Lock Your Rims

[SHO4]

Saw this report on 6:00PM news
Set of 20" Gen 4 rims front and center of story.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/22335830/detail.html/

Page 3 of Video & Live Events

 

[RonPorter]

Saw this report on 6:00PM news
Set of 20" Gen 4 rims front and center of story.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/22335830/detail.html/

Page 3 of Video & Live Events

Don't bother.

I'll bet most have been stolen from dealer lots, much as they have in Detroit in the past.

Besides, if they are an organized group, wheel locks are a mere dealy, they get 'em anyway.

Locks cause you more grief than they do to thieves.

 

[SHO4]

I still think I'll "bother" and slow them down so they will move on...(to yours?)

 

[RonPorter]

I still think I'll "bother" and slow them down so they will move on...(to yours?)

Wheels just aren't stolen by kids anymore, which is back when wheel locks were invented.

They know what they want, and they are gonna get them. They will hit a dealer lot first. Do you remember the gang hitting GM dealers out in the western suburbs a few years ago?

If they want the wheels on your car, they will get them....locks or not. Don't cause yourself grief with having them on there. They will be more apt to steal the whole car.

I used them for years, then finally wised up as to the real theft issue.

 

[Toolman]

That is why I carry one of those wheel 'boots' around, and install it whenever I park. That and I welded all my lugnuts in place.

 

[_JR_]

use more than one wheel lock kit. I know some people that have 5 different wheel locks per 5 bolt rim lol. I wouldnt go that far, but if i really wanted to protect my rims, i would get two different wheel lock sets and put them opposite of each other in the lug pattern. Also an aftermarket alarm system with the tilt sensing sensor so it sounds if the car is being jacked/towed.

 

[IM Buddy8]

use more than one wheel lock kit. I know some people that have 5 different wheel locks per 5 bolt rim lol. I wouldnt go that far, but if i really wanted to protect my rims, i would get two different wheel lock sets and put them opposite of each other in the lug pattern. Also an aftermarket alarm system with the tilt sensing sensor so it sounds if the car is being jacked/towed.

They sell a socket set that you tap on ANY wheel lock nut and yeah.. Comes right off. When I bought my 95 and my 93 they both had them. I had all 4 off the 95 in about 3 mins.. The 93 someone was stupid enough previously to try to melt off one... Yeah I had to cut and torch that thing till the stud was cut and replace the stud.. Idiots..

 

[zblackbeast]

no one is going to steal some 15 year old wheels off a taurus! haha i dont worry. when i bought the car it had a lock kit, and it does its job. Im more worried about me stereo and other more sought after items

 

[Racer X]

no one is going to steal some 15 year old wheels off a taurus! haha i dont worry. when i bought the car it had a lock kit, and it does its job. Im more worried about me stereo and other more sought after items

I said that 5 years ago, until one morning I came down to 2 center caps missing, and 9 lugnuts gone.

Apparently someone turned the corner and scared them off before they could take them. Bought my locks that same day.

One morning later that month I came down to all 16 lugnuts and 4 locks. Three of my neighbors came down to their cars on cinder blocks.

SHO4 is right, the locks aren't there to keep the wheels on your car, they're there to make yours a less attractive target compared to the other cars.

 

[IM Buddy8]

I guess what this really comes down to is location.. If you park in your alarmed garage in a nice town... You dont' need wheel locks. If you park on a side street in lil' compton your gonna want alot more than wheel locks haha..

 

[PonySHO]

I'm guessing that the more of a PIA to get the wheels, the less likely someone is going to steal them. I don't know how many key patterns, say McGard makes, but think about it. If some perp has to go through his pockets to find the right key, why bother and just move on. Then again, if you have a big dollar custom wheel and tire, if they really want them, they'll get them. In that case, Smith and Wesson makes a very reliable anti-theft device :laugh_ti:

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

i also weld my lug nuts on.

 

[SuperHO]

i wish someone would steal my crappy ass rims. insurance would buy me a shiny new set. ****, i'd get new tires. too!

 

[typhoon5000]

I saw that same report on the 5pm news last night. I immediately recognized the Gen4 SHO 20" wheels in the video. They said in the report that they were even getting "orders" for certain wheels. I think the name of the company was B.H.A. Tires or something like that and ran around in white panel van Econolines with their name on the side, which is featured in the video on WIBV's website linked to above.

I don't really have to worry since my Police Interceptor has $20 Steelies on it, but in the summer when I run my BBS's, I def have a McGard lock kit on it.

 

[Ian Macoomb]

I lost the lug key for my girlfriend's Altima. All it took to remove them was a 20 mm socket and a hammer. It took more effort to get the old lugnut out of the socket than it did to get the lugnut off the car.

The thing is that the 20 mm socket is hard to find. All of the sockets I have don't have a 20mm. They go 17,18,19,21.

 

[_JR_]

hmm. then whats the next best thing other then putting in an alarm or welding lug nuts on?

I always thought that to bypass a wheel lock they would use a hammer and bang the backside of the rim until the stud would break off. Then the rim comes loose.

 

[frosho]

Leave the nice wheels at home and drive on your rotors.

 

[Bob Gervais]

I welded my crank bolt, but I'd never thought of welding lugs until now. Thanks fellers!

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

I welded my crank bolt, but I'd never thought of welding lugs until now. Thanks fellers!

i'd weld my hood shut too, to keep thieves from taking my sweet homemade pepboys intake but i got a fiberglass hood so i settled for JBweld.

i wish i took a picture of it, but when i was in fairbanks alaska a couple years ago i saw an old beat up truck with a grade 8 chain welded to the bed and wrapped around a parking meter with a combination lock. i shit you not.

 

[typhoon5000]

i wish i took a picture of it, but when i was in fairbanks alaska a couple years ago i saw an old beat up truck with a grade 8 chain welded to the bed and wrapped around a parking meter with a combination lock. i shit you not.

That's awesome. It reminds me of Ford's new Tool Lock system it developed with Master Lock for the beds of their trucks:

It's the retractable cable coming out of the rear corner of the bed. It's got a handcuff style link on the end of it. I wanna see someone lock their new truck to a poll with that