How to choose a lock on car wheels
Content
Car owners often take care of the safety of the car by installing expensive alarms, additional blocking devices, and so on. Unfortunately, the theft of car wheels is still a common thing for our everyday life, which means there is reason to think about purchasing secret wheel nuts. How to choose car locks, what options exist and how they differ - read on.
What are wheel locks
A lock is a device that prevents theft of wheels by the impossibility of unscrewing bolts or nuts with a regular wrench. The secret nut is made in an individual form, for it they make their own head for the key. Install, as a rule, one "lock" per wheel.
Secret nuts are essential these days if your car has expensive rims. Of course, the percentage of theft of wheels from VAZ is extremely small, unless, of course, there are expensive forged or alloy wheels - it will not be difficult for attackers to leave even cheap cars without “shoes”.
Recommendations for selection and operation
So, the cost of a new rubber with disks is many times higher than the price of a set of locks, so it is strongly recommended to take care of this purchase.
When buying and operating secret nuts, pay attention to points such as:
- Look out for the swing wheel nut kits options. This design will bring a lot of difficulties to an intruder, and most likely will not allow him to steal the wheels of your car;
- the diameter of the nut must match the diameter of the hole in the wheel. You can understand this information by comparing a standard bolt with nuts, or find on the Internet the dimension of the wheels of your car;
- for the secret, its own head is provided, which must be carried with you. Otherwise, without it, you will not unscrew the wheel, you will either have to grind a new nozzle according to the drawings, or rip off the nut at a car service, which costs a lot of money.
How to choose a secret: simplicity or reliability
When choosing a wheel protection device, use the main rule - do not save money by purchasing budget kits, however, you can find a lot of videos where experienced people break cheap “secrets” in seconds. A set consisting of reliable nuts will cost a lot, but much cheaper than four wheels.
However, there is a nuance: high-quality nuts are made of heavy-duty alloy, which makes it difficult to unscrew them both for an attacker and for car service specialists in case of loss of a head.
Material of manufacture
The first thing we pay attention to is the material of manufacture. Titanium alloy and hardened steel are the best solution, and the presence of chromium in the alloy gives them a beautiful, shiny look.
“Soft” nuts can be easily unscrewed without a special key, and over time the edges begin to wear off, which in the future will create problems for both the car owner and the potential thief.
Types of locks by profile type
Today nuts are available in three types of profile:
- curly;
- eccentric;
- with special holes.
Curly nuts are a combination of an individual pattern, so attempts to unscrew them with other special devices will be futile, or you will have to work for a long time.
The eccentric profile consists of an external and an internal circular profile. The first is pulled to the side, relative to the thread, and the second is centered.
The design of the nuts with holes, located randomly, provides for the presence of a corresponding corresponding key. Such "secrets" are extremely difficult to disrupt. There are sets of the opposite: there is a protrusion in the nut, and holes in the key.
Types of lock sets
Secret nuts and bolts are sold in sets, usually in four varieties:
- A set of 4 nuts and XNUMX bolts with a wrench.
- "Secrets" with two keys - for force majeure when one is lost.
- Five "secrets" with a key - the fifth for a spare wheel.
- A set of eight lock nuts - if the car owner wants to install 2 locks per wheel.
Tips when choosing a lock
If you decide to purchase protective wheel fasteners, use the following two rules:
- the packaging must be intact, with complete information about the product (equipment, what alloy, instructions for use);
- purchase only in a certified store or from authorized dealers of a particular brand.
As a rule, the car market is “stuffed” with low-quality and cheap accessories, however, when buying components for car protection, it is strongly not recommended to save money. In addition, today there are several manufacturers who guarantee the payment of insurance if the wheels were stolen using their “secrets”.
What to do if you lose your key
The human factor accompanies us all the time, and losing the key to the secret nuts is a common problem for car owners. Above, I recommended purchasing a kit from a dealer, since you can order a double key from him upon presentation of the serial number of the product.
In other cases, there are three possible options:
- by drilling - after the “secret” becomes unusable;
- welding a nut or bolt with edges to the lock to unscrew it with any classic device;
- cut the protective skirt.
What to do if the wheels are stolen and the secret is torn off
If you have been the victim of a theft of your car wheels, and you find that the secret nuts have been torn off, follow these rules:
- do not touch anything and immediately call the police;
- take photos, be sure to point out the distinctive features of your wheels;
- place an ad about theft on the Internet;
- Monitor wheel sales announcements soon.
According to the bitter experience of car owners who have become victims of intruders, the conclusion follows - secret nuts are an essential thing for your vehicle. The main thing is not to save money and not to purchase responsible protective devices in the markets or on bulletin boards.
Questions and answers:
What are wheel locks? This is a non-standard nut or bolt that also fixes the wheel rim, only it can be unscrewed only with a special wrench or an asterisk.
What are the secrets for? A lock is placed on the wheel so that the thief cannot remove the exclusive disc from the car. There is a separate key for each secret. Without it, it is impossible to unscrew the nut / bolt.
What are secret nuts for? Such nuts are installed on expensive car models with exclusive branded wheels. The manufacturer uses locks to make it easier for the car owner to protect the wheels from theft.
