Someone's nicked me nuts!!!
Discussion
Some b@st@rd has stolen 2 of my rear wheel nuts!
I've been wondering why I have been hearing a strange grating noise coming from the rear of the car. Decided to take the wheel off and have a prod around, only to find that there were 2 nuts gone from one wheel! ... That could have caused quite a nasty accident!
I checked all the nuts and found them all to be quite loose. I think someone must have been trying to nick the whole set of wheels but probably got scared off.
A bit of a stupid question, but are they just normal standard nuts that I can buy from any old car place like Halfords or are they specialised?
What is the world coming to? First Spooky has his new car vandalised and now someone's had my nuts away...
ARGH!
- ChimaeraWolf
- P56 SAH - Black Chimaera 4.0
>>> Edited by ChimeraWolf on Sunday 11th November 03:28
I've been wondering why I have been hearing a strange grating noise coming from the rear of the car. Decided to take the wheel off and have a prod around, only to find that there were 2 nuts gone from one wheel! ... That could have caused quite a nasty accident!
I checked all the nuts and found them all to be quite loose. I think someone must have been trying to nick the whole set of wheels but probably got scared off.
A bit of a stupid question, but are they just normal standard nuts that I can buy from any old car place like Halfords or are they specialised?
What is the world coming to? First Spooky has his new car vandalised and now someone's had my nuts away...
ARGH!
- ChimaeraWolf
- P56 SAH - Black Chimaera 4.0
>>> Edited by ChimeraWolf on Sunday 11th November 03:28
Wolf - Sorry to hear your bad news.
I dont want to be a doom and gloom merchant but as a person who has sufferred repeated car crime over the last 10 years, I urge you to be extremeley cautious now.
It seems like you have been very lucky not to lose a complete set of wheels and tyres from your Tiv already. The price to replace those must run well into 4 figures. You must be grateful that you still have them, but do bear in mind that the thieving B's that tried to do this once may well try again.
I would recommend that you think about greater security for the wheels. Are locking wheelnuts/studs available for TIVs? if so consider fitting them, it may be money well spent.
Also where did the attempted theft happen? if from outside your house, make sure that you put the car in the garage - if you have one.
I know security is a pain in the @rse, but it can be money/time well spent compared to the inconvenience and expense of losing your property.
You may also want to consider security marking the rims. Then if you do (God forbid) lose them and the police were to recover them (extremely unlikely in my experience) you may be able to get them back.
Good Luck!
I dont want to be a doom and gloom merchant but as a person who has sufferred repeated car crime over the last 10 years, I urge you to be extremeley cautious now.
It seems like you have been very lucky not to lose a complete set of wheels and tyres from your Tiv already. The price to replace those must run well into 4 figures. You must be grateful that you still have them, but do bear in mind that the thieving B's that tried to do this once may well try again.
I would recommend that you think about greater security for the wheels. Are locking wheelnuts/studs available for TIVs? if so consider fitting them, it may be money well spent.
Also where did the attempted theft happen? if from outside your house, make sure that you put the car in the garage - if you have one.
I know security is a pain in the @rse, but it can be money/time well spent compared to the inconvenience and expense of losing your property.
You may also want to consider security marking the rims. Then if you do (God forbid) lose them and the police were to recover them (extremely unlikely in my experience) you may be able to get them back.
Good Luck!
I haven't a clue where this would have happened. The car is kept in the garage over night and parked outside my office during the day. Perhaps when I left it in a car park or on a street somewhere?
I've taken one of the nuts from the other wheel temporarily, so now there's 3 nuts on both rear wheels.
I'm going to buy a set of locking nuts. I'm surprised they don't come as standard on Tivs. All other cars I've have had a set of locking ones.
At least I know what the strange grating noise was now though and it's nothing seriously wrong with the engine!
- ChimaeraWolf
- P56 SAH - Black Chimaera 4.0
I've taken one of the nuts from the other wheel temporarily, so now there's 3 nuts on both rear wheels.
I'm going to buy a set of locking nuts. I'm surprised they don't come as standard on Tivs. All other cars I've have had a set of locking ones.
At least I know what the strange grating noise was now though and it's nothing seriously wrong with the engine!
- ChimaeraWolf
- P56 SAH - Black Chimaera 4.0
By any chance have your wheels been off recently? It seems to me that if the other 2 nuts on that wheel were also loose then it is more likely that they were not tightened properly (or re-tightend after about 50miles) when the wheel was replaced. My reasoning is if 'they' had undone the nuts then why didn't 'they' take off the last 2? Also how were they going to get the wheels off without jacking the car up?
Think back about wheels on/off in Kwik-fit or somewhere.
You still had a lucky escape from an accident...
Clive Reed
Zertec Limited
info@zertec.co.uk
www.zertec.co.uk
Think back about wheels on/off in Kwik-fit or somewhere.
You still had a lucky escape from an accident...
Clive Reed
Zertec Limited
info@zertec.co.uk
www.zertec.co.uk
I was thinking the same thing as Clive.
presumably the cover plate fore the wheel nuts was still in place. If some would be thief was disturbed then he is hardly likely to take the time to put the cover plate back on.
