Which wheel locks are best to choose, what to pay attention to, how to remove them

A security lock is a simple device that allows you to protect your car from wheel theft. It is a bolt (sometimes a nut), which has a unique head shape and is installed in place of one of the “original” fasteners. To remove a wheel secured with a wheel lock, you need to have a special key (or adapter) that comes with it. Today we will learn how to choose wheel locks and what criteria should be used when choosing.

Who steals wheels and why?

The times when new tires for car wheels were in short supply and had to be obtained under the counter are long gone. However, the problem of wheel theft has been and remains relevant. This type of criminal business is developing and becoming more and more bold. Wheels are stolen and then sold on the Internet, without hesitation in posting photos. Sometimes thefts even occur “to order” for a specific car. Therefore, today secrets are considered a very popular way to protect your wallet from unnecessary expenses. A good example: the price of a set of good tires is about $50, and new tires with mid-priced wheels will cost at least $300.

Minus salary: how not to be left without wheels the next morning?

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Various Internet sites and forums are literally full of various offers for the sale of used wheels in good condition. Have you ever wondered where they come from?! Of course, most of these advertisements are posted by real owners, but there is also a very high risk of running into stolen disks.

Attention

As a buyer, you don't really care. If only the price was good. It’s bad in this case for the one who found his car standing on bricks in the morning.

This raises a logical question: is there a method to protect your iron horse from this type of assassination attempt? Of course there are many options. But one of the most effective is wheel locks. Locks are special wheel bolts with a non-standard head, which can only be unscrewed with a special key. Once upon a time, motorists made secrets with their own hands, but today there is no need for this.

Material of manufacture

To understand which wheel locks are better, let’s find out what they are made of. Good products are made from hardened steel or titanium. For a beautiful appearance and protection against corrosion, they are coated with chrome or nickel. If the fastener is made of soft metal, its edges will quickly deteriorate, making it impossible for both the attacker and the owner of the car to remove the wheel. If you twist/unscrew it too hard, the key-secret contact will be deformed. Even simple tools can handle a soft bolt.

Types of products

Wheel locks come in several types. The most popular of them:

with profile inside;
cone-shaped;
with external profile for key use.

Each type of secret has a lot of nuances, as well as positive and negative sides. It is impossible to say which one is better, since it all depends on the type of wheels and the skills of the car thief.

Devices with an external profile have the simplest configuration. However, they are considered the most dangerous in terms of protection against wheel theft. This lock is made in the form of an ordinary bolt or nut with a modernized profile in the form of a triangle, star or hexagon.

But such fasteners have a low price, and there are no problems with them when unscrewing. But even a criminal can unscrew such wheels, especially since hex, triangular and star wrenches are on sale today. In addition, a standard wrench of a suitable diameter can also catch on an unusual profile.

Secrets with an internal profile are the most reliable in terms of protection. Such products have a complex shape with holes. The key for them looks like a special rod. This type of fastener is very difficult to remove using improvised means. Using pliers also does not give a positive result, because the jaws slide along the rounded surface of the nut or bolt.

Some versions have additional safety features, such as safety wheels on the outer diameter. These rings rotate on the axis of the bolt and prevent any impact. This increases the level of security of secrets. Such devices are considered the most expensive of their kind.

However, locks with additional wheels often become clogged with dirt, making them difficult to unscrew even with a special key.

Some protective products have plastic caps to prevent contamination.

Another type of wheel locks are bolts that have a cone-shaped tip and an offset center of gravity. Such a bolt cannot be removed using an ordinary key, since it has a smooth surface that a criminal cannot cling to.

However, it will be inconvenient for the motorist to remove the wheels, since it is difficult to unscrew such locks even with a specialized key, which is confirmed by the results of numerous tests.

Types of secrets

The wheels of European cars are usually mounted with bolts, while those of Asian cars are mounted with nuts. Therefore, the secret is performed in the same way. To understand which wheel locks are better, you need to know what they are based on their profile type. A protective individual profile can be:

Figured. A profile is a collection of lines of different curvature. A closed figure of an unusual shape is extruded onto the head of a bolt or nut. And a convex pattern of the same shape is cut out on the key. Such secrets are produced on the most precise equipment, which provides a huge number of options for unique parameters. To find the right key, an attacker would have to carry a trunk full of options.
With an eccentric. The design consists of two round profiles. The outer one is tightened away from the thread axis, and the inner one is centered. Products of this type are easier to select, so they are usually used together with other types. Locks with an eccentric will not be the answer to the question: “Which wheel locks are better?” A VAZ or Lada can still be equipped with them, but more expensive cars are not recommended.
Holey. A certain number of asymmetrical holes with different diameters and depths are made in the bolt. The key is accordingly equipped with spikes with the same pattern. It happens the other way around - the secret has spikes, and the key has holes. This option is more practical, since in the first case the bolt holes become clogged with dirt.
Asymmetrical profile. It is an irregular polygon. There can be from 8 to 40 faces. The more there are, the more reliable the secret.

