Wheel Locks

A wheel lock is one lug nut per wheel with a non-standard drive pattern that requires a matching key socket to remove. It is a deterrent rather than an absolute defense, and that is the right way to think about it: a thief working quickly with common tools moves on to an easier target, while a determined thief with a lock extractor will eventually get through.Buy locks with the same seat type and thread pitch as the rest of your lug hardware. This is the same conical, ball or mag seat decision as your standard lug nuts, and mixing seat types on the same wheel is exactly as bad here as it is anywhere else.Practical advice from people who have been stranded: keep the key in the vehicle, but keep it somewhere you will actually find it, and photograph the key pattern number and store it. If you lose the key, removal becomes a destructive process. It is also worth checking that your key fits with the tools a roadside service or tire shop actually carries, and that a spare-tire change is possible with the key you have on board.