It sounds like someone just didn't do the nuts up when you last had some work done on the car.
presumably the cover plate fore the wheel nuts was still in place. If some would be thief was disturbed then he is hardly likely to take the time to put the cover plate back on.
It sounds like someone just didn't do the nuts up when you last had some work done on the car.
That sounds like a very close call. I got a set of locking nuts from Wedge Automotive earlier this year - cannot remember what they cost but it was less than £20 I think. Made by Tri-lock if memory serves. Just have to make sure to keep the security key hidden in the car so I can hand it over when the car is serviced. You can also get a good set of new chromed wheel nuts from Wedge - but make sure that you ask for a set of 16, not 12 as they would like to send you (they assume you have locking nuts already and don't need the other 4!). Stainless nuts look great (I am really typing this!!) but v. expensive - and probably likely to get nicked themselves.
I had the same on a golf VR6. The thieves were disturbed, and all of the wheelnuts were left loose. Another 5 mins and I would have lost all the wheels as the bricks wrre already under the axles. Lucky I was told, or else it would have been very messy at the first corner.
I lost a wheelnut recently from the chimaera, which I assumed simply dropped out. It does happen.
Dealers sell locking wheelnuts. I doubt that they are unique or hard to find. Just take a note of the key number, as a friend has lost his key and now can't get the wheels off until he finds it!
I lost a wheelnut recently from the chimaera, which I assumed simply dropped out. It does happen.
Dealers sell locking wheelnuts. I doubt that they are unique or hard to find. Just take a note of the key number, as a friend has lost his key and now can't get the wheels off until he finds it!
I had similar a couple of weeks ago on my mini, I left it in bluewater car park when I drove home I heard a knocking noise when I checked all the n/s rear wheel nuts had been loosened.
Locking wheel nuts aren’t that great, when I fitted tyres I used to have to get them off for customers who lost their keys, most would take no longer than 3 mins, still they may stop some i suppose, just make sure the taper on the nut matches your wheel.
Locking wheel nuts aren’t that great, when I fitted tyres I used to have to get them off for customers who lost their keys, most would take no longer than 3 mins, still they may stop some i suppose, just make sure the taper on the nut matches your wheel.
Caution: sad old git having flashback.
Reminds me of the time I was driving my wifes' Mini, in my normal (for then) reckless fashion. Tore into the college car park, and rushed up to the steps, where she was talking to someone at the top. Banged on the brakes to screech to a halt in the usual mindless tosser mode, but the pedal hit the floor and progess continued unabated. I stopped 3/4 of the way up the steps.
Neither front wheel had a single bolt left. Some had come loose, the remaining ones sheared under the increased stress. All that was holding the wheels on was the brake calipers, and the pads had suffered a touch of knock back!
Sh*t myself at the time (not half as much as the missus though!), but its funny looking back.
Reminds me of the time I was driving my wifes' Mini, in my normal (for then) reckless fashion. Tore into the college car park, and rushed up to the steps, where she was talking to someone at the top. Banged on the brakes to screech to a halt in the usual mindless tosser mode, but the pedal hit the floor and progess continued unabated. I stopped 3/4 of the way up the steps.
Neither front wheel had a single bolt left. Some had come loose, the remaining ones sheared under the increased stress. All that was holding the wheels on was the brake calipers, and the pads had suffered a touch of knock back!
Sh*t myself at the time (not half as much as the missus though!), but its funny looking back.
Frankly,I woudn't waste your money on locking wheel nuts. I was having some new tyres put on by a cheap, but a bit shady tyre dealer, a couple of years ago, and the useless prat sheared the locking wheel nut key, so it couldn't be turned. The answer - he just got a suitable sized socket and smacked it onto the wheel nut with a couple of sharp hammer taps, then whipped the wheel off. I'm sure most thieves know this trick. Build a garage, rent a lock-up, find a secure car park, take a wheel into the house with you at night, have your reg. no. etched/stamped into the wheel - anything to help deter the bastards. How much is a coinversion to splined hubs?!! 
Some turds tried to nick the wheels off a mate's car a few years ago, but must have been disturbed. Nuts were off and bricks piled under the car, but the wheels were still in place. Mate gets back home after a holiday, gets in the car to go buy some food and makes it about three yards forwards before the car unceremoniously collapsed onto the road and the bricks. Expensive.
I think I must have had the same thing that happened to Yum.
I've never had the wheels off since I've had the car, and I only noticed the sound a few days before I checked the wheels!
This was before I took it into Kwik Fit... they didn't do anything. Only looked at it and said "Er...sorry mate, we don't know anything about these type of cars". Not impressed with them, they could have at least checked properly!
- ChimaeraWolf
- P56 SAH - Black Chimaera 4.0
I've never had the wheels off since I've had the car, and I only noticed the sound a few days before I checked the wheels!
This was before I took it into Kwik Fit... they didn't do anything. Only looked at it and said "Er...sorry mate, we don't know anything about these type of cars". Not impressed with them, they could have at least checked properly!
- ChimaeraWolf
- P56 SAH - Black Chimaera 4.0
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