Now, based on this classification, you can understand which wheel locks are best to choose.

Types of secrets and recommendations for choosing

When choosing locking bolts, car enthusiasts, as a rule, give preference to one of the three most effective types of parts.

Locking bolts with a figured profile - their heads are made in the form of a complex figure with curved edges, which is almost impossible to unscrew using the wrong key.
Locking bolts with an asymmetrical profile - a polyhedron with many external and internal slots of different lengths - also reliably protect the wheels and leave no chance for thieves to succeed.
Hole locking bolts - have several asymmetrical holes that differ in diameter, location and depth.

In addition to the options listed, there are often combinations of them that combine the best properties of each type.

Are the seals different for stamped and cast wheels?

The main difference is that the bolt holes in cast wheels have a recess that hides the bolt, while stamped ones do not. Therefore, when installing a lock on a stamped disk, you need to use a seal. It is a protective ring that will close the secret from lateral access. This is a washer that rotates freely when the bolt threads are fully tightened. In the case of light alloy wheels, no additional devices are required, since it is not possible to pry off the wheel seal from the outside.

How to choose the best wheel locks

After reading everything above, drivers may have a logical question: which wheel locks are best? In the selection process, experienced car enthusiasts are guided by which criterion is preferable: reliability or simplicity of design. If you lose the key, it will be easier to unscrew the bolt without connecting a significant arsenal of tools and equipment. On the other hand, the level of security also decreases.

Which secrets are best to choose based on the material of production? The best, but also the most expensive, will be titanium products. Hardened steel has also proven itself well in this regard. If a small amount of chromium or nickel is added to the base metal, this will provide additional protection against rust. You should not purchase soft metals, because their edges quickly wear out and wear off.

Experts recommend choosing reliable locks for car wheels according to the following recommendations:

Secret bolts with a torque ring will be more reliable than others. It is also recommended to choose products with thick walls that cannot be pulled out with force.
Before purchasing online, it is better to check the markings of bolts from well-known manufacturers, and look at product samples in regular retail.
It is also worth choosing secrets based on the quality of the material. For soft metals, the depth of the pattern may be greater. This is done so that the edges do not “lick off” after several unscrewings.
If the purchase is made in a regular car dealership, then it is better to verify with your own hands how impossible it is to grab the secret bolt with a regular pipe wrench.
When purchasing, it makes sense to pay attention to the original packaging, in which products from trusted manufacturers are usually sold. They also provide it with an instruction manual.

If the driver decides to use security locks, then it makes sense to buy a set that contains 2 keys in case you lose one. When traveling to a tire fitting, under no circumstances should installers be allowed to tighten the wheels with an impact wrench. You can only use a regular torque wrench and observe the torque specified in the instructions.

Before putting the wheel in place, it is a good idea to make sure that the mounting holes, thread length, and bolt body length match. Each time during installation and dismantling, the secret bolt is unscrewed first, and it is tightened last. Under no circumstances should you store a secret key in the glove box of your car, where criminals go first. It is better to use a convenient box with a lid for this, where the key and instruction manual will be stored.

Installing and removing secrets

The locks are placed in the holes for the “original” bolts (nuts), one copy per wheel. When installing, the protective bolt must be tightened last, and when dismantling, unscrew first. This simple rule allows you to increase the protective properties of the secret. The fact is that thieves first try to tighten all the bolts in order to weaken the protective pressure.

When installing the seal, you should not apply pressure greater than that provided by the manufacturer. The fact is that if there is excessive load, the product may become deformed. If this happens, it will no longer be possible to unscrew it using normal methods. The likelihood of deformation increases if the bolts are stuck, the metal of the product is of poor quality, or the grooves of the pattern are clogged with dirt.

