Wheel Locks - Why We Love To Hate Them!

Wheel Locks - What Could Go Wrong?

As it turns out, quite a bit - wheel locks were very handy in the 1990's when wheels were being stolen at a pretty high rate, especially in some specific areas. At that point in time, hot wheels weren't just a toy!

But, the car industry always evolves, and where there were relatively few bolt patterns across the industry back then, today there are many, many more. What this means is that it is much harder to sell used wheels than it used to be, because a set of wheels will only fit specific, select vehicles.

This is the same reason that many wheels must be special ordered as opposed to being kept in stock - and it also means that wheel locks are not as important as they used to be.

What Can Go Wrong?

What can go wrong? As it turns out, quite a lot when it comes to wheel locks. 

First of all, they are easy to lose - either by dropping them in the snow when you're trying to change a tire, or in a ditch on a dark night - or, the last guy that changed your tires might have forgotten to put it back in the car. If you lose it before you get the locking lug nut off, you are stuck - you will need to call a tow-truck or mobile mechanic to break the locking lug nut off.

The other major reason locking lugs quit working is because the key itself becomes degraded. There are several different types  of locking lug systems. The most common is a hollow nut with a 'clover'design on the inside that latches into the same design hollowed out on the lug nut; another type is called a spline design, but these can be replaced pretty easily at most auto-parts stores, whereas the clover locking design cannot be replaced at auto parts stores.

The picture below is of the clover locking design; take a close look at the pattern inside the lucking nut and you can see the ridges have been degraded through use - this lug nut is useless now, and this type of damage is common.

This is a locking lug nut - as you can see, the key above is to degraded to lock into the grooves

A damaged lug nut key

All It Takes To Be Stranded

All it takes to be stranded is to lose the key, or as in the picture above for the key to be damaged (which does not take much on these keys). Unless you have really expensive wheels and tires it is usually not worth the aggravation of keeping the key - it is my experience that it will work perfectly until you really need it, and then you will be stuck.

So take off the locking nuts and replace them with regular lug nuts - or if you don't want to bother, any tire store can help you with that, like Maiden Tire & Wheel who is a dealer of new tires in Maiden NC!

What to plant - for the rest of this year!

We Love Gardening!

We love gardening here at the Maiden Times blog (as you can tell from previous posts), and one of the many great things about North Carolina is the fact that you can get an easy three growing seasons in!

It is to late for the cool whether Spring season, but there is moore than enough time to plant some great Summer crops, and in early September it is time for the fall cool whether crops!

Plant What You Like To Eat - And More!

Of course, you will want to plant the veggies you like to eat, but I also like to plant vegetables that I have not had that great an appetite for - for this reason. If you grow the plant, and tend it, you will be much more likely to try a vegetable that you never cared for before. And having been through this a number of times, with many vegetables it is not the vegetable itself, but more likely the it was prepared - so keep an open mind!

Some of the best summertime plants for this area are listed below!

• Beans
• Cantaloupes
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Okra
• Peppers
• Pumpkins
• Southern peas
• Squash
• Sweet potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Watermelons

And of course for tomatoes and peppers there are many different varieties. 

Artichokes can also be planted in the first year but will not produce any vegetables until the second year; if you like them plant each year because after the second year the plant will die off - that way you can have a rotation for these plants and get produce each year.

Cool Weather Crops

And, as fast as time goes, it is never to early to start thinking about what to plant for the third season - the cool fall season. It's best to begin planting these plants in early to mid September, that way when they start coming up the temperature will be cool enough (most years) for these plants to thrive. Some of my favorite veggies are cool weather veggies, and while some are very frost resistant, some will need to be harvested before the first heavy frost. Carrots and radishes can both live through frost events, and in fact they thrive - and without cold weather, carrots do not produce the sugars that give carrots their sweet flavor, The frost triggers sugar production so the plant does not die of frost.

• Beets
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Collards
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce
• Mustard
• Onions
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Radishes
• Rutabagas
• Spinach
• Swiss chard
• Turnips

Use containers or just dig a few little plots, and you can have some great fresh veggies this summer and into the winter months - eat healthy, and eat food you grow, it's a great way to really appreciate food and nature on a deeper level.

This blog post was sponsored by Maiden Tire & Wheel, your local tire store in Maiden!

Summers Here - And old tires feel the heat too!

Summer Heat Kills Old Tires

We've had a nice cool spring this year, but the heat is definitely on the way - it is supposed to get into the low 90's today, and the road can easily heat up to 160 degrees.

This is a major factor for older tires; as the rubber degrades, heat will have a big impact on tires that are older than 10 years, and sometimes less than that.

This can result in simple leaks, broken belts and blowouts, even if the tire has a lot of tread left - as rubber ages it gets more brittle, and at a certain point the tire will fail.

Inspect Your Tires!

This is a good time of year to inspect your tires to see if they are in good shape - pay attention to the sidewall and the treads, and look for small cracks in the rubber, especially where the tread meets the sidewall, and on the tread part of the tire look for cracks in between the treadblocks. The tire below is about 12 years old, and you can see how badly the rubber has degraded

How Old Are My Tires?

Every tire sold in the US has a date code of when the tire is manufactured - in the picture below, you will see a small oval pressed into the rubber with 4 digits - this is the code to tell you when the tire was manufactured.

You can see on this tire the number 1616 in the small oval. In these date codes, the first two numbers are the week and the second two the year, so this tire would have been made in the 16th week of 2016 - you can also see how smooth the rubber is compared with the tire pictured above. 

If the numbers were 0809 it would have been manufactured in the 8th week of 2009.

So, take a look at your tires before it starts getting to hot, and if you need new tires in Maiden give us a call - Maiden Tire & Wheel is your local connection for tires, tire and wheel packages and more!