Where to keep your locking wheel nuts box?

[Nick72]

Seen several instances of RAV wheel theft in the USA. Window smashed, locking nut kit in the glove box, wheels and tyres gone. 

It's probably not a good idea to keep them seperate from the car, like locked up at home, for all the obvious reasons. But where is there a safer place in the car, to make it more difficult for thieves?

I was wondering if a combination lock box under the boot floor panel might be an idea.

For context, car crime is relatively low in my area versus national average but I have still had a car break in probably 4 or 5 years ago. A car stolen before that. And one set on fire. But I do travel a lot and leave the car in some dodgy areas, not by choice. 

 

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

We just keep ours in a bag in the boot or in the spare wheel well.

Is this a reason to get another small storage net?

[philip42h]

32 minutes ago, Nick72 said:

Seen several instances of RAV wheel theft in the USA. Window smashed, locking nut kit in the glove box, wheels and tyres gone.

Probably not a good idea to take your car to the States then! 😄

Just storing the box within the spare wheel well would do. I can't see that another strong box is really necessary. The trouble is that while you may keep your wheels, you'd still wind up with a broken passenger window.

It may be better to swap the locking wheel nuts back to the standard ones and, hopefully, save your windows - but you still couldn't rely on the intelligence of the would-be thief.

Of course, if someone breaks the window the alarm will sound ... 🤷‍♂️

[flash22]

stick it with the spare tyre in the boot (Trunk)

if thieves want something they will take it

[MC1216]

I always remove my locking wheel nut and replace with a normal nut....i once had mine snap on me while in the middle of nowhere in France so i learnt my lesson the hard way.

My next door neighbour is a serving police officer and he said there is hardly any wheels stolen nowadays compared with the 80's and 90's.

[yossarian247]

Lend your car to my wife for a week. She'll kerb the wheels so badly that no thief in their right mind would ever want them 😉

[Nick72]

Spare wheel well it is then! 😊 

[Rhymes with Paris]

Round here it looks like a few cars have had their wheels replaced with strange rectangular objects, mainly red in colour.

Nah , I think nowadays the 80s and 90s fashion for nicking wheels and radios is hopefully over.

Even the names have changed,ravey Davey at the car meets reckons that wheels are now known as rims, and radios/stereos are called head units.

Could hardly hear him though over my base bins pumping out my punk compilation.

[Nick72]

15 minutes ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Round here it looks like a few cars have had their wheels replaced with strange rectangular objects, mainly red in colour.

Nah , I think nowadays the 80s and 90s fashion for nicking wheels and radios is hopefully over.

Even the names have changed,ravey Davey at the car meets reckons that wheels are now known as rims, and radios/stereos are called head units.

Could hardly hear him though over my base bins pumping out my punk compilation.

😂

May be it's now only an American thing. 

I just recall visiting mates in Liverpool and Manchester in the 90s there were lots of cars missing their wheels, propped up on bricks. 😂 Rims, sorry. WTH next, a new name for a transistor radio? 

[TonyHSD]

The safest place is the boot in the spare wheel well or You can place the box in separate travel bag or something.
Glovebox, central console storage are the first place thieves are looking at.  And again, if anyone wants your car or something from your car they will take it. Too much worry about these things it’s not a good idea. 

[J2024IE]

7 hours ago, Nick72 said:

Seen several instances of RAV wheel theft in the USA. Window smashed, locking nut kit in the glove box, wheels and tyres gone. 

It's probably not a good idea to keep them seperate from the car, like locked up at home, for all the obvious reasons. But where is there a safer place in the car, to make it more difficult for thieves?

I was wondering if a combination lock box under the boot floor panel might be an idea.

For context, car crime is relatively low in my area versus national average but I have still had a car break in probably 4 or 5 years ago. A car stolen before that. And one set on fire. But I do travel a lot and leave the car in some dodgy areas, not by choice. 

 

 

the Corolla TS had a few hidden storage spaces under the floor for storage, the Rav4 very limited.   take a picture of the code of the locknuts  there is a card in the box, with some numbers on it, in case you need to replace or get a new lock key nut.   in terms of storage somewhere thats not within easy reach, in the boot under spare wheel, secured well so that they are not rattling around.

[yossarian247]

21 hours ago, Nick72 said:

😂

May be it's now only an American thing. 

I just recall visiting mates in Liverpool and Manchester in the 90s there were lots of cars missing their wheels, propped up on bricks. 😂 Rims, sorry. WTH next, a new name for a transistor radio? 

In the 80s and 90s most standard spec cars came with steel wheels, but the top of the range/sports models usually had factory fit alloys. As a result a very common boy-racer upgrade was to fit alloy wheels to their 1.1 litre base model to try and make it look like an RS, GSi, GTi etc. Hence the thriving market for stolen alloys. The thing is nowadays virtually every car comes from the factory with alloys anyway (even my mother's 1 litre Hyundai i10 has diamond cut wheels for example) so their isn't much of a market for secondhand/stolen wheels now. 

I'm not quite sure why it is still apparently happening in the US though? Does the RAV4 have a particular wheel size which fits certain other US-spec cars perhaps?

[Nick72]

4 hours ago, yossarian247 said:

In the 80s and 90s most standard spec cars came with steel wheels, but the top of the range/sports models usually had factory fit alloys. As a result a very common boy-racer upgrade was to fit alloy wheels to their 1.1 litre base model to try and make it look like an RS, GSi, GTi etc. Hence the thriving market for stolen alloys. The thing is nowadays virtually every car comes from the factory with alloys anyway (even my mother's 1 litre Hyundai i10 has diamond cut wheels for example) so their isn't much of a market for secondhand/stolen wheels now. 

I'm not quite sure why it is still apparently happening in the US though? Does the RAV4 have a particular wheel size which fits certain other US-spec cars perhaps?

I think it may be because the RAV is the best selling car in America so the market for knock off wheels and tyres is vast. In overall all types of vehicle sales terms, it is third behind 2 trucks.  But I'm guessing at the reason now. I've seen quite a few posts on US forums now where the thieves had stolen the wheels and then just dropped the car onto the road crunching the disks and no doubt the calipers through bent disks etc. So an expensive repair. 

[ToyotaFanDriver]

If thieves could actually read this thread would be useful to them 😂

[Nick72]

1 hour ago, ToyotaFanDriver said:

If thieves could actually read this thread would be useful to them 😂

We are ok. I did consider this but most can't read nor have a computer.