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!