Automotive

[LuckPicker]

Hello everyone,

Not that I am in need of them but I was just wondering why hasn't anyone made bump keys for automotive locks?
Anyone know if there is a reason for this?


Thanks for letting me pick your brain.

[Divinorum]

No one has made them because they wouldn't work.The difference in the functionality of an automotive lock vs a "normal" lock is what makes this so.

[IndigoChild]

The only car that I can think of that could be bumped is an old 60s model Porsche it had pins rather than wafers. If you bump a wafer lock you will likely freeze up the lock. Get a auto lock from a salvage yard and take it apart. A ford door lock would be a good one as its a relitavely simple design. Also before I forget. Many auto locks use a sidebar that can be jiggled but not bumped. This is still a picking technique that should only be discussed in the advanced section.

[Squelchtone]

To answer the OPs question in terms of lock mechanics, automotive locks use flat plates called wafers so bumping them would not do anything. the point of bumping is like the old Billiards example when you hit a ball, and then that ball hits another ball, the 1st ball stops and transfers its energy to the 2nd ball and that ball starts moving away in a hurry. Pin tumbler locks work just like this, the key hits the key pins, and they travel up and hit the driver pins and the key pins stop, their energy is transferred to the driver pins, and they shoot away from the key pins in a hurry. during this exact moment in time is when the person bumping the lock would apply some torque or rotational force to the bump key just as a shear line is created and thus opening the lock. automotive locks which are one variation or another of the classic wafer tumbler lock do not have driver pins and so no shear line can ever be created, and that's why there are no bump key sets made for cars.

hope this helps,
Squelchtone

[LuckPicker]

Good stuff! Thanks guys, I had always thought automotive locks were also pin tumblers.

[2octops]

The only car that I can think of that could be bumped is an old 60s model Porsche it had pins rather than wafers...

Actually many, many vehicles (in the USA and other countries) used pins instead of wafers until the 80's.

Can not think of any since at least the early 90's that use them though.

[IndigoChild]

Thank you. I had not seen any but I was sure more exist.

[globallockytoo]

To answer the OPs question in terms of lock mechanics, automotive locks use flat plates called wafers so bumping them would not do anything. the point of bumping is like the old Billiards example when you hit a ball, and then that ball hits another ball, the 1st ball stops and transfers its energy to the 2nd ball and that ball starts moving away in a hurry. Pin tumbler locks work just like this, the key hits the key pins, and they travel up and hit the driver pins and the key pins stop, their energy is transferred to the driver pins, and they shoot away from the key pins in a hurry. during this exact moment in time is when the person bumping the lock would apply some torque or rotational force to the bump key just as a shear line is created and thus opening the lock. automotive locks which are one variation or another of the classic wafer tumbler lock do not have driver pins and so no shear line can ever be created, and that's why there are no bump key sets made for cars.

hope this helps,
Squelchtone

Actually this is not completely correct. There are many European cars that still use pin tumbler locks. Renault/Peugeot, Lancia, Rolls Royce, to name a few. Originally Ford made all their locks pin tumbler with shear lines.

older stuff can be bumped but is not usually because they are not too hard to pick (if you know how)