Question about rims

Hey im new to the whole car modding scene and i was just wondering about getting some new rims. i wanna get some and but im scared about getting them stolen but i heard about something called locking lug nuts or lock nuts whatever theyre called.. what are these and how do they work?

Welcome to the forum.

Typical locking lug nuts are just keyed lugnuts that require a special key to be used in conjuction with the standard lugnut socket. If the wheels have a center cap, there is typically just one locking lugnut on each wheel (for a total of 4 locking lugnuts per car). Some of the more ricey wheels use all keyed lugnuts, I suppose for symmetry.

Still, locking lugnuts won't prevent wheels from being stolen, but they typically will significantly reduce the ease of stealing wheels.

-Rod

Welcome to the forum.

Typical locking lug nuts are just keyed lugnuts that require a special key to be used in conjuction with the standard lugnut socket. If the wheels have a center cap, there is typically just one locking lugnut on each wheel (for a total of 4 locking lugnuts per car). Some of the more ricey wheels use all keyed lugnuts, I suppose for symmetry.

Still, locking lugnuts won't prevent wheels from being stolen, but they typically will significantly reduce the ease of stealing wheels.

-Rod
oh okay, so the nuts have to come with the wheels or you can buy them after? (the locking ones)

You can buy them separately, but you'll need to make sure you get the proper locking lugnuts for your application. Some aftermarket wheels require a different taper (not sure of the correct term) from stock.

-Rod

You just buy a set of four locking nuts in the right size (bolt diameter, thread, and seat type) There are basically two main types of seat; conical (also called acorn) and mag-style. The first uses a tapered seat to center the wheel on the stud. The mag style uses a flat seat with a shoulder.

Here is a photo of some locking lug nuts. You should be able to see how they work from this picture. These are acorn style, and the fifth piece is the key. You can see inside that key how there is a little shape that lines up with the clover-shaped slot on the nuts.

https://www.dodgeparts.com/images/chrysler_locking_lug_nuts.jpg

You just buy a set of four locking nuts in the right size (bolt diameter, thread, and seat type) There are basically two main types of seat; conical (also called acorn) and mag-style. The first uses a tapered seat to center the wheel on the stud. The mag style uses a flat seat with a shoulder.

Here is a photo of some locking lug nuts. You should be able to see how they work from this picture. These are acorn style, and the fifth piece is the key. You can see inside that key how there is a little shape that lines up with the clover-shaped slot on the nuts.

https://www.dodgeparts.com/images/chrysler_locking_lug_nuts.jpg

okay , thanks for the info, so so far i understand
1. each rim comes with one locking nut
2. you can get all locking nuts if you want
3. the other guy that posted above you said something about if a wheel has a center cap , that they will have a locking nut, what is a center cap? and how do i know if it doesnt have a center cap?
4. I also saw a car with chrome rims and it had sort of a center piece covering all the nuts with one little area that looks like it needs an allen key to open? is this a center cap or is this something totally different?
PS. Can you post some pictures to help me understand this stuff :P the nut picture really helped :P sorry for all the trouble , im just trying to learn as much as i can before i start all the modding

What I was trying to get across is that if the lugs are covered by a center cap (which is like you described, but not always held on with a cap head screw) there's no point in having more than one locking lugnut per wheel. However, for symmetry/appearance, some owners of wheels with exposed lugnuts may opt to have all 4 or 5 lugs at each wheel appear the same.

Your best bet may be to stop by a local wheel and tire store and have them show you what they have for choices.

You can also check out some of the links at this site (http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/index.jsp) for more details. That link shows a third type of seat type, the ball/radius type. I have not seen any of those personally, but the background photo reminded me that some European models don't even use lugnuts, they have lug bolts. They are not fun to change wheels on as you have to hold the wheel in place and rotate it to get the bolts started.

-Rod

What I was trying to get across is that if the lugs are covered by a center cap (which is like you described, but not always held on with a cap head screw) there's no point in having more than one locking lugnut per wheel. However, for symmetry/appearance, some owners of wheels with exposed lugnuts may opt to have all 4 or 5 lugs at each wheel appear the same.

Your best bet may be to stop by a local wheel and tire store and have them show you what they have for choices.

You can also check out some of the links at this site (http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/index.jsp) for more details. That link shows a third type of seat type, the ball/radius type. I have not seen any of those personally, but the background photo reminded me that some European models don't even use lugnuts, they have lug bolts. They are not fun to change wheels on as you have to hold the wheel in place and rotate it to get the bolts started.

-Rod
very interesting stuff :) thanks for the great support, do you have msn? so we can talk easier :P

I do not have MSN.

-Rod

I do not have MSN.

-Rod
is there any way to save posts so i can read them later because eventually they get deleted right? so is there i way i can save it on my computer or something?

The posts won't get deleted. The threads may be closed, but you can still view them. You can find them later via the "Search this forum" tool. You can also subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" feature.

-Rod

You just buy a set of four locking nuts in the right size (bolt diameter, thread, and seat type) There are basically two main types of seat; conical (also called acorn) and mag-style. The first uses a tapered seat to center the wheel on the stud.
Just to add a couple of points here.
As I recall, there are two different styles of taper, so get the nuts that are appropriate for your rims.

Also, some vehicles (many VW's and Audi's, for example) use bolts (not nuts) to hold the wheels on. For them, locking bolts are required.

Right, MagicRat.

H3llfir3, take a look at this photo:

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/06/impala-wheel-250.jpg

Notice that the lug nuts are not visible because they are behind that center cap. Some wheels have a locking bolt (similar to the above locking lug nuts) that hold that center cap in place. The idea being, if you can't get the center cap off, you can't get to the lug nuts.

The only problem I see with them is that they are not very secure. The caps are usually plastic and you can just rip them off, or the little screws that hold them on can just be jimmied off with a screwdriver. Locking lug nuts are the way to go if you ask me.

is there any way to save posts so i can read them later because eventually they get deleted right? so is there i way i can save it on my computer or something?
you could just copy and paste them to somewhere seperate?

posts don't get deleted really, they just fade away like AMC and Pontiac. If you do a search for posts made by my username, they go back to 2002, so I don't think anything gets deleted.

If the board switches servers, typically we archive old posts and kinda start new. There are also posts that are inappropriate that get deleted, closed, moved, or we make them "invisible" so mods can see it but you can't.