outer part of the wing window lock and crank it forward. The lock will be broken, but nobody can tell by looking at it from the outside. Don't ask me how I know this...
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Been a while since I drove a truck with a wing window. Miss having them too.

MACK E-6 · Jan 29, 2023

kemosabi49 said: ↑

Been a while since I drove a truck with a wing window. Miss having them too.
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Those made it nice to be able to smoke without making a mess.

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