Tips to deter wheel and tyre theft in Brisbane

Commercial vehicle tyres can be an expensive investment. If you own a light commercial vehicle or ute and have ever bought a set of new tyres, you’ll know how expensive they can be. So, you’ll want to protect them.

For example, you’ll take precautions which help commercial vehicle tyres last longer. You’ll make sure they’re inflated to the correct pressure, that you don’t overload your vehicle, and that you rotate your tyres at regular intervals. You’ll also make sure you use a simple tyre cleaning routine to improve safety and increase tyre life.

According to a Carsafe.com.au study, 148 cars are stolen every day in Australia, and one of the country’s hotspots for car crime is Brisbane. What many don’t realise is that your tyres and wheels are at risk of being stolen, while the rest of the vehicle is left behind. So how do you protect your tyres from being stolen?

Here are five things you can do today to stop your tyres disappearing tonight:

1.    Keep your car in the garage

Okay, so this is an obvious tip. But you might be surprised at just how many people have a garage and never use it to house their ute. My advice is to get your vehicle off the street and under lock and key.

2.    No garage? Use a camera

If you don’t have a garage, consider putting a camera in a prominent position. Often, the sight of a camera is enough to deter thieves from attempting to steal your wheels. Today, these cameras don’t have to be expensive and can be linked wirelessly to your home PC.

3.    Alarm your vehicle

It’s not easy to remove wheels from a vehicle, and probable that the thieves will bump it. With an alarm fitted, they’ll be chased off by the shrill sound that wakes up the whole street. To stop the thieves before they start, put a sticker in the window warning them that there is an alarm fitted. Prevention is better than cure.

4.    Plug your lugs

There are a couple of things you can do with your wheel lugs to put off thieves. The first is to cover them. What can’t be seen can’t be coveted. Use a wheel cap to hide the lugs. That little extra effort that the thieves will need to exert could be enough to encourage them to move on. Thieves are lazy. That’s why they steal. If they didn’t mind a bit of hard graft, they’d work for their money.

Even better than a cover is to purchase specialised wheel lugs. To remove these, a thief will need a special tool. The chances of them having this are slim to none.

5.    Take care about parking

With those new set of tyres fitted, you’ll take care not to kerb your wheels. Take as much care about where you park as you do about how you park:

• Instead of saving a couple of dollars by parking on the street, pay for a ticket to put your car in a covered car park that has security cameras.
• If you’re out at night, park under a street light on a busy road which benefits from lots of pedestrians.

Having your wheels stolen is a massive inconvenience and a pretty expensive one. Not as bad as having your whole vehicle taken, but in the frustration stakes, not far off. Wheel theft, like car theft, is an opportunity theft. If you take the right precautions, you’ll make life difficult for thieves. You’ll remove the opportunity.

We’ve got more than 100 years’ experience in the tyre business. You’ll find our approach is personal but professional. We care about your safety, your property, and our reputation. Contact us (by Skype, telephone, or on our contact form), and we’ll help you make the best choice of commercial tyres for your vehicle, driving needs and pocket. And we’ll give you a few tips on how to keep the thieves at bay in Brisbane.

Keeping your family and fleet safely on the road,

Kevin Wood