I found this on another site but it was posted by one of our members here INITAGAIN. He gets the credit.
When you first remove them, gently pry up the pins all around, with a small slot-type screwdriver, until you feel the tension easing up, The nut should lift right off. Take a pair of ordinary pliers and "flatten" the 4 pins to the same plane as the nut itself. No need to bend the nut-it should be fairly flat. When you want to re-use it, just press it back on and force the pins gently against the rod (as on accessories) or rectangular post (as on motors) with a pair of needle-nose pliers, and voila (that's French for presto), it will hold just as it originally did.