Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

WARNING: Gorilla Wheel Locks...

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I purchased the Gorilla Wheel locks recommended from this thread. I had Tesla install them on my car. After about 5500 miles, I mentioned that I felt a little pulsation when I braked at high speeds. They looked at it and said the rotors are warped from one wheel and the lug bolt is stripped. I said you guys installed the nuts for me. They said we don't install aftermarket products. They went back to look at paperwork and didn't see any notes about it, as I believe they did it as a courtesy for me when I first brought in my car to take care of some Due Bill items.

Anyways, they have said they will take care of it for me because I said they installed it for me. I also think they feel bad, because this is my 6th service visit to address multiple annoying issues since I first got my car. I'm very grateful they are going to take care of it for me, as they said it would be over $1600 in work.

Anyways, I wanted to post it as a warning if anyone else is using the Gorilla Locks recommended from this thread, to be cautious. I don't know if it's because they didn't install it right or what, but they basically said the nuts are not properly securing the tire to the wheel.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...e-Model-S-anyone-doen-this-or-have-an-opinion
 
Thanks for the heads up!

One (hopefully small) request: Can you try to get the Gorilla folks in touch with the Tesla folks to follow-up on this issue? It would be great if Gorilla was able to identify the issue and correct it going forward.
 
Sorry to hear that. That's terrible.

I'm skeptical of most wheel locks, Gorilla Locks in particular, anyway. I had the exact style noted in that link on a previous vehicle and somehow lost a key (I suspect the shop never gave it back after a service). There are a finite, and small, number of keys and a nearby shop had a complete set and offered to remove them for me. Turns out they had ALSO lost that key from their set. So, they just hammered a regular socket on it and they were off in 5 minutes. They charged me $10 for a new socket and their time.

Locks are usually to deter casual theft, but these were SO easy to defeat I'm not sure how beneficial they even are for that case.

Anyway, I wonder how this happened. Was the thread pitch slightly wrong? Or were the locking logs simply unable to cope with the torque required on the Model S? Let us know if you find out, I'm interested and the information may be of use to anyone using aftermarket lugs.
 
Here is the exact verbiage from the service order and repair:

Concern: Customer states: brakes vibrate when pressing hard at freeway speeds- tech
verified on road test with client

Pay Type: Warranty

Corrections: Brakes Discs & Calipers General Diagnosis

Verified Clients concern, Road tested vehicle with customer at freeway speeds and found
when pressing brake pedal slightly, will feel slight brake pulsation. Note: Customer has
aftermarket wheel locks and found during inspection found all 4 wheel locks not properly
torqued. (not fully seated) Note: Left Front and Right Rear Hub/bearing needs to be
replaced, due to stripped lugs. Performed Rotor run out and found front rotors at
0.0254mm and rear rotors at 0.0762mm. Need to replace rear rotors, due to max rotor run
out. See Aditional correction lines for repair.

Corrections: Hub - Front - LH

Removed and Installed New Left Front Hub and Bearing Assembly. Torqued bolts to
specifications. Final road test, verified proper operation.

Part Quantity
FR SUSP HUB AND BEARING ASSY
(6007040-00-A)

1

Parts Replaced or Added

Corrections: Hub - Rear - RH
Removed and Installed New Hub and Bearing Assembly for Right Rear. Torqued bolts to
specifications. Final road test, verified proper operation.

Part Quantity
RR SUSP HUB AND BEARING ASSY
PERFORMANCE (6006796-01-A)

1

Parts Replaced or Added

Corrections: Brake Rotors - Rear - Set
Installed Rear Rotor Set.

Part Quantity
RR BRAKE ROTOR (6006431-00-C)
2

Parts Replaced or Added

Corrections: Rear Axle Nut Washer - LH & RH
Installed Rear Axle Nut Washers - LH & RH

Part Quantity
WASHER ASSY LCK M24x39 ZnFl-W
(1020296-00-A)

2
 
Do not use any Gorilla locks on your Tesla wheels! Be prepared to spend $$$ and effort to repair your lug bolts.

I put 14m x 1.5 Gorilla Guard locks on my P85+ 21" wheels. I painted them black and I torqued them to 129 ft-lb. I didn't find any issue screwing the lock into the lug nut. A week later I noticed some paints were flaking off and when I tried to unscrew the lock, I found that they destroyed the lug nut threads on the way out. To repair it, I had to buy a wheel hub from Tesla in order to extract the lug bolts and replace one bolt on each wheel!

I complained to Gorilla lock and they said they were unaware of such defect and take no responsibility for it.

In the end I bought McGuard wheel lock directly from Tesla and it worked out great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lUtriaNt and Dan60D
Do not use any Gorilla locks on your Tesla wheels! Be prepared to spend $$$ and effort to repair your lug bolts.

I put 14m x 1.5 Gorilla Guard locks on my P85+ 21" wheels. I painted them black and I torqued them to 129 ft-lb. I didn't find any issue screwing the lock into the lug nut. A week later I noticed some paints were flaking off and when I tried to unscrew the lock, I found that they destroyed the lug nut threads on the way out. To repair it, I had to buy a wheel hub from Tesla in order to extract the lug bolts and replace one bolt on each wheel!

I complained to Gorilla lock and they said they were unaware of such defect and take no responsibility for it.

In the end I bought McGuard wheel lock directly from Tesla and it worked out great.

McGard (not McGuard) does not list any wheel locks for 2020 Teslas, for 2019 they support the 3, S, X. I checked yesterday at McGard.com. I've used McGard for 40+ years on many vehicles with the benefit that they sell extra keys. While rare, keys do break. So I always carry 2 keys in the car and a 3rd at home. Go to McGard.com and check the Vehicle Application Guide.

re: the warped disk - assuming the disk was not defective (yes it happens and is not all that rare) then either the locks had the wrong base for the wheel (such as a cone when a flat is needed or vice versa) or it was over torqued. Extremely rare - a bad wheel can warp a disk. Tip, whenever I have wheel work done whether new tires or rotation; I always go home and remove the bolts and re-tighten with a torque wrench, one at a time. Even someone without a garage can do this because all that is needed is a torque wrench, a short extension (3" should be enough) and the socket. It is done with the car on the ground, no need to remove the wheel. Take it from a 75 year old, ALL shops make mistakes.

Same for tire pressure. I use the Slime electronic gauge and always have 3 of them so I can compare them for consistency. After about 10 years of use, they either work or fail and all have been consistent. Slime sealant has never worked for me so I was hesitant when I bought the first Slime gauge but the results have been great. My son has a couple as well with the same results.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Triumphz28
Is there an actual link to the nuts that caused the issue? Linking to the thread without showing the actual product doesn't do much good. Gorilla makes a bunch of different lug nuts.

I've used both of these with great success. No issues at all.

Currently using: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SF8ES8E/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Last set of wheels, for over a year: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4VSVYG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The original complaint was six years ago, maybe things have changed.
I bought a set of Gorilla lug nuts (not locks) from EVannex and will be using them to swap on 19s soon. Winter is coming.
This thread reminds me to compare the Gorilla lugs to the OEM lugs before installing them, however.
 
Those original complaints were from 2014. I would have to think Gorilla has fixed this issue. They appear reputable. I am going to buy the lug nuts and the wheel locks. I just had my hub caps stolen and they had all the lug nuts loosened ready to remove all 4 wheels when I interrupted the party-they split w/o confrontation. The video from the car showed the thug with a X lug wrench. He wasn't carrying around a whole set of tools to remove wheels. The wheel locks will take care of the issue. Plus, I now park in WAY more public places. I had parked on a dark street-my bad. If I have any problems, I will be back.