they gave me 7k, had no idea they were that expensive. definitely planning on getting a viper tilt alarm, 2 way. Can I configure the viper alarm system to trigger an audio system in addition to the outside alarm?

probably OEM. I think it looks great with OEM wheels. Getting aftermarkets might mean I have to drop it or add spacers and I want to avoid that. I can't afford to make modding a hobby...yet :)

holy crap. you made off like a bandit. get a used set, pocket the cash, and get an alarm! i should have just taken the money! (but i only had 2 wheels stolen ($3750)

sounds about right, if 2 wheels = 3750, then 4 would = 7500. Didn't you just take the check and replace the 2 wheels?

I guess I should be a little paranoid about this. I park in a gated parking deck with security cameras in certain areas especially the entrances and exits. Everytime I come home late I always see security patrolling the deck on foot. I didn't think the area is all that bad but I guess its better to be safe than sorry. If it were to happen it would be either by somebody that lives there or somebody that knows somebody that lives there and lets them in. Either way it would be pretty messed up.

You probably got hit by the same people that stole mine. Happened about 2-3 weeks ago to me. Insurance estimate was 7500, got 7000 after deductible. Bought Advan RS-D wheels with the right offsets so they fit perfectly without having to "mod". Also got the Bridgestone RE-11s which are supposed to be a step up from the stock Bridgestones. Oh, and I saved about 1300 on the wheels, and about 100 on the tires vs the insurance estimates. Most of that went to an alarm system. Got the viper 5901 with tilt sensor, glass shatter sensor, backup alarm and battery. I went to Safe n Sound in Manassas, they were the only ones I could find with virtually all good reviews. They charge an arm and a leg though =/.

Oh, one thing to be aware of if you go with aftermarket wheels, is that with mine for example, the pressure sensors don't fit (Liquid_g has the same wheels and said his sensors broke off inside the wheel after he put them in), so you might have to drive around with no sensors. Which isn't a big deal, you'll just have to be responsible about checking your tire pressure, and deal with the yellow light on your dash.

i should have done that. i just took it to the insurance shop. They did a mediocre job in retrospect. They didn't sync the sensors, and i told them the next day that they didn't and they said to birng it back and they'd do it. i said 'ok thanks, so i can just stop by and you'll fix it?' ... ' no we need your car for the whole day' needless to say, i haven't gotten my sensors fixed. should have just used the insurance check to pay for my new wheels, but then, i wouldnt have been able to drive my car for the past month.

how do the police and insurance know that someone didn't just say their wheels got stolen, and just took them off themselves and made a false claim. i mean, obviously its illegal, but considering police/insurance dont do ANYTHING about finding who steals the wheels, how would they know if someone did that.

:mad:I hate that yellow exclamation mark.

who was your source for the wheels? and what offsets? Do you have any pics? The advans do look nice.

You could probably cut the wire for the yellow dash without affecting the other warning lights.

The police officer who came by said he was an auto mechanic for 4 years before joining law enforcement and he typically dealt with car issues. He pretty much dusted the car, looked at the block placements and said that it was a professional job done by 4 people in and out in less than 10 minutes. Unless vin numbers are printed on the wheels, I don't see how they can track it either.

I got the wheels from B2 Auto Designs in Tampa $2550 shipped, without center caps. I originally wanted to get matte black but everybody was out of them, and I didn't exactly have time to wait. I'll upload some pics tonight. The wheels are 19x9J with +25 offset in the front and 19x10J with +15 offset in the back. I'm not sure what the J stands for :o

http://www.the370z.com/members/spinh...4-img-0070.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/spinh...3-img-0069.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/spinh...9-img-0065.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/spinh...0-img-0066.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/spinh...2-img-0068.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/spinh...1-img-0067.jpg

sorry, never got back to this.

First of all, no, the insurance company isn't that dumb. They know the date of the incidient (you report it and the police report) so they aren't going to let you do that.


and I didn't mean I changed it at the time of the incident. I had actually changed it a few months before. I guess $250 one way or the other isn't that big of a deal but considering it only cost me the $50 a year it will take 5 years before I'm "losing" money so I did it.

Even with the vin numbers, it's like the window etching. No one is activing looking at the windows or the wheels for non matching numbers. No one will see it unless the parts are found on a stolen car, or in a chop shop. I mean when was the last time you bought a used car and then checked all the part numbers to see if they were stolen?


No one knows unless you get caught. In my case we had video (crappy video) of them in the driveway. I guess the other thing is the insurance company could always do a routine check later to see if you're driving the vehicle and if you made a purchase. Which really I think they should since in this economy the wheel theives aren't the only theives.

Oh, and check around for wheels. For my Jeep there is a dealership in Ohio that sells parts online under justforjeeps.com and I made out with close to a $1200 discount on the wheels.

I'll have to see if I can find a good shop here in South florida that I can have the viper put in.

What was the price tag for the alarm + sensors, backup battery and labor at safe and sound? I checked the viper website and I only see best buy and a few shops around my area that don't have reviews. Seems like safe n sound is the only one around that has reviews.

The wheels on ur car look great. too bad the tpms didn't fit.. i probably would have gotten them minus that single fact. I called the store you bought from and they said they were out of stock :(

The whole alarm with install was $1300ish. As far as the TPMS goes I'm gonna keep looking for aftermarket ones that fit these wheels.

so it was around 500-600 for the alarm and 700 for the labor? That sounds pretty steep. Did they solder the connections or use connectors? How long did it take?

