Scion wheel locks are just crazy marked up McGard wheel locks in a Scion package.

McGard wheel locks come in many many variations, so the theives would have to be carrying alot of them.

 

So are you saying that is a good thing or bad thing?

 

It's a very good thing, McGard makes great wheel locks.



They aren't something a readily available tool will be able to defeat or something you could easily drill.

Plus there are 100+ different key/lock patterns.

Unless the theif has the key or the lock pattern serial #, those wheels aren't coming off without some serious work.

The only thing Scion is doing is taking normal McGard wheel locks and sticking them in a package with a Scion logo on then and marking up the price 300%.

 

Most of the time they won't bother to match a key, you can usually just pound an oversized socket on it or use one of those gator grip sockets. The wheel locks will keep the rank amateurs away, but if they are serious about getting your wheels, they will get them. ANOTHER DILEMMA I came across after putting the wheel locks on mine - What do you do with the key? EVERYONE puts them IN THE CAR. Couldn't they just break in and check the glove box or trunk? A little too bulky to carry on your keychain. I've been thinking of a lock for the key to your wheel locks...

Bottom line IMO, it's better to have them than not have them.

 

This doesn't make any sense... If they can be stolen that easily, wouldn't the thief that just stole them KNOW that and not bother to use them. I mean what good are they...

OTOH, my uncle went thru a nasty divorce and was driving down the road one day and his van started feeling realllly weird. He got out and looked and SOMEONE took all the lugnuts off the wheels - the only thing that saved his ___ was the lock nuts...

 

Gator grip or oversized socket wont work on these wheel locks, I've seen it attempted before when somebody wanted to swap their wheels and lost their key. The slots are too narrow and curved for the gator to work, they wont even lock in and the oversized socket only mared the finish.

As for the key... there are several spots to hide it, cutting or making a spot here and there, unless a theif has 20+ minutes to tear apart the car, he won't be finding it.

 

wow what idiots...hey lets steel rims on a car that just came out that has a scion logo right on the rim. why would someone want to steel them i don't get it...people are such dumbasses some times

 

i got the Scion wheel locks off toyotaparts4u... in the order manifest it says they are 'XA'... but seeing as how the package is Scion-generic, can I assume that they will work on the tC also?

some scary stories on here, that's for sure...!

 

Wait, so suppose I order the wheel locks from Scion. Will everyone who buys their wheel locks from Scion have the same key or is there at least some level of variations between some of the keys? Granted I trust you fellow scion people, but crazy scion wannabee guy might buy the wheel lock set cheap and use the key to steal my rims to put into his wannabe car. Is it better to buy elsewhere then, like the McGard mentioned earlier?

 

Hi,
Is it sufficient to have only four wheel locks (one for each wheel)? I bought red wheel locks for my last car so I changed all 16 but it seems like most cars just have one lock on each wheel. -Jayme

 

Yes, they work fine on the tC.

 

Stupid question...but I am coming from hubcaps. Do you need to take off the wheel to install the wheel lock? How hard is it to do?

 

The wheel lock is just a replacement for one of your lug nuts. It doesn't have the hex shape, but is totally round so a regular socket wrench won't fit around it. The instructions recommend that it be the last nut tightened, and the first taken off for ease of removal.

It's something you can do yourself as long as you have a 13/16th inch hex socket, and a torque wrench set to 76 ft/lbs.

 

All the wheel lock makers vary the key patterns. To what extent, I'm not sure. But it's not a one key fits all scions thing. In fact, they aren't really car maker specific, just have to match the correct thread pattern.



Most people just use one on each wheel. Maybe yours were more like "tuner" lugs that are designed to not have the hex shape outside and usually use something smiliar to a key to remove them.

I guess if you wanted to get really crazy, you could buy four sets of locking lugs and put one of each set on each wheel, 5 sets for you tC guys... Your mechanic will probably strangle you when you take it in for a rotation. :twisted:

 

Having more than one set of wheel locks is pretty pointless. If a thief has the means to get around one of them, he can probably take care of the other in similar fashion. It's just a deterant much like using a club on your steering wheel. They can easily cut your wheel or break the hook arm on it to remove it. You're just hoping it's enough to have a would-be thief see it and decide to move on to someone else's car.

 

I wasn't planning on getting wheel locks, but then again I've never had anything worth stealing the wheels on. after seeing the stock 17" wheels, I'm probably gonna do it. I think I heard someone say something about there being a place in the car to stick the key for the wheels - the thinking being that you wouldn't want to have to carry it around all the time and you sure wouldn't want to forget it and then get a flat. Am I making this up or is this right. anyone? Jayme?

 

I am guessing that the safest bet to not getting your wheels stolen, is to have two different key lug nuts in each wheel.. better if both are different brands..

 

You're all wrong. The safest bet is to weld your wheels to your car. Honestly - if you have an alarm with a tilt sensor and wheel locks, nobody is going to steal your stock wheels. I've never heard of someone wanting wheels bad enough to get past one wheel lock, much less anything else you might have. If you wheels were made of solid gold or they cost 10k or something, fine. Don't get crazy though. Wheel locks are way better than no wheel locks, and they're not 100% bulletproof, but if you get more than one per wheel, you're pretty damn paranoid.