So do you pay the money now and get AM rims and wheels or just wait to have the OEM ones stolen??? Except for the PITA and aggrevation it would make more sense to ride the stock ones as long as possible...



Please be aware I'm kidding.....
Having anything stolen sucks. I can't believe how many people get their stuff ripped off. I am really sorry this is happening. I am lucky I have a locked garage to keep my car in.

 

While I was a little bit worried about having my wheels stolen...

I first bought the Fit, I had been thinking about getting lighter wheels and something that looked a little different from OEM.

When I got my flat tire (bubble AND hole in sidewall)... that was when I actually replaced the wheels also ("free" mounting and balance since the wheels and tires were bought together).

edit:
I agree, having anything stolen sucks (my house was broken into last November and I'm still pissed off about it). In reality, if I hadn't had that flat tire (Costco tire section said you can't fix a bubble and hole in sidewall =.=" )... I probably would've sat on the OE wheels at least until the tires wore out. But because I had thought about AM wheels anyway... I got them.

 

Sucks for the garage-less and urban Fits. It's already bad enough that we worry about other reckless drivers ramming into our cars on the road, then we have to worry about some fucktards stealing shit or vandalizing it while it's parked on the street.

 

I'm a firm believer on theft deterrent... it's a first line of defense to say the least and that includes wheel locks and visible flashing security LED. it's not bullet proof but it has it's advantages.

 

I thought I'd resurrect this thread. So after reading through all the two year old posts, my 2007 Fit requires ball seat lug nuts for the OEM tires. Has anyone on this board found a ball seat locking lug that has the free spinning sleeve or has it still not been invented? Thanks.

 

While continuing my research on previous posts on this site, and taking a look at the OEM Honda wheel locks, I have come to the conclusion that with OEM Fit Sport alloy wheels, we are supposed to use a nut that is flat on the bottom not tapered. If this is true, then why are the OEM locking nuts from Honda tapered?
I agree that locking nuts are a false sense of security, but if they keep just one dude from taking mine and moving on to the next Honda, then it is worth it. The Gorilla locks with the outer sleeve look like the best prevention, but they too are tapered.
Does anyone know if there is a set that has the outer sleeve yet is flat on the bottom to accommodate the OEM Sport wheels, or should I just ignore the fact that they are tapered given that I will only be putting on one per wheel?? Thanks in advance.

 

If you're talking about the nut surface against the wheel, neither of my 08 or 09 Fit Sports with alloy wheels has a flat surface against the wheel. The best I can describe them is roundish taper as they seat into the wheel.

 

OK, last shot at this same line of questioning. I see that the '07-'08 Fit has ball seat lugs. Gorilla does not make a ball seat lug lock with the spinning sleeve on the outside, probably because the lug is so short. So, is there anyone out there who owns a GD Fit and uses a CONE seat lug with the spinning sleeve from Gorilla? Looking at them, I don't see why it would hurt to put one cone seat lug on each wheel. They look like they would fit. Comments?

 

It's all about the spreading of force.

Considering the recommended 80 fl*lb of torque on the nut... with a matching seat, be it tapered or ball, all that force is applies along the entire surface that makes contact. Where as with a mismatched seat, you get far less surface contact. But since torque is feet MULTIPLIED by pounds (or lb * ft) and not the same as PSI (lb/ft), 80 ft*lb ends up putting a lot more force on a smaller area (higher PSI).

Imagine this: you place the palm of your hand on a book laying flat on a table, then try sliding it around. Now, try the same thing, except just a finger instead of your whole hand. Moving the book itself requires a minimum amount of force (same as torque)... but the force spread over the surface of the palm vs the surface of one finger is very different (hence varying PSI).

You should be able to feel the extra strain on your finger... and that's pretty much what happens where the nut pushes on the wheel in that slot. If the either the nut or the wheel has soft enough metal, it'll deform to match each other.

Deform enough and torque drops. Eventually, with enough bumps in the road, it'll all lead to catastrophic failure. Nuts can loosen themselves enough to back out... or studs start breaking when enough nuts get loose.

Have that occur at 75-80 mph... and well...

edit: if a locking nut backs itself out, it's kinda pointless, no?

 

good write up; thanks. I guess it is either the ball seat locking nut or four new wheels and some cone seat lugs with spinning casing. Hmmm; let's see what the tax refund man brings us this year.

 

Hey BurntZ, if you're only using one lock per wheel and all three of the other lugs are ball, I would just use a taper to ball adapter on the locking lug.

I'm not a huge fan of the adapters but i'd use one for just one lug, shouldn't be that big of a deal and will keep from screwing up your wheel's ball seat.

Definitely contact before purchasing to make sure they have some that will work for your application. There are plenty more for sale, just do a little searching if those don't work for you.
Here for example:
Excalibur 793 $1.09 Lug Nut Washers Tapered/Ball Adapter Style

 

OK, good Wanderer; let's keep this conversation going to see where it leads. Please expand on why you are not a fan of the washers. Looking at your website, these washers look like the perfect solution to getting the gorilla guard spinning locks and adapting them to the ball seat OEM wheels. When I called Gorilla, they had no clue about this concept and were like talking to drying paint when I asked about it. Does anyone else here in fitfreak land have an opinion on using these washers in between the conical Gorilla Guard lock and the ball seat rim?

 

I have no personal experience with those adapters, but I do recall a topic about someone using them... with some negative results. By the time I bought my Gorilla locks (yes, with spinning sleeve!), I had already bought the Enkei wheels (which use tapered seats)

Basically, the adapter came out deformed when it was examined later.

I don't know what happened to cause it, could be that the adapter metal was too soft and/or the person that used it didn't line it up or something.

So, something to keep in mind. Hopefully, there are newer ones with better material or design to get it installed easier and correctly.

 

If I were using a washer on only ONE lugnut, I would torque that one down last to make sure the wheel is seated flat on the hub with the other three to avoid any sort of crooked seating position and having the washer move around on the last torque. I think if it was not flat with the lug and perhaps hung up on one of the stud threads it could mangle it a bit, true. The ones posted are hardened steel though supposedly so idk about that... maybe if it was aluminum.

I would NOT use them on all 4 lugnuts per wheel. Sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

 

Sounds to me like it is better to remove the OEM alloy wheels, sell them, and buy aftermarket wheels that accept the better locks. At least that way you won't be out the deductible and can put the funds toward other good looking wheels.

John