Who is using wheel locks?

micl9

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mom getting my wheels on my ranger next week and would hope to find black locks that will fit. Do you know if they do fit rangers?
Dont know about our Ranger - Call them tomorrow, maybe get a sample.
@P. A. Schilke 's commecnt does not sound too promising though!
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Lost19Ranger

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Dont know about our Ranger - Call them tomorrow, maybe get a sample.
@P. A. Schilke 's commecnt does not sound too promising though!
They will be going on aftermarket wheels, so hopefully someone can chime in on some black wheel locks they went with.
Thanks for the input I appreciate all of the help
 

Lost19Ranger

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P. A. Schilke

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Sorry to beat a dead horse but if anyone can share what black wheels locks they are using I’d appreciate it.

I found these, not sure of the quality?
DPAccessories LCB3L6HE-BK04LK4 Black Wheel Locks 12x1.5 Closed End Bulge Acorn 19mm & 13/16" Locking Lug Nuts Wheel Lock Set https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QLIRU1M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_sGK8FbNC8R62Y

also not sure if these gorillas will fit
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002809QXW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hi Lost,

Look at the 60° cone angle...how long is the cone. If not same as OEM....Avoid. Sorry to crap in your lunch box, but I have much experience with wheel attachment and the bearing surface is a key attribute to avoid the dreaded wheel loosening.... And more important wheel cracking through the lugnut holes. Do not solve a theft problem at the possible expense of a more grave and harder to find wheel cracking issue.

It is time that McGard, Gorilla stop marketing One Size fits all....not true...Make Ford specific including the thread size and depth. Wheel attachment is not to be taken lightly in my opinion. I have seen the results of poor attachment....It is not pretty!

Best,
Phil Schilke,
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired
 

Lost19Ranger

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Hi Lost,

Look at the 60° cone angle...how long is the cone. If not same as OEM....Avoid. Sorry to crap in your lunch box, but I have much experience with wheel attachment and the bearing surface is a key attribute to avoid the dreaded wheel loosening.... And more important wheel cracking through the lugnut holes. Do not solve a theft problem at the possible expense of a more grave and harder to find wheel cracking issue.

It is time that McGard, Gorilla stop marketing One Size fits all....not true...Make Ford specific including the thread size and depth. Wheel attachment is not to be taken lightly in my opinion. I have seen the results of poor attachment....It is not pretty!

Best,
Phil Schilke,
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired
Thanks for the information phil I appreciate it.
 


NickTheEnforcer

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JMO
dont use them. for me they are of no use. I've taken them off and given back to salesperson at the stealership or toss in trash when I get home. A friend of mine years ago who bought salvage vehicles showed me how they bust them off with little-to-no damage to the rim by jamming a prybar into the lug-well and giving it a swift kick with his size 12 booted foot...'pop' stud shears off and along with it your lock...showed me how utterly useless they actually are. You learn a lotta tricks from salvage yard guys.

The other side of that coin is techs never take off/on by hand or properly torque them. In the 90's my wife had a t-bird she was convinced she needed to keep the factory locks on. I always had to take them off before she went in for scheduled visit at the dis-service center then put back on properly after..huge pain in the A$$ for me. Once she noticed a nail in her tire and made an unscheduled visit to have fixed on her way home. At supper she told me and i went to her car to find a freshly busted lock key [in two pieces] in her glove box!...after that I took them all off and told her not to even try to argue the point with me. Had she been on the road after that without my intervention she would have been outta luck.
 

RangeFinder

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Hi Charlie,

Do not appear to have the same bearing area as OEM.... This seems to be a problem with McGard a Gorilla and others...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired
Hi Phil,

I want to get wheel locks for my new 2020 Ranger Super Cab. I garage my Ranger, but locks might change the minds of a few would be thieves when I'm elsewhere. You expressed concern regarding the apparently diminished bearing area with McGard and Gorilla wheel locks compared to OEM lug nuts. Ford sells accessory genuine wheel locks F6SZ-1A043-AA. Do you think they would have a better bearing area that matches the OEM lug nuts? They are quite a bit longer than OEM. [Do you think the McGard or Gorilla bearing areas are so seriously deficient that you would avoid them and use the Ford Wheel locks?-SORRY-I just read above you do.] I'm trying to have wheel locks that do not stick out or look different than the chrome OEM standard wheel locks on my 17" magnetic painted alum wheels. I am also concerned about wheel locks longer than the OEM lugs. I've read about vibrations at 70+ speeds. Also, I wonder if the weight of one lock per wheel or even 6 locks per wheel might have a deleterious effect on balance and other parameters that I have no idea about.
 