Good news: wheels are back on the car.

It's not easy to work 4 manual jacks with a car parked on an incline by yourself. Whole install took me 3 hours.

Alarm to be installed tomorrow, rebalancing + under body/carriage damage work to come. Thanks to tjlazer for the easy transaction for the wheels (although I put 2 small dings into the rims installing the lug nuts).

You might want to check out the following thread...!!!!

After reading this thread today, it reminded me to post this.

http://www.the370z.com/wheels-tires/...els-tires.html

Reading this thread had me searching for wheel locks too. During my search I found that there is a kit available to defeat almost all of them. I suspect that the professional thieves, also known as worlds biggest dbags, probably have this or something like it.

Sunex 2840 9 Piece 1/2" Drive Wheel Lock Removal Kit

won't remove these :) Black Tops
http://www.concept1.ca/images/BT%20lock%20wheel.jpg

You are right, but these don't fit the 370z, as far as I know. Do you know otherwise?

they don't fit our OEM wheels, but i think they will fit aftermarket wheels. Thing is, they only fit over 17mm or 19mm hex head, and our cars usually have lugs that are 21mm. But, these lug nuts, MyNismo.com - NISMO Lug Nut have a 17mm head. The wheel lock will fit over them, you just need to make sure that the lock will fit in the lug hole of your wheel. The locks are 28mm in diamter. I am actually waiting on that measurement for my new wheels, and if its right, i'm going to order 4 of those lugs, and set of the locks and i'll post up the results .

In for update !!

this will.

Jet JSG-1304 4 Piece Chisel Set for Air Hammers

i'm really not worried about someone coming around with a pneumatic hammer or torque wrench and taking off my wheels, its way too loud. The idea is they do it quickly but quietly. indeed, i could park my car, walk away for 1 minute, and if a formula 1 pit crew rolled up to my car with the right tools, they could steal my wheels and be off before i turned around to look back.

I understand your point, there is no fool proof lock for wheels. But theres no fool prof lock anywhere. You could have a really good set of dead bolt locks on your front door, and its not going to stop someone with a 12 guage slug or a battering ram. The fact of the matter is, there are countless videos on youtube of 'How to take off your wheel locks if you lose your key' and they all involve a method that wouldn't work with these locks because theres no room on the sides of the lock.

As far as i'm concerned, the typical wheel lock design, is equivalent to a lock that comes on a suitcase, pretty much anyone can get it off, which is why i'm not content with them. I plan to run regular wheel locks and the black top wheel locks, that way if the thief is stupid enough to not realize that the black top is a lock, maybe they wont bother trying to take off my other lug nuts first if they see the standard wheel lock.

Just an idea!
 

How about registering new vehicles and wheels with matching laser etched ID VIN numbers or having Nissan do it from factory , plus a stolen wheel / parts registry?

Just my two cents.<o></o>

actually they don't have to. I couldn't find it online but like I said in another post, they have a spliter that looks like a socket only it has a wedge inside. one or two hits with a hammer and presto.

As for the sound, it depends on where you live and if you're at home, out on vacation or just out to dinner for the night in a different car. There's really only one way to stop them, and the cops probably wouldn't look kindly on that solution.

Anyone have any stories of those laser etched windows being found and returned? I've never heard of one. Because the only time someone is ever going to come across stolen etched windows is if they find them in a chop shop. It's not like the cops run the etchings anytime they pull a car over for running a redlight.

I etched the inside (inside the tire) of my wheels with "STOLEN: These wheels belong to.... please call XXX XXX XXXX if they are found". My hope is that eventually the person that received the wheels/tires will have to get the tires replaced. and HOPEFULLY the guy at the tire store putting them on will be some honest Joe and see that. Again, it's all very hopeful.

a splitter? i understand the idea of cramming a socket with a reverse burr in it in order to dig in, get a grip, and screw the nut off, but are you talking about just cracking a lug nut in half?

yep. When I was getting the tires put back on the wheels after mine were stolen and I was talking to the guy in the dealer. He told me about that kit that was posted above that has a "universal" key to get the locks off but he said there was also the spliter that was what I described. And when you hammered it on it basically just split the lugnut in half.

I'm sure depending on the design of the wheel you still might not be able to just pull it off but it would be enough to put a large screwdrive or even a flat head screwdriver type socket on a ratchet or breaker bar and bam, the lock is off.

basically it's like you said though. Nothing is truly safe and it just depends on how bad they want what you have.

interesting. i didn't know they made that. Oh well, can't beat them all. Thanks for making me more paranoid! ;)

no problem. I figured if I'm paranoid, I might as well have company. HAHA

Sorry but am i the only one that thinks this is pretty hilarious??? hahaha

That somone got their wheels stolen? Then yes you are the only one :gtfo2:

With 2 posts you are probably a thief that's y it's hilarious when people wheels got stolen !!

:confused:

Even if this shithead got his wheels stolen he wouldn't even feel bad because he describes it as a P.O.S., I'm guessing its like a 94 Neon.

Waite till it happens to you ,then you'll see how hilarious it feels!

Sorry to hear! I have a viper alarm system on mine, since I always get egged and keyed, and its amazing and pretty cheap! If you barley touch the car or tire the loud alarm goes off. If I were you or anyone I would invest in one!