If you’ve had to buy new snow tires for your car recently, you know that they cost a pretty penny - actually a lot of pretty pennies - numbering in the thousands. It’s no wonder then that tire theft, specifically snow tire theft, is on the rise. As soon as people get word of a storm front blowing in, they’re heading out to nearest tire center to get new tires put on. And the tire centers are sold out. That is creating an interesting, albeit of short duration, black market. It’s even worse if you live in a part of the country where snow tires are mandatory during the winter months.

You’re probably wondering just how you steal a tire. Ummm, the same way you change a tire. Only this time you don’t put on the replacement donut. You take off the first tire, prop a cement block under the axle, move the jack to the next one, spin off a couple of tire lugs and voila! Your brand new expensive snow tires are gone. It’s not that hard to do, and it doesn’t take that long to do it.

Many people don’t even think about their need for tire locks, until after their tires have been stolen. But these relatively inexpensive little items can save you hundreds of dollars in cash, hours and days of aggravation, and quite a few gray hairs. The lug lock is a simple keyed locking mechanism that replaces one of your existing wheel lugs and prevents the tire from being taken off of the car. You can either buy them in generic form or even custom made, if you’ve got a custom made car.

Remember, though, while the lug locks will prevent a would-be tire thief from stealing your tires, they’ll also prevent you from changing a tire, maybe in an emergency situation. The key is to keep the lug lock key handy at all times.