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P. A. Schilke

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Hi Phil,

I want to get wheel locks for my new 2020 Ranger Super Cab. I garage my Ranger, but locks might change the minds of a few would be thieves when I'm elsewhere. You expressed concern regarding the apparently diminished bearing area with McGard and Gorilla wheel locks compared to OEM lug nuts. Ford sells accessory genuine wheel locks F6SZ-1A043-AA. Do you think they would have a better bearing area that matches the OEM lug nuts? Do you think the McGard or Gorilla bearing areas are so seriously deficient that you would avoid them and use the Ford Wheel locks? I'm trying to have wheel locks that do not stick out or look different than the chrome OEM standard wheel locks on my 17" magnetic painted alum wheels. I am also concerned about wheel locks longer than the OEM lugs. I've read about vibrations at 70+. Also, I wonder if the weight of one lock per wheel or even 6 locks per wheel might have a deleterious effect on balance and other parameters I have no idea about.
Hi RF,

I cannot find a picture or specs for the Ford wheel lock, but it appears to have a better bearing area that that offered by McGard which is attributed to make the Ford Wheel Lock. I have been involved with wheel loosening on many occasions with wheel separation a major concern. The whole process of broken lugs etc can result from just one lug compromised. I cannot recommend or not recommend as I have on comparison to the OEM whether or not Ford offers them for sale.

As other have said...wheel locks offer little deterrent to wheel theft, and have so many downsides for on road flat tire when someone else (wife?) is driving. I am of the opinion to not use wheel locks. As I said JMO.

Sorry I cannot offer a definitive answer to your question without more data. I did a bit of web research and gave up as the same picture came up time and time again and no hint of bearing area. If the 60° bevel length is the same...you are good to go...if less....Avoid in my opinion.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired
 

RangeFinder

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Phil-
Thank you for your advice and efforts to find pictures.

For those adamant about getting wheel locks from Gorilla, I found the following:

Below is information I got from a person through www.gorilla-auto.com. Note that I've not listed any black wheel locks, only chrome color, but black can easily be found. (ALL CAPS BELOW MEANS I ADDED THAT PARTICULAR INFO.)

For the 2020 Ford Ranger with factory alloy wheels here are the lock sets they recommend all below:

71431N (1.40" TOTAL LENGTH)
71631X (1.55" TOTAL LENGTH; GORILLA'S X2 STYLE HAS FREE SPIN UPPER STAGE WHICH HELPS PROTECTS LOWER STAGE FROM THIEVE'S TOOLS.)
61631 (GORILLA'S GUARD STYLE LOCKS)
61631N (1.50" TOTAL LENGTH; GORILLA'S GUARD II STYLE, WITH DUAL HEX KEY.)

71634N (1.40" TOTAL LENGTH) System Lock Set, 24 Pack

If you're interested in replacing all of your lug nuts with wheel locks the System part number above is the only way they offer that quantity. The other part numbers would be 4 packs (one per wheel).
----------------------------------------------

F6SZ-1A043-AA.jpg

[/QUOTE]
Great! now I know they are conical! Thank you much!
 

jblc

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Thanks for the info. I was looking at Gorilla Guard (61631BC) as well, and wonder though if Gorilla says they're compatible, just to sell more -- even if the bearing area (as Phil said) is not identical and may be problematic.

I'm curious as well how much of a difference that makes, but not enough to risk a wheel issue!
 
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Dr. Zaius

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I have the Gorilla set on my truck with aftermarket wheels and I also still have the factory set.

I'll get some comparison photos tomorrow.
 

jblc

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I have the Gorilla set on my truck with aftermarket wheels and I also still have the factory set.

I'll get some comparison photos tomorrow.
Thanks! Yours are aftermarket, so the normal Acorn ones might work for that. I wish they had an OEM Acorn version...
 

Dr. Zaius

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Here we are, Gorrilla compared to factory.

It initially appears that the factory lugs have a much deeper seat than aftermarket

IMG_1258.jpeg


The factory lug has a large flat area above the conical seat that's not present on the aftermarket.

IMG_1259.jpeg


When you compare seat to seat they are very close if not identical.

Edit: I dug out a caliper and the factory lug is not quite 0.5mm deeper than the Gorilla.

IMG_1257.jpeg


Hope that helps.
 
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micl9

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My biggest issue was the unpainted ring on the wheel that is visible with the aftermarket lugs. And the contact surface of course.
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