On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:10:27 +0000 (UTC), Tegger
wrote:

Kate wrote in -
september.org:

I just got a new car and the wheels do not have lug nuts on them.

Do I need to be concerned about the wheels being stolen?

You need to be concerned about the wheels falling off. Without lug
nuts, there is usually nothing to hold them on.

All of the nuts that go on the studs are lug nuts, whether they use a
key of whatever sort or just a regular lug wrench or jack handle. But
some have either key locks or unsuaal shapes, which they also call a
key. I had a set of unusual shapes, and I worried that I would lose
the "key", but I think the set came with two. Then I had a flat tire
and had a hard time engagine the key into the lug nut, and it wasn't
even wet, and I figured next time it may be cold and raining and it
may be much harder to do if the nut is wet and slippery, and I took
them off. I see my next door neighbor has one on each wheel.

ON the other hand, way back in high school in 1964, in a suburban
school district with no crime to speak of, a friend drove to school
sometimes and one day his car would start but woudln't move. He found
that it was jacked up and the rear axle was resting on a box and the
wheel/tire was gone. This guy and his parents had only enough money
to live nicely on, and didn't splurge on mag wheels or anything. It
was probably a Chevy. I don't know why it was stolen. We didn't even
have fistfights in this school.

Bub is right that it depends on a lot of things whether you need wheel
locks, where you park it, how busy it is there, how special your
wheels are. Are wheels still a popular item for theft. I've driven a
convertible for 42 years (not the same one) and slashing tops used to
be popular, and indeed, my top was slashed once (I patched it and then
in the rough n'hood I lived in, they would push open the patch and
unlock the door and steal it if I left anything at all in the car.
But then convertibles became much less common, and not only did the
manufacturers forget that you can't use a day/night mirror in a
convertible, but the criminals seemed to have forgotten how much fun
it is to slash tops. It's a piece of Americana, of folkways that
seems not to have been passed down to the latest generation of
criminals. We may be losing our heritage, but I like it. Now
convertble tops became uncommon, but for some reason that never
happened to wheels. But still, how common is it these days for wheels
to be stolen?

What kind of car do you have. How much was the sticker price for the
rims (wheels)?

You can be 100% certain your wheels DO have lug nuts; they are just covered
up to make the wheel look prettier. Lug nuts have been required by law
since 1968 (no I'm not kidding).

99+% of cars used lugnuts from 1945's or earlier until 1968 and
afterwards. Are you saying they outlawed for street use the one big
nut in the middle, that one hit with a wrench to spin on or off,
instead of 4 or 5 in a circle? What do you call that?

If you look closely, you'll probably find there's a plastic cover on the
face of the wheel. This hides the lug nuts.

Your Owner's Manual will give this information in great detail, complete
with diagrams and instructions on how to get the cover off.

What kind of car is this, anyway?