How To Prevent Tire Theft

How To Protect Your Car Wheels From Getting Stolen

A visibly distraught colleague walked in the office. Upon inquiry, it was revealed that three of his car’s wheels were stolen the night before. Our colleague lives in an upscale neighborhood of Lahore with guards roaming the streets 24 hours a day and still. Car wheel theft is back again.

If you’ve been paying attention to non-political news lately, you would know that car tyre theft is on the rise again with a certain tyre-stealing gang(s) operating in the southeast of Lahore, especially in the DHA and its adjacent areas. The racket seems to be run by well-funded individuals, committing crimes in expensive cars in the wee hours.

While we can’t help you track them, we can certainly give you a few quick and helpful tips to avoid landing in this tough situation in the first place.

So, here goes.

The following tips will not cost you a penny though later in the blog we will highlight some tips which will require you to buy special equipment or tyre accessories to help protect your tyres.

Turn Your Wheels

When you park your car, turn your wheels to a 45-degree angle. This will make it difficult for the thief to get the nuts off as the inner fender will get in the way.

Park Next To The Curb

When parking in an empty plot, park as close to the wall as possible. While this exposes two tyres, it will also protect the other two facing the wall. If parking on the street, park as close to the curb as possible. This will prevent the thief from putting a jack underneath your car.

Park In A Well Lit Area

This is obvious and we are sure you already know this but this is a soft reminder to park in well lit areas as these crimes usually take place at night and early morning hours when it’s still dark. In addition, try parking in an area which is not deserted, which has security cameras or where your car is visible to you, etc.

The following tips will require you buying special equipment but will boost your car’s security nonetheless.

Get An Alarm With A Sensor

We are not talking about standard car alarms which go off when someone tries to break in. Instead, there are alarms which go off when the angle of the car changes. For example, if a thief puts a jack underneath your car and lifts it, your car’s angle will change, which will then make the alarm go off.

Wheel Lock

Wheel locks also called boots cover the lug nuts like nothing else. If a thief can’t access the lug nuts, they can’t steal the wheel.

You might have seen these in movies or abroad. In many countries, police put these on those cars whose owners are habitual traffic law violators. With these on, you can’t move the car. So, while they protect wheel theft, they also prevent car theft. However, they take time to attach to a tyre and may require special tools.

Lug Nut Locks

On each wheel, replace one of the lug nuts with a lock, which would require the thief to have a special tool to remove. You can put them on yourself or hire the services of a mechanic.

This is it. Don’t be surprised if such gangs vanish in thin air once the police start to take notice of these crimes. Some crimes in Pakistan are “seasonal” – you’ll hear of a gang or gangs committing a particular crime for a specific period and then simply vanishing without ever getting caught.

If tyre stealing gangs go away today, they’ll resurface tomorrow. Remember tyres are much easier to steal than cars, much easier to sell in black market, unlike cars they can’t be tracked, though like cars they sell for a good price.

In short, car wheel theft can be prevented by adopting some smart techniques and with the help of accessories. If you’re looking for car tyres and accessories, check them out on OLX Pakistan.