Doesn’t work when the nut is inset in the wheel.
Do we know that’s the case here?
No.
But it’s a possibility.
I have a nice set of bolt extractors that can remove any lug nut/bolt (including locking types) in seconds when used with an impact wrench. It destroys it in the process, but lugnuts are cheap.
Agree 100%.
If I want to steal your wheels, and I notice there are locking lugnuts, I simply have to get a hold of the key. And there’s a 95% chance the key is in the car’s glove compartment. (Because if you’re driving and get a flat, you’ll need the key to change the wheel.)
Do we know if the locking lugnuts are in the wheel? Where else would they be? If they’re loose, there’s no issue.
This is a thing:
I, along with several of my friends, had them back in the day. They all protruded enough for a pipe wrench to bite.
I assume there aren’t many lug nuts thieves and that most car tire thieves know how to get locking lug nuts off. Don’t understand what value locking lug nuts are supposed to have.
I assume selling the promise of security. The idea is sales, not actual security.
Depends on where you live. In Los Angeles, never. In Newark, every day.
Again it depends on the relative presence and brazenness of thieves where you are. I’ve driven cars with stupid-expensive aftermarket or factory wheels for decades. No locks. Never had anyone steal them. Riding the hotel van in NYC along the freeways I saw dead cars on blocks nearly every time. Glad I didn’t live there.
Nope.
This.
Brand X locking lug nuts have hundreds of distinct patterns. If I buy a set and you buy a set of the same make & model of locking nut it’s close to certain that your key-tool won’t fit my lug nuts and vice versa.
Think like front door locks at the big box store: the number of combos is far short of infinite, but the odds that you and your immediate neighbor have the same one are quite small.
And of course each brand of locking nuts has their own universe of shapes. So a Brand X key will fit maybe 0.1% or 0.01% of other brand X nuts in the wild, but exactly 0.0% of Brand Y, Z or Q nuts. And 0.0 % of Brand Y, Z or Q keys will fit your Brand X nuts.
This.
Just bust a window, open the glove box, grab the lug nut key, then steal the wheels. Had you had no locking nuts, you would not now need to replace your window in addition to your wheels.
Those look like ordinary (albeit deep and prettily anodized) hex nuts. No need to use a pipe wrench on them; an ordinary hex wrench / socket will do. All the locking nuts I’ve seen, both decades ago and now, look more like this:
There’s nothing to get an e.g pipe wrench on, and the squiggly pattern of the key vs. lock is individual to that set, or at least one of a thousand similar but different-enough squiggles. Good luck removing those except by welding a socket to the shaft of the lock nut & the impact-wrenching that off.
Right. But a pro-thief won’t even bother with a key or lug wrench. (It will take 10 to 20 seconds to get the key; that’s precious time. And cars have different size lug nuts.) They’ll just use a cordless impact wrench and lug nut remover. (Both of which I own, BTW. 
) Can zip off any lug bolt in no time flat.
Now that’s a cool tool. What will they think of next?
It’s more or less the inverse of a screw extractor or stud puller. I could see trying to design a locking nut that’s resistant to that shape, but whether tht’d be good enough is an open question.
Yep.
I do a lot of work on cars, and bolt/screw extractors have been a godsend. There are a couple different types: ones that grab onto the outside of the bolt, and ones that grip into the inside of the bolt. For the latter, you need to drill a hole in the center of the bolt before using the tool.
Been many years for me, but back in the day … yeah, godsend.
On a 10 year old car you could count on one fastener being 80% of the time spent on any given job. The only question before you started the job was which one it was going to be. …
Unless you had the right extractor and it was a fastener you could afford (practically, not dollar-wise) to destroy. Then it succumbed quickly to your onslaught. Git er done!
If you have a 1/2" impact set then you already have a key. find one that is slightly smaller than the locking nut and pound it on with a 5 lb sledge hammer. It has to be a close fit. then remove it with a. 1/2" impact driver.
Not really necessary to pound on them beforehand. They have a tapered thread. As the extractor spins CCW, it digs more and more into the bolt.
I was talking about a standard 1/2" impact set. That’s how I took a locking lugnut off in the 70’s. The set you cited is nice to have but if someone already has an impact set then they can use that.
But in the name of buying more tools I like the set you suggested.
Yea, I remember that technique back in the day.
For theives, of course, everything is about speed, speed, speed. They don’t want to carry a variety of sockets, nor do they want to look for the key. One or two bolt extractors will cover 99% of lug bolts. Sure, it’ll destroy the appearance of each bolt. But they don’t care about, nor want, the bolts.
The key to the Lansing Lugnuts is hit 'em where they ain’t!