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Everybody loves a shiny set of eye-catching wheels on a nice ride—including marauding thieves. If your vehicle spends the majority of the time parked on the street or in parking lots, investing in anti-theft lug nuts is affordable insurance for wheel theft. Read on to see our picks for the best wheel locks to prevent theft.
Too often do we catch wind of vehicles ransacked for their rollers, but that’s what a nifty set of locking wheel lug nuts is for. Clever and secure for little chunks of metal, they replace a standard lug nut on each wheel to render it nearly impossible for thieves and ne’er-do-wells to snatch them right off. They’re ingenious bits for providing some added peace of mind that we won’t be left on the side of the road scratching our heads at the cinder blocks beneath our frame.
A quick search reveals that there’s quite an inventory, however. I can be tricky to know which is right for your car. Allow The Drive to assist in sifting through the array of wheel locks on the market. From big trucks to small cars and everything in between, I’ll guide you through a catalog’s worth of goods to find the right product for you.
Summary List
- Best Overall: McGard Cone Seat Lug Nut Wheel Installation Kit
- Best Value: Gorilla Automotive Cone Seat Wheel Lock Nuts
- Honorable Mention: McGard Chrome Cone Seat Wheel Locks
- Best for Trucks/Large SUVs: DYNOFIT Spline Wheel Lug Nuts
- Best for Aftermarket Wheels: Mishimoto Cone Seat Locking Lug Nuts
Our Methodology
We at The Drive always aim to deliver the most informative product reviews possible. And while it wasn’t possible to source every wheel lock in the world to test on a range of vehicles in a timely manner, I curated this concise guide by pairing extensive research with personal knowledge. Real-life consumer feedback and expert opinion from retail sites such as Amazon and CARiD assist in determining which products are the right calls for each kind of driver. For more on how we generally curate the buyer’s guides, check out this link.
Best Locking Wheel Lugs: Reviews & Recommendations
Best Overall
McGard Cone Seat Lug Nut Wheel Installation Kit
Best Value
Gorilla Automotive Cone Seat Wheel Lock Nuts
Honorable Mention
McGard Chrome Cone Seat Wheel Locks
Best for Trucks/Large SUVs
DYNOFIT Spline Wheel Lug Nuts
Best for Aftermarket Wheels
Mishimoto Cone Seat Locking Lug Nuts
Best Locking
Veritek Performance Wheel Bolt Locks
Our Verdict on the Best Locking Lug Nuts
There goes The Drive’s guide to wheel locks, with McGard’s Cone Seat Lug Nut Wheel Installation Kit ranking as our overall best for its variety and undeniable robustness. The Gorilla Cone Seat Wheel Lock Nuts represent stellar value for boosting security with a good price.
What to Consider When Buying Locking Lug Nuts
Wheel locks come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some of them aren’t even lug nuts, but bolts for specific vehicles! Some are spline drive lug nuts while others have far more intricate and complicated key patterns. Whichever you choose, the first and foremost factor to consider in determining if it fits. Identical wheel locks may be produced in varying thread sizes to accommodate different vehicles, so be aware of the threads on your vehicle’s studs and the wheel lock itself. Most retail sites will feature a tool to help you sort out which locks will fit your application.
Pricing
Wheel lock kits are generally one of the more inexpensive car parts you can buy. Most will ring in between $20 and $40 for a set of locks and a key or upwards of $100 to $300 for a full set with accompanying replacement lug nuts depending on the vehicle.
FAQs
You’ve got questions. The Drive has answers.
A: No, fit is based on the vehicle and its studs. How long are they? What’s the thread pitch and diameter? These are things to consider with some locks only compatible with a select few vehicles. Most websites will have tools to help you sort out the correct products for you.
A: Thread is measured in stud diameter and thread pitch and most often measured in millimeters. An example is the thread size, M14 x 1.5, where 14 and 1.5 are the stud diameter and thread pitch in millimeters, respectively. In rare cases, some companies may measure in inches.
A: In short, locking lug nuts/bolts use heads with complex patterns that are difficult for a conventional hex socket to grasp and remove. Spline drives and floral-pattern grooves are examples, requiring a specific key to grasp. The key can then be paired with a normal socket and wrench.
A: From personal experience and feedback, floral-style grooves engraved into heads like McGard are the most difficult to bypass given the many odd patterns available. Even if someone had a key for that type, there’s no guarantee it would match as companies may etch one of several random patterns onto the head.
