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Lowlifes trying to steal my rims/tires
| 01-10-2014, 08:15 PM | #1 |
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Lowlifes trying to steal my rims/tires
My neighbor told me that a few nights ago when he was coming home at 3AM he saw a van with someone on it and 2 thugs checking out my rims/tires. Looking like ready to steal the rims/tires. Note that my car is parked right in my driveway. These thugs saw my neighbor and got scare and ran off. Right now I parked it inside the garage but this is not a long term solution due to the lack of space. Just thinking about this makes me broil
 .My car already has the BMW wheel locks. What else can I install/get/do to keep it in one piece? Note that I did not get the $400 alarm if this makes any difference. Any suggestions? Help!  |
| 01-10-2014, 08:18 PM | #2 | |
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Or put locking lugs in all five positions on each wheel. They probably won't want to mess with that. |
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| 01-10-2014, 08:23 PM | #3 |
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Set up a motion detector and buy a gun!
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| 01-10-2014, 08:25 PM | #4 |
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install CCTV cameras and one or two strong LED motion detecting security lights to scare them away!
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| 01-10-2014, 08:34 PM | #5 |
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Motion activated lights are your best bet. Wheel locks only slow down honest thieves. It's stupid easy to get wheel locks off.
Cameras show you what happened. They don't prevent anything. If you have a garage, use it. |
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| 01-10-2014, 08:41 PM | #6 |
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Oh man, this sucks! Thankfully nothing got missing (yet :s)
I agree with people saying to use your garage, it IS the safest place for your car at night! The other stuff (junk?  ) in there you might be able to store somewhere else or even rent a storage for.Also invest in some good motion activated lighting and install it decently(so they can't cut the wires easily, this happened at my parents house during a burglary a couple years back!)
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| 01-10-2014, 08:57 PM | #7 |
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Read a magazine test from England that pitted wheel locks against some 'reformed' car thieves. Most of the wheel locks were off in less than 30-seconds. The only one that stood out was a version made by McGard that is NOT sold here in the US. It was eventually foiled, but took both time and tools probably not in the arsenal of the typical thief - a power impact wrench and about 5-minutes per bolt! Those things are noisy, and the typical goal is to be long gone way before that time for a set! These bolts differ from the 'typical' ones in that there's a freely rotating hardened steel collar around the outside. So, the typical method of pounding a socket over the outside, and just unbolting the thing is totally foiled. YOu need speed and vibration and time to get it off. They're made in Germany, and you can get them on www.amazon.co.uk and if you search a bit, double-check your required size, but here's an example http://www.amazon.co.uk/McGard-28018...rd+wheel+bolts
I have had a set now for about 3+years. Some of the places hit you for exorbitant shipping charges, so you need to shop around. |
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| 01-10-2014, 09:14 PM | #9 | |
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Quote:
 Garage FTW.
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| 01-10-2014, 09:22 PM | #11 |
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Park in the garage and then come out like
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| 01-10-2014, 09:28 PM | #13 |
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Sucks! What neighborhood is this? My guess is somewhere in Queens if you have a garage. I'm in NYC too.
+1 for cameras and signs letting people know you have cameras. They'll move on to an easier target if you give them any reason to doubt. |
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| 01-10-2014, 11:58 PM | #16 |
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[QUOTE=jadnashuanh;15249873]Read a magazine test from England that pitted wheel locks against some 'reformed' car thieves. Most of the wheel locks were off in less than 30-seconds. The only one that stood out was a version made by McGard that is NOT sold here in the US. It was eventually foiled, but took both time and tools probably not in the arsenal of the typical thief - a power impact wrench and about 5-minutes per bolt! Those things are noisy, and the typical goal is to be long gone way before that time for a set! These bolts differ from the 'typical' ones in that there's a freely rotating hardened steel collar around the outside. So, the typical method of pounding a socket over the outside, and just unbolting the thing is totally foiled. YOu need speed and vibration and time to get it off. They're made in Germany, and you can get them on www.amazon.co.uk and if you search a bit, double-check your required size, but here's an example http://www.amazon.co.uk/McGard-28018...rd+wheel+bolts
I have had a set now for about 3+years. Some of the places hit you for exorbitant shipping charges, so you need to shop around.[/QUOTE. ] I bought a used 328 with 6000 miles on it out of California. The car was mint except for it was missing the wheel lock key. I immediately started going from shop to shop here in Dallas looking for somebody who could break the locks off so I could buy new ones with a key. Shop after shop said it was easy and they all had fancy tools just for the situation. Well they ALL failed miserably, and only managed to scratch the hell out of the wheels. Finally one dealership identified them as Mcgard locks who I contacted through email and were able to get a replacement key sent to me from their NY office. Obviously Mcgard wheels locks are not unstoppable, but they are hella pain in the ass to get off. Man you should have seen the look of defeat on all the guys faces that said it was no problem to pop them off, and this was in their own tire shops. Good luck trying to get them off in your front yard in complete silence at night. Other then a garage, motion lights, or small caliber rifle, these are a good bet. |
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| 01-11-2014, 01:52 AM | #19 |
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Another vote for the mcgard nuts. But the lights & CCTV will hopefully persuade them to look for an easier target and move on.
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