I just got a new car and the wheels do not have lug nuts on them.
Do I need to be concerned about the wheels being stolen?
Would you live with it the way it is, or pay $45 for four keyed or locking lug nuts?
Everyone is always so helpful so I wanted to post here even though it is off topic.
Many thanks.
Kate
Where are you going to PUT these $45 locking lug nuts? In the glove box?
As to whether you should worry about the wheels being stolen, that depends on the neighborhood where the car is parked and the value of the wheels. For sufficiently valuable wheels in an unmonitored location, the thieves may take an acetylene torch to the axles.
You lost me. I would put one on each wheel. I don't have any and the wheels sell for about $180 ea. Just thought I would ask.
Thanks.
Kate wrote in news:h8mk2r$6ad$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal- september.org:
You can be 100% certain your wheels DO have lug nuts; they are just covered up to make the wheel look prettier. Lug nuts have been required by law since 1968 (no I'm not kidding).
If you look closely, you'll probably find there's a plastic cover on the face of the wheel. This hides the lug nuts.
Your Owner's Manual will give this information in great detail, complete with diagrams and instructions on how to get the cover off.
What kind of car is this, anyway?
You need to be concerned about the wheels falling off. Without lug nuts, there is usually nothing to hold them on. :(
All of the nuts that go on the studs are lug nuts, whether they use a key of whatever sort or just a regular lug wrench or jack handle. But some have either key locks or unsuaal shapes, which they also call a key. I had a set of unusual shapes, and I worried that I would lose the "key", but I think the set came with two. Then I had a flat tire and had a hard time engagine the key into the lug nut, and it wasn't even wet, and I figured next time it may be cold and raining and it may be much harder to do if the nut is wet and slippery, and I took them off. I see my next door neighbor has one on each wheel.
ON the other hand, way back in high school in 1964, in a suburban school district with no crime to speak of, a friend drove to school sometimes and one day his car would start but woudln't move. He found that it was jacked up and the rear axle was resting on a box and the wheel/tire was gone. This guy and his parents had only enough money to live nicely on, and didn't splurge on mag wheels or anything. It was probably a Chevy. I don't know why it was stolen. We didn't even have fistfights in this school.
Bub is right that it depends on a lot of things whether you need wheel locks, where you park it, how busy it is there, how special your wheels are. Are wheels still a popular item for theft. I've driven a convertible for 42 years (not the same one) and slashing tops used to be popular, and indeed, my top was slashed once (I patched it and then in the rough n'hood I lived in, they would push open the patch and unlock the door and steal it if I left anything at all in the car. But then convertibles became much less common, and not only did the manufacturers forget that you can't use a day/night mirror in a convertible, but the criminals seemed to have forgotten how much fun it is to slash tops. It's a piece of Americana, of folkways that seems not to have been passed down to the latest generation of criminals. We may be losing our heritage, but I like it. Now convertble tops became uncommon, but for some reason that never happened to wheels. But still, how common is it these days for wheels to be stolen?
What kind of car do you have. How much was the sticker price for the rims (wheels)?
99+% of cars used lugnuts from 1945's or earlier until 1968 and afterwards. Are you saying they outlawed for street use the one big nut in the middle, that one hit with a wrench to spin on or off, instead of 4 or 5 in a circle? What do you call that?
Yep.
Or drag the whole car onto a trailer...
And a sufficiently-organized group probably has a whole array of different shaped keys at their disposal...
Okay, let me try this again. You say you don't have any lug nuts on the car. Aside from the obvious question of just what in the world is holding the wheels ON the car, where would you put these new lug nuts inasmuch as there doesn't seem to be anywhere in the neighbor of the tires TO put them.
Hey thank you so much. Yes, there is a cover on the face of the wheel. I called the dealer and was told this info. He said I don't need a key because any car repair place, including Les Schwab knows how to get the lug nut off.
This is a Lincoln MKS. I had a Mark VIII once, and it had a key to it.
Many thanks.
| And a sufficiently-organized group probably has a whole array of different | shaped keys at their disposal...
I've always thought that one of those "universal" sockets or a big stud extractor might do the trick. There used to be a type of lug nut lock that took an actual key in the center. Until it was unlocked the outside just spun. This seemed conceptually neater than a funny-shaped nut but I'm afraid it might not stand up to being hit with a hammer...
Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com
Sorry to hear that. You made a bad decision.
Oh yes, they do. (What do you suppose keeps the wheels from falling off?)
Not unless the wheels are extremely valuable, and you don't have insurance on the car.
Tip: on most cars, the difference in monthly cost between comprehensive insurance with a $0 deductible, and comp/$500 is so small as to make it absolutely insane to get comp with any deductible at all. Either get it with no deductible, or don't get it.
In your case, get it. That's what buys replacement wheels for you if these are stolen.
IOW, don't lose sleep over it.
Any place where you can buy a locking lug nut, I can buy a key to unlock it.
Trouble is, thieves have access to those lug nut keys, too.
Steve
Heh!
I recently bought a couple of tires at Walmart. I watched the technician re-mount the tires and asked if he was done. "No," he said, "I've got to get the manager to re-torque on the lugs and sign-off on the job. Walmart doesn't want you to drive out of here and have your nuts fall off."
Presently the manager appeared with a torque wrench. Click-click-clickety-click, followed by: "Your nuts are good to go!"
What you COULD do is get rid of the expensive wheels/rims/etc. and replace them with standard wheels and the eight-inch hub caps like you see on a police car.
I've never heard of tires/rims being stolen from a police cruiser.
ddl@danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news1.IPSWITCHS.CMM:
you can buy sockets at Harbor Freight for removing wheel locks when you don't have a key.Just like you can buy "slim jims" at Advance Auto Parts for opening locked car doors.
I think I'll stick with my local evil mom & pop tire place where they don't need to bring the manager out to verify basic service was done properly.
I thought nuts were in the grocery department with trail mix?
Hi, We have 4 cars in the family(one for each of us). When we get new car we have them installed. Lug nut is easy to remove with a tool(socket) made for that. Just making it little inconvenient for would be thief.
If there's no lug nuts, then what holds the wheels on?
s
I think it's a wise move to have another employee double-check a safety item.
Plus, here's a story from just today about how Walmart is involved in the fight to keep nuts from falling off.
I found the lug wrench. I should have taken the time to check the spare tire area.
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