Is it worth spending money on wheel locks?

Fancy aftermarket rims, sure. But factory rims on a run-of-the-mill mass market car, waste of time. I pulled mine off and replaced them with normal bolts. Had a blow-out at night that I had to change on the side of the road, with minimal light, and having to locate a lock key would have been a giant PITA.

What rims you have OP?

no. Someone wants your wheels bad enough they will spend 20 bucks on cheap sockets and take them.

Not worth it for any rims. They're not going to stop any real thief, and they're more likely to be lost and strand you somewhere because you can't change the wheel.

Just to tell you how easy it is to remove without the key, my friend lost their key and I easily removed them by pounding a socket onto the wheel lock. Took about 20 seconds longer to remove a wheel.

burnt69 wrote: ↑ Fancy aftermarket rims, sure. But factory rims on a run-of-the-mill mass market car, waste of time. I pulled mine off and replaced them with normal bolts. Had a blow-out at night that I had to change on the side of the road, with minimal light, and having to locate a lock key would have been a giant PITA.

LOL, say that to the hundreds of 2016-2017 Accord Sport owners who had their rims jacked or the owners of BMWs with M-Sport factory rims.

The fact that you have a wheel lock may make the thief go to the next car without a wheel lock and save you both $$$ and a

feeling of being violated is good enough for me. Most better quality wheel lock sets come with a single key. I usually

recommend to order a second key and keep it at home. For the times when Murphy's Law bites you in the ass,

just have a flashlight and prior knowledge on the removal of either front or rear wheels. Not sure if you are of age and

remember the contraption (Club 1000) which you would mount across a steering wheel to make a car theft more difficult. Yes,

there are thousands of ways to steal a car by a professional car thief but for the amateurs, it make a difference between

waking up in the morning and still having your four rims and tires still shining on that car. For $50+ it is not a bad

investment.

Wheel locks may deter a thief who wants any wheels just to resell them.

Wheel locks will not deter a thief who wants your specific wheels.

burnt69 wrote: ↑ Fancy aftermarket rims, sure. But factory rims on a run-of-the-mill mass market car, waste of time. I pulled mine off and replaced them with normal bolts. Had a blow-out at night that I had to change on the side of the road, with minimal light, and having to locate a lock key would have been a giant PITA.

Yea but most fancy aftermarket rims are cut specific for that car / offset / bolt pattern that it would make it harder for the thief to turn over.

I actually have wheel locks on my factory rims, which I use in winter. But don't on my fancy aftermarket summer shoes

No.

I only have them because my boy Billy/tires23 hooked me up.

As posted if they really want them they'll find a way. Also, it's a PITA if you forget or lose the wheel lock.

DealCanuck wrote: ↑ What do you guys think? Do you have any experience with it?

Universal bolt remover: https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/ ... -p8211633e

McLaren__F1 wrote: ↑ What rims you have OP?

BBS FI

burnt69 wrote: ↑ Fancy aftermarket rims, sure. But factory rims on a run-of-the-mill mass market car, waste of time. I pulled mine off and replaced them with normal bolts. Had a blow-out at night that I had to change on the side of the road, with minimal light, and having to locate a lock key would have been a giant PITA.

Also I had issues with Toyota main dealer constantly over tightening the wheel nuts then when I came to seasonally swap the rims I had issues applying enough torque to the locknut and one broke/stripped. Now I do not use them (locknuts or dealer). Also with locknuts I apply a little less grunt to the locknut than the other nuts and always slacken the locknut off before the other nuts when removing.

wow. Those are highly sought after. wheel locks or no wheel locks, if your car is being targeted for those blings ($10K for just the wheels), then they will take them if you park your cars on the streets or even on your own driveway.

$50 peace of mind. Its not rare to have customers come in with "my rims and tires were stolen off our driveway" - Doesnt matter what model car.

I had a stretch of customers come in during the winter time couple years back when winter tires were selling out everywhere. Alloy rims that had winter rubber on them were being stolen off driveways.

Will wheel lock prevent it from happening? No. But if it will make them second guess taking yours, then worth the $50 imo.

If you got really expensive rims I've seen guys run 5 sets of lock nuts on their cars. Basically using lock nuts instead of regular nuts.

tebore wrote: ↑ If you got really expensive rims I've seen guys run 5 sets of lock nuts on their cars. Basically using lock nuts instead of regular nuts.

What I do with my 86. My partner thinks I am crazy

george__ wrote: ↑ What I do with my 86. My partner thinks I am crazy

Those rims better be worth a couple grand.

DealCanuck wrote: ↑BBS FI

Can't beat being well rimmed!

tebore wrote: ↑ Those rims better be worth a couple grand.

Indeed worth a lot (to me) lol

I have 12 separate wheel lock nuts because I'm using 3 wheel locks per wheel