If you can't unscrew the secret, try using a penetrating lubricant. Pour it into the fastener socket and after a couple of minutes try to accomplish your plan. Try to avoid contact of oil with surfaces coated with varnish or paint.

Variety of secrets

Specialized auto stores offer a fairly wide selection of protective mechanical elements for wheels. In addition to relatively inexpensive Chinese manufacturers, there are products from European companies; quality is confirmed by various certificates and warranty cards. The cost of one set ranges from 2-3 thousand rubles.

Documents for locks often indicate the code according to which these nuts or bolts were made.

The kit includes a wrench and four special bolts or special nuts. One product per wheel is enough to make the job of a thief difficult. This will also reduce the cost of repairs or unscrewing in situations where the car owner himself damages the special mechanism.

Lost key

This is a fairly common problem among car owners. It has several solutions:

First, without any fuss, try to find the key. Perhaps you forgot it at the tire shop or with the previous owner of the car.
If you can’t find it, you need to find out the manufacturer of the product and its serial number. With this data, you can order a copy of the key from the dealer. The advantage of this method is that the set of bolts will remain intact, but the disadvantage is the time spent.
Now let's move on to radical measures. The first of these is drilling. It is done at a tire shop or service station. The disadvantage is that the secrets will become unusable.
Another radical measure is self-twisting. To do this you will need a hammer, a torque wrench, a socket and a new bolt. First you need to select the head to match the size of the secret. It needs to be threaded onto the bolt. In this case, it will, of course, be deformed, taking on the internal shape of the head. Now you need to put a torque wrench on the head and unscrew it. Unscrew it slowly to avoid turning. If everything was successful and the thread survived, you can screw a simple bolt into place and forget about the problem. And if the thread is damaged, you will have to contact a specialist to restore it. Speaking about which wheel locks are better, we have already found out that the metal of the product must be of high quality. This dismantling method, as reviews show, is suitable for cheap versions of secrets that are made of malleable metal.
The last option is to weld something to the secret lock that extends it or creates a lever and calmly unscrew it.

Features of devices

To ensure reliable protection, not only the type of hidden device is important, but also the raw materials from which it is made. Inexpensive Chinese-made bolts and nuts are made from unalloyed steel alloys, which are not very strong.

High-quality products are made of special alloy steel that can even withstand drilling.

The shape of the product is also important to prevent disc theft. Security nuts and bolts can come in many faces and shapes. The more there are, the more difficult it is to open the product without using a special key.

The degree of reliability of hidden devices also depends on the number of samples produced. A low price indicates that a lot of secrets were issued; therefore, there is a high risk that the criminal may have a special key. But there are secrets that are produced in very limited editions. Such bolts and nuts have maximum reliability.

It is also necessary to take into account that secret products are not suitable for ordinary steel wheels, since the wheel disk is too thin, so the head of the product is visible above the surface.

Types of kits

Now you know which wheel locks are better. It's time to find out in what configurations they are sold. Typically the set consists of four bolts (nuts) and one special wrench. This can be either a full-fledged key or an adapter for a standard section. In terms of parameters such as thread and length, the security bolt must necessarily correspond to the standard ones. It may be shorter, but in no case longer. There are other sets:

Four secrets and two keys. Suitable for those who often lose small things.
Five bolts (nuts) and a wrench. An additional secret is used for the spare wheel.
Eight bolts (nuts) and a wrench. For those who want to put two secrets on each wheel.

What to watch out for

Now let's look at which bolts you should not buy, and what problems may arise during their use. Let me start with the fact that any perfect nut and bolt ceases to be effective when it becomes clogged with dirt and debris. The mechanism stops functioning normally, and even the owner of the machine himself is often unable to twist the protection.

You should not buy bolts with a tapered head. Its hole diameter is too small. Even a special key will constantly fly off it, especially if you apply significant force. Sometimes a special key can’t do anything, but a universal one helps. On the other hand, any attacker can use it and steal expensive “light alloys”.

Another point that directly relates to the operation of wheels with protection. The service life will depend on the quality of the head and the metal from which it is made. Many car enthusiasts like to use all kinds of extension cords to remove a stuck bolt. In the case of secrets, it is not recommended to do this. In most attempts this will break the defense mechanism.

Why install two secret bolts?

