Do most of you have wheel locks? If so, recommended brand? McGard and Gorilla are two popular names. Do certain brands have problems? I have gunmetal wheels so I would need black ones.

 

McGard and Gorilla are the most common/generic and some of the simplest 'locks', if they can really be called that. their 'keys' are fairly universal and generic, most people and shops have these sort of 'keys' on hand and available, and they are fairly easy to just hammer a socket over and take off.

truth be told, no key will stop a dedicated and smart thief, but those two in particular are hardly a deterrent. I'd be interested to hear what other people are using. on other car forums, volk racing/rays engineering made some pretty clever wheel locks.

 

Do people still steal wheels off of cars?

 

does that even need to be asked? https://www.google.com/search?q=corv...+wheels+stolen


unfortunately theft will always be a concern. as someone who has fitment requirements (z06 brakes, base c6..), and had to wait a long time for the custom wheels to arrive, I'd hate to be stuck in a stolen wheel predicament

 

2 wheel locks per wheel is a good method. One wheel lock can still allow the wheel to be snapped off. Think if the lock is at 12 o clock and you grab at 6 and pull.

 

I just installed a set of Gorilla "System" wheel locks. Every lug is a lock, so they all match. I've had these before and been pleased. My '13 GS used part #71633N 12mmx1.50 Acorn.
I ordered the extra lock key (just in case) today.

 

I just installed a set of Gorilla "System" wheel locks. Every lug is a lock, so they all match. I've had these before and been pleased. My '13 GS used part #71633N 12mmx1.50 Acorn.
I ordered the extra lock key (just in case) today.

 

The Gorilla set is nice. As others have stated, if someone wants your wheels they are going to get them. I opted for the Gorilla set mostly to get rid of the cheap tin covered OEM nuts. If you take your wheels off periodically to clean and seal the backsides, the OEM nuts will start to get a little ratty looking. Get an impact socket that fits the back of the key and have a welding shop put a small bead to attach them permanently. Less to "juggle" when going off and on with the lugs nuts which will reduce the chance of dropping one of the pieces onto the wheels surface. Of coarse you will need to carry a 1/2" ratchet or small breaker bar then.

 

I've got them, but they were on the car when I bought it, so I have no idea what brand. I wouldn't have bought them had they not come with the car.

 

Ran a set of McGards on my '08 until I figured out that in today's world of black wheels, no one would want my OEM chrome 5 spoke wheels. took 'em off a few years ago..

 

I recently purchased my 2008 base coupe. I went through everything in the car and I didn't find a wheel lock key so I assumed (OH OH) that I didn't have any wheel locks. Today, I stopped by Advance Auto today for detailing supplies. I was getting ready to leave and I remembered to look at wheel locks. I checked my wheels and I didn't see regular hex lug nuts. I got the counter guy to look and he said all the lug nuts were splined nuts. I told him I had just purchased the vehicle without a key. He told me to go over to Discount Tire and they could probably help. Went over there and one of the guys came out and looked at the lug nuts, said he had just what I needed. Sold me a Gorilla key for $6.00. Turns out I have the Gorilla System wheel locks.

I guess it pays to check your lug nuts when you purchase a used vehicle. Lesson learned. I have run-flats so I guess I would have been safe (r) in that respect. But I want to change brake pads soon, so I would have been up the creek without a paddle. Pissed me off I made a mistake like that.

 

Wait a minute! Are you saying that cracking the security of this Gorilla wheel lock system is as simple as walking in to a Discount Tire store and plopping down $6.00 bucks?

 

Appears so. I didn't ask if they would have sold it to me if I hadn't had the car there so they could see that I did have the Gorilla System wheel locks.

 

My experience with Discount Tire was a little different. I had the Gorilla locks in black on my wheels. Went in to have tires balanced. Got it done and went about my business. A few weeks later I was changing my sway bar endlinks so I looked for my "key". Could not find it anywhere in the car. How was I going to get the wheels off?

Lucky for me the nice techs at DT replaced my Gorilla locks with regular lugs so I no longer needed the key. All 4 wheels were missing the locks. Discount Tire was the only place that had removed the tires. Nice!!!

My last visit to Discount Tire left a lot to be desired.
I had a bent rim so I had a replacement in the hatch. Told the service writer about it. Was getting new tires also. Watched as the tech started to mount new tire on bent rim. Went out and told him to use the new rim in the hatch. He said he did not know about the new rim.

Got my car finished and they had put their black hands all over my cashmere interior. Car was filthy.

All this on top of prepaying for the tires and not being called when they arrived. I called them 4 days after the date my tires were scheduled to be delivered.

 

Can a set of 4 OE lug nuts for chrome wheels be ordered to replace the lock nuts?

 

I have a set of locking lug not removers that will defeat any locking lug nut. Bought the tools off eBay for $25. I'm sure any dedicated wheel thief also owns a set... just sayin'

 

Yep.http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wmr-m980 Wheel locks are far more trouble than they are worth. Easily removed with an inexpensive socket if you don't care about destroying the lock.

 

Uh, did you count the actual number of unique cars you found with stolen wheels? Many of the pictures are of the same car. A quick count tells me you found about half a dozen. Not bad for the millions of cars on the road. Yes, wheels are stolen. We've had reports of the thefts here. But it is very rare and there are FAR more threads from people who have lost their key asking how to get locks off. Do a search.

 

I bought set McGard at Amazon.

 

Wheel locks will deter the casual thief, not a professional. Additionally, most wheel thefts are crimes of opportunity, e.g. a motel located 100 yards from my local NTB gets hit several times a year where people's wheels are stolen overnight.

However, the point of wheel locks is to not to keep your wheels from being stolen, as the locks themselves can be circumvented several different ways.

The challenge to the thief is to circumvent the locks without:
A. Damaging the wheels in the process which will make them difficult to resell by alerting potential buyers that the wheels are stolen
B. Taking more time to actually steal the wheels, putting the thief at higher risk of detection while in the act

That being said the only real value of wheel locks at this point is to make your vehicle less desirable as a theft target, making the thief more likely to move on to another corvette or some other high-end car that DOES NOT have locks installed.