I was parked outdoors and some idiot took the spare tire and rim right off of the back of my H3. It looks ugly this way and of course there's no spare, so I obviously have to replace it. But I'm concerned that this might happen to me again. I was parked at my work parking lot late at night and will be parking there from time to time again.

Is there any way to lock it on or prevent or make it difficult for it to be stolen? I sure hope so, would suck if I always have to park in fear of it being stolen and then having to spend hundreds to replace it.

Yesterday I came out of my office late at night and noticed the cap off of the back tire was missing. It didn't occur to me that it was intentionally stolen and I didn't give it much thought, figured I'll replace it and they are cheap anyway. Then tonight I parked again and thsi time the whole tire and rim was gone, I'm guessing the thief came yesterday, trying to remove it, wasn't able to but saw how it was bolted on, then came back tonight. I hate thieves!

Thanks for any help or advice any of you can give me.

 

First thing I did when I got my 3 was to add a couple of locking lug nuts to the spare.

 

Our 2006 came from the factory with a little pouch with one McGuard locking lugnut for use on the rear tire. It was up to the owner to decide to use it or not. Check your glovebox, your truck might have been delivered with this kit too.

Our used/new 2009 had this lugnut already installed by the previous owner.

 

I figure that theives already have all the special anti-theft keys they need to steal wheels but I use it anyway. A small cable and lock might be more secure. Or a locking highlift mount that bolts in place under/through the spare.

 

Whenever possible, my truck is parked backed up to a wall with the spare no more than an about an inch or two from the wall. It also has the lug nut lock from the dealer. When it is at my house, it is backed up to the garage door same way.

 

Thanks for the advices guys!

I bought my Hummer new and yes it did come with the wheel locks in the glove compartment. I know this sounds dumb but I actually never knew what they were for and didn't bother looking into it either. I just realized what it was for after I read your replies.

I called the dealership and a replacement rim alone is $500 without the snap-on hubcap or tire. I asked them why they did not install the wheel locks themselves and they said that some users are worried about losing the key and therefore prefer not to have them locked.

I still think the salesperson should have told me when I was picking it up that "there's a wheel lock kit in your car, use it to lock your spare tire if you wish," that likely would have convinced me to lock it.

The funny thing is, the tire which was stolen was damaged and irrepairable anyway, so the thief will likely sell it to someone who will come back complaining that its not usable once its installed.

I will try to find a used tire and as for the rim does anyone know of any good sites that would have new or used H3 rims for much less than $500?

 

Check ebay and Craig's List, most wheels will not include the center cap, but they are on there for sale all the time.

 

By center cap you mean that hubcap that you can remove right?

I live in Canada so was hoping to buy from an actual online store rather than an individual seller on ebay, but I'll take a look at what's there.

 

if you don't buy one from eBay and before blowing 500 bucks on a new one from a dealer you might look into buying some aftermarket ones. depending on which wheel you have, if it's a 16", you can pick up some nice aftermarket ones for 100-150 each plus another 50-60 bucks to mount and balance your old tires and you could turn around and sell the stock ones for a couple hundred bucks.

 

I these are impulse grabs.if a potential thief sees a cable and its not ez to cut they may go look elswhere
i put one on the day i got my h3.