help ID cylindrical dimple lock //PICS!

[atticRR]

i have secured yet another steering lock (this is 3of3). the first one was a kaba clone, easy to pick. the 2nd one was the same lock type, cant pick it yet-much better quality lock obviously.

This one has me stumped. i tried searching for cylindrical dimple keys and other related terms and found nothing that matches. i'm sure one of you knows precisely what ive got here.



i'm not even close to pickin this guy. the first pins totally block the rest in deeper, plus it seems like a super glued tension is the only way to go here......

[zeepia]

Don´t know what brand lock that is, found exactly same lock here from garage sale but they asked 20€ for it so I let it be... Looked difficult though! And key goes in in only one direction.

[atticRR]

huh, it was a steering wheel lock as well? mine is called "ultraClub" from a company called "winner international". after doing a heap of online searches i found the website but was unable to find anything about this particular lock mechanism. I'm not sure what to even call it, barrel dimple key, cylindrical dimple, or what...

[atticRR]

i did just find this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4WKp7mHVLg

ill confirm or deny if this works for me tomorrow....

[zeepia]

Yep, it was also a steering wheel lock. Don´t remember what the label said about the brand. If you find it fun to pick then maybe I have to reconsider using 20 euros...

[MacGyver101]

It's not quite a standard "cruciform key", but Googling that may give you some ideas. The tolerances in those usually make them a pretty easy pick, once you figure out a way to tension them, and a small enough tool to get in there.

Because of the simple pinning, the usual approach with those is to rake them open... most of the "cruciform picks" are just four tiny half-diamond picks that, as you pull the tool out, scrub all four pin stacks at the same time.

As you note, this lock is rear-tensioned... which makes it a bit of a challenge. You may be able to use a small pair of fine-tipped tweezers to apply tension to the front pins? (e.g., put one tip of the tweezers on the right side of the top pin, and the other tip of the tweezers on the left side of the bottom pin, and twist?) It will change your feedback on those two pins a bit, but it shouldn't be that big a deal with that lock.

[zeepia]

Found this today from a fleamarket. Another place, another price. This cost only 2€ so I grabbed it with me.



This has a normal pin tumbler key, not a dimple one.



The sticker at right says that this lock is approved by insurance companies. At least I couldn´t open it yet, tension seems to be the issue here. This lock is heavy to turn with key even when oiled. Doesn´t help picking.

[Evan]

The sticker at right says that this lock is approved by insurance companies. At least I couldn´t open it yet, tension seems to be the issue here. This lock is heavy to turn with key even when oiled. Doesn´t help picking.

@zeepia:

Neither does it help when those steering wheel locks are
properly applied to the steering wheel "face down" with
the lock and key facing the dash panel...

I am sure that there is someone somewhere who could
pick a lock in such a position but it would be neither
easy nor comfortable to do...

Those sort of steering wheel locks are commonly
bypassed totally intact by car thieves who know
what they are doing... They are only good for
locking a car so it can't be driven by a sneaky
teenager who may have a copy of the key you
as a parent aren't aware of...

~~ Evan

[zeepia]

Evan: thanks for the inspiration, I bypassed it in ten minutes!

Now maybe I should be concentrating more on picking these...

[Solomon]

Cool lock. Reminds me of the maxis, only MOAR. I say fire a tension wrench in there and tension against one of the pin stacks, when it's picked it'll turn the plug no problem. I picked a maxis clone once and it was pretty easy, this looks like the same idea just with 4 sets of pins. Tolerances are probably god-awful. You don't need to go gluing wrenches onto the lock.

[atticRR]

nice find, zeepia, let me know if you get it picked. although mine has that dimple key looking thing the lock is really just a cruciform lock like yours(as pointed out above), just with a different profile really. I have worked on mine a few times so far and no luck although honestly i really havent gotten serious with it yet. I'll try solomans idea, see if it works out....

[zeepia]

Done! The plug was a bit loose, so tension from only one place didn´t do the job. It kinda tweaked the plug rather than turn it.

I put my not-so-spectacular double tension wrench in it and raking with half diamond got the job done. Only a two minute work once I figured out what to do. And one more proof that you don´t want to use these to lock your car...

Your turn, atticRR

[atticRR]

lol... ok, you're on!