I'm considering buying a new 2009 accord coupe with the standard alloy
wheels. Never having owned alloy wheels what are alloy wheels? Is it
recommended to get wheel locks for these? Do these wheels usually get
stolen without the wheel locks? I live near Houston, Texas.

On 2/14/09 7:37 AM, in article 09idp49c7g4qr7hvrm8k651c42njijulic (AT) 4ax (DOT) com,
"newbie" <newbie> wrote:

They are made of a metal alloy rather than steel. Advantages include less
unsprung weight which translates into slightly better mileage.

Do they need wheel locks? The professional thieves have the wherewithal to
readily defeat the locks. They might slow down the teenage amateurs for a
little while. I remember from when I lived in Houston that anything not
nailed down and guarded with a shotgun was fair game, so wheel locks might
help, but its more likely they would just take the whole car.

I'll bet the dealers automatically put them on all the cars on their lots &
then try to sell them with the car at significantly above retail markup.
All the dealers around Dallas do this. Since this is sorta sleazy, I always
tell them I don't want the locks and won't pay for them. In every case (4
new cars so far) they just give them to me as part of the deal.

The rims are made of aluminum metal alloy, of a proprietary recipe.

Yes, I would install wheel locks.

If someone needs them yes.


"E. Meyer" wrote:

This is sad but true.
A local (south bay) So. Cal dealer tried to charge a friend's daughter $500
for a set of wheel locks.
Locks like this:
http://payments.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CheckoutProcessor&item=250371820843& transactionid=0&quantity=1&level=1&editAddress=0&n ewpurchaseok=0&refererpage=6&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOI BSA:US:1160

Will stop the amateur and are something you can install yourself, if you're
so inclined.


--
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No Lawsuit Ever Fixed A Moron...

On Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:37:57 -0600, newbie <newbie> wrote:

"jim beam" <spamvortex (AT) bad (DOT) example.net> wrote

no lug nut lock socket, I called my local Discount Tire. They told me the
method they use in that situation: drive on a socket that is slightly
smaller than the lock and remove the lock with a regular socket handle. None
of the pieces are recognized as "burglar tools." It was about as quick as
using the proper unlock socket except it destroyed the lock.

I agree - the usual locks are completely worthless.

Mike

newbie wrote:

If your roads are anything like those in Houston, you'll
probably beat the rims to death anyway. If they have those
low, low profile tires, it will ride like a truck, to boot.

"E. Meyer" <epmeyer50 (AT) msn (DOT) com> wrote in
news:C5BC40E4.23C8%epmeyer50 (AT) msn (DOT) com:



Lower unspring weight is supposed to mean better ride and handling, not
mileage.

Theoretically, a lighter wheel assembly means the suspension can more
quickly and effectively control road wheel movements with less transfer
of motion to the body.

However, I'm not sure the actual weight differential between steel and
aluminum is enough to make a real difference, so I think the purpose of
aluminum wheels is primarily cosmetic enhancement. Certainly the
suspension is the same whether the wheels are steel or aluminum. The
wheel/tire assembly weighs approximately 30-35 lbs.





In practice, locks do help slow thieves down a bit. Given a choice
between locked and unlocked wheels, thieves will choose the unlocked
wheels first.





All /retailers/ do this sort of thing, period. It's how they make money.
But you're always free to refuse it.





You won, then. You did your job as a consumer.



--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Tegger wrote:

Then you typically throw on the much wider tires and the combined weight
exceeds the weight of steelies and OEM tires.

Looks cooler and may perform better, though...

jim beam <spamvortex (AT) bad (DOT) example.net> wrote in
news:mSHll.225991$yk4.68781 (AT) fe05 (DOT) news.easynews.com:



I'd think the added cost of aluminum wheels would far outweigh any savings
in gas. But then again, if the car came with aluminum wheels as standard,
you'd have no added costs...





Now that I find more realistic. Racers do have to be fanatical when looking
for that extra thousandth of a second.

I even had one guy (a track racer) tell me he was convinced he gained a few
milliseconds just from waxing his race car. His reasoning was that a waxed
car presents a slicker surface to the air, thus reducing drag. No idea if
he was right or not, but that's what he told me.





The relentless advance of technology renders my info out of date!



--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

"jim beam" <spamvortex (AT) bad (DOT) example.net> wrote

Locks add only at most a second or two to each wheel stolen, compared to the
time it takes to get the wheel off the ground and supported by something to
leave the car sitting on. If there are two thieves working on it, one on the
lug nuts while the other is lifting the corner, it doesn't slow things down
at all.

Mike