Many people prefer to make double wheel protection. Why is this necessary, because if an attacker unscrews one bolt, he can also unscrew the second? This is done not for reasons of additional protection, but for your own safety. Having removed all the fasteners from the wheel, except for the secret one, the thief, naturally, will not screw them back on. And if the owner does not notice that his wheel is held on by one bolt, trouble may occur on the road. It's much safer to drive with two bolts on the wheel.

The best brands for wheel locks

It remains to decide on the top brands of manufacturers that make such protective devices for car wheels. The best examples of those entering the domestic market are the following brands:

Farad produces models equipped with one of the most modern anti-vandal devices. The heads of the locks are particularly durable;
The Blocky brand produces special-purpose wheel clamps with excellent protective capabilities. Protrusions are placed on the bolt around the perimeter in a chaotic manner. The same recesses for them are provided on the key itself;
the rating of the best locks would be incomplete without original bolts and nuts from Symbolz. There are recesses around the circumference of the bolt, and there are protrusions suitable for them on the wrench with the nut.

These and other well-known models of protective locks for car wheels are distinguished by increased mechanical properties for torsion. Many have high corrosion resistance. The vandal-proof properties of these devices are designed for long and trouble-free service, subject to simple operating rules.

So, owners of cars with alloy wheels, especially those with a diameter of 16 and above, should definitely use wheel locks. The best devices are those that are equipped with a rotating ring. They cannot be removed with a regular gas wrench. It is also advisable for owners of other vehicles to think about additional protection for wheels and tires.

Where else are secrets used?

On license plates. They are also stolen, and for the purpose of obtaining ransom. Usually the owner prefers to pay money to the thief rather than contact law enforcement agencies.
On the spare wheel. Used if the spare tire is hanging on the trunk lid or under it.
For the hood. It is a semblance of a standard lock or an electromechanical secret.
For the motor. These are anti-theft devices that will not allow a burglar to start the engine, even if he gets your car key.

Positive automotive community

And now locks are gaining popularity again, as they allow you to protect the wheels of your car at minimal cost. A lock is a special wheel fastener (bolt or nut) that has a non-standard profile, which makes it impossible to unscrew it with a regular wheel wrench.

To unscrew and screw in locks, special keys are used that are shaped to match the profile of the fastening element. This key comes complete with the wheel bolts and should be kept in a safe place by the driver.

That is, everything is simple, the lock cannot be unscrewed with ordinary keys or devices, so a thief simply cannot steal the wheels, of course, if he does not have a key of the appropriate shape.

Wheels stolen: what to do?

It happens that while a person is thinking about which locks are best to put on the wheels and whether it is worth doing it at all, his car is safely left without shoes. In this case, the sequence of actions should look like this:

Call the police. Have them take a photo of the theft location and write down any important differences (scratches, chips, etc.) on your wheels.
Write an application and receive a notification coupon as confirmation.
Look through ads for wheels for sale on the Internet and try to find yours. If you are lucky, immediately record all the seller’s data and contact the police with it.

Wheel locks: which ones are better, reviews

Reviews from experienced car owners show that when choosing secrets you need to pay attention to the following points:

The product packaging must contain the name, designation, serial number and country of origin. The secrets that are drilled in garages by craftsmen will not lead to anything good.
It is recommended to buy secrets not in car parts markets, but in stores. At the market, they can slip anything into the packaging of a good product. And no one here will definitely write you a check. It is advisable to go for secrets to a specialized store that sells only wheels and everything connected with them. If a company is serious, it will never risk its reputation and sell counterfeits.
Consult with the seller before purchasing wheel locks. You already know which ones are better to choose, but it’s unlikely that the metal of the product will react with the alloy of the discs. Again, no one on the market will give you a qualified answer to questions of this nature.

What are secrets, purpose

The secret is a familiar bolt, the peculiarity of which lies in the peculiar and unique shape of the head. In order to unscrew a non-standard bolt, you will need a special wrench, the shape and diameter of which must exactly match all the recesses and threads of the head. Manufacturers make secrets of various shapes and variations. However, the device cannot guarantee 100% protection, since experienced burglars can use a regular gas key or simply cut off the secret. The choice of a secret must be taken with full responsibility, otherwise at one point you may not find the wheels on the car.

Of course, no anti-theft system is capable of providing 100% protection, but secrets will bring a lot of trouble and fuss to the thief. To open such a fastener, you need to have access to the original key, otherwise it will be extremely difficult to unscrew the bolt, so the burglar will have to tinker and spend a lot of time to break into a “protected” car.