Locking nuts - worth getting?

Comhrá

I have a nice 141 Audi with nice 17" oem alloys. I occasionally worry that they could be a target for thieves some dark night.

Question - are locking nuts effective as a deterrent, are they worth the money?

Opinions welcome.

visual

tippman1 wrote: »

I have a nice 141 Audi with nice 17" oem alloys. I occasionally worry that they could be a target for thieves some dark night.

Question - are locking nuts effective as a deterrent, are they worth the money?

Opinions welcome.

Yes they are worth it, while it's possible to force them off it takes a lot of effort and makes noise
OEM are more expensive to replace than after market alloys.

v240gltse

Here's my tuppence worth

personally they are a right royal pain in the ass

because

1. you have to make sure that you know where the locking key is kept in the car

2. then spend minutes trying to fit it in the pouring rain or the dark

3. loose the key are you are in a world of pain

All the above is from personel expierence so the first thing i do is to remove them from a car and fit standard bolts.

let the debate begin

Brendan

visual

Bigger pain when you return to your car and find all the wheels gone

paulmclaughlin

v240gltse wrote: »

Here's my tuppence worth

personally they are a right royal pain in the ass

because

1. you have to make sure that you know where the locking key is kept in the car

2. then spend minutes trying to fit it in the pouring rain or the dark

3. loose the key are you are in a world of pain

All the above is from personel expierence so the first thing i do is to remove them from a car and fit standard bolts.

let the debate begin

Brendan

1. Keep it with the spare tyre.

2. Fit them during the day, when it's not raining.

3. Don't be so clumsy.

All pretty lousy excuses against equipment that could potentially save you hundreds of euro.

johnayo

v240gltse wrote: »

Here's my tuppence worth

personally they are a right royal pain in the ass

because

1. you have to make sure that you know where the locking key is kept in the car

2. then spend minutes trying to fit it in the pouring rain or the dark

3. loose the key are you are in a world of pain

All the above is from personel expierence so the first thing i do is to remove them from a car and fit standard bolts.



let the debate begin

Brendan

No.4
Make sure some muppet doesn't use an air-gun to tighten them. Not much fun when the tool rounds off as you try to remove security nut on the roadside.

creedp

johnayo wrote: »

No.4
Make sure some muppet doesn't use an air-gun to tighten them. Not much fun when the tool rounds off as you try to remove security nut on the roadside.

Agree 2 of my locknuts have been damaged that way. Managed to get them off and have replaced them will normal nuts. 6 year old wheels with some minor kerbing and corrosion .. I think they will be safe enough. Wouldnt risk it with brand new alloys though

Cheensbo

paulmclaughlin wrote: »

1. Keep it with the spare tyre.

2. Fit them during the day, when it's not raining.

3. Don't be so clumsy.

All pretty lousy excuses against equipment that could potentially save you hundreds of euro.

4. Only get punctures during the day, when it's not raining :pac:

v240gltse

so you only get a puncture

1. when its dry

2. in daylight

and not

1. when its bucketing down rain

2. on the side of a country road with no street lights ??

Not lousy excuses at all but very practical ones. Yes its a pain to come back and find your wheels gone but so is coming back to find your car gone.

like i said just my tuppence worth.




2. o

paulmclaughlin wrote: »

1. Keep it with the spare tyre.

2. Fit them during the day, when it's not raining.

3. Don't be so clumsy.

All pretty lousy excuses against equipment that could potentially save you hundreds of euro.

newbie2

I had locking nuts on my '06 focus. Twice I've has flat tyres and when trying to take off the locking nuts with the 'key' the 'keyable part' of the locking nut sheered off. leaving the nut stuck in the wheel.

since then I've replaced all my locking nuts with regular nuts.

In fairness the wheels are a bit sh1t now so i don't think anyone will rob them

Hal1

I from now on remove the locknuts prior to visiting any tyre centres. Some gob****e destroyed on head on two of them. So I had to buy a removal key. They are reverse threaded so it's a diy job.

Alanstrainor

I would get them. But a good set, from Audi themselves or BBS or the likes. I got a BMW set for mine after I changed the wheels. Whenever something is done to my wheels, I specifically request that they be removed with a wrench and a breaker bar. When I bought my yoke the wheels were practically welded on by some numpty with an air gun.

blackbox

I can't believe that Audi didn't include them with the car.

How stingy is that?

joe912

don't get them. nobody is going to steal your wheels. inevitably some day when you need it most you wont be able to take them off.

colm_mcm

joe912 wrote: »

don't get them. nobody is going to steal your wheels. inevitably some day when you need it most you wont be able to take them off.

This is an audi, so some scrote in a Toledo or whatever will pay a good few quid for a set of audi wheels with 4 newish tyres.

joe912

colm_mcm wrote: »

This is an audi, so some scrote in a Toledo or whatever will pay a good few quid for a set of audi wheels with 4 newish tyres.

if they do, then some scrote is going to take the keys from your house and take the whole car.

colm_mcm

joe912 wrote: »

if they do, then some scrote is going to take the keys from your house and take the whole car.

I've never heard of anyone stealing a car so they could take the wheels off. I've seen plenty cases (from working in a main dealer of a manufacturer that leaves out lock nuts on irish spec cars) where a car was jacked up overnight, put on bricks and the wheels quietly nicked though.

visual

I had alloys robbed from a car many years ago came out to find on blocks on one side and a cheap car jack on the other. Had an exam that morning so call garda and insurance company.

Car remained like that for two day while I ran around making police report and sourced new after market alloys and tyres. I paid up front and got reimburse a few weeks later from insurance company

lock nuts yes and keep the key in car. It isn't a hard thing to do.

Neither is it to fit the locking nut yourself so you are guarantee it is fitted correctly and can be removed when needed.

greasepalm

if buying locking nuts keep the name and reference number if you do lose your key as it maybe handy to know where you bought it.
sourcing with a name is much easier and if leaving into garage either remove locking nut or leave on seat when car is been serviced.some have been stored in boot with spare wheel and boot full of crap which should be empty.flat spare lol