I did a lot of measuring today with the Gorilla Guard and Gorilla X2 locking lug nuts. Short answer is, both of them work fine. Long answer follows:
The main concern with aftermarket lug nuts and locking lug nuts is making sure that there is sufficient clearance inside the nut so that when the lug nut is tightened fully, the force is all on the cone seat. If the lug nut is too short, the wheel stud will hit the inside of the lug nut as its tightened down and the nut will not apply any force to the cone seat. This interior distance is difficult to measure since you can't get any measuring device inside the lug nut.
So I thought that a good way to do it would be to count the number of turns that each lug nut needs to seat on the wheel at 129 ft-lbs of torque (Tesla specs) and compare that to how many turns the lug nut will thread onto the stud without a wheel in place. Since the threads are 14x1.5 mm (meaning 14mm diameter, 1.5 mm thread pitch), we can calculate the distance that the stud inserts into the lug nut by noting the number of turns.
I compared 5 different lug nuts and wheel locks:
1. Tesla OEM lug nuts
2. Tesla locking lug nuts from the Tesla online store or service center (these are manufactured by McGard).
3. McGard chrome finish bulge acorn style lug nuts (McGard part number 64073).
4. Gorilla Guard locking lug nuts (part number 61641).
5. Gorilla X2 locking lug nuts (part number 71641X).
Here's a picture of all 5:
From left to right, those are:
1. Gorilla X2 wheel locks (71641X)
2. Gorilla Guard wheel locks (64641)
3. McGard bulge acorn chrome lug nut (64073)
4. Tesla accessories wheel locks, available in Tesla online store (manufactured by McGard)
5. Tesla OEM lug nut
I then removed a wheel, and threaded each of these onto a stud and counted how many turns it took for the nut to come to a stop, and what it seated on (either the cone touching the wheel face, or the stud contacting the inside of the lug nut or wheel lock). I then computed the mm of distance that each stud inserts into the lug nut (mm = turns * 1.5). I then installed the wheel and counted the number of turns it took for each lug nut or wheel lock to torque to 129 ft-lbs, computed that distance of stud insertion, and then subtracted the mm values for no wheel and with wheel to get a stud clearance distance in mm.
Lug Nut or Wheel Lock | No Wheel Turns | No Wheel mm | Seats On | TST 20 Wheel Turns | TST 20 Wheel mm | Interior Stud Clearance mm |
---|
Tesla OEM Lug Nut | 14 1/3 | 21 1/2 | Cone Face | 10 2/3 | 16 | 5 1/2 |
Tesla Locking | 14 1/3 | 21 1/2 | Cone Face | 10 3/4 | 16 1/8 | 5 3/8 |
McGard 64073 | 14 1/3 | 21 1/2 | Cone Face | 9 3/4 | 14 5/8 | 6 7/8 |
Gorilla Guard 61641 | 14 1/4 | 21 3/8 | Stud | 11 1/3 | 17 | 4 3/8 |
Gorilla X2 71641X | 14 1/4 | 21 3/8 | Stud | 11 1/8 | 16 2/3 | 4 2/3 |
For the "seats on" column, this is where the lug nut or wheel lock seats when no wheel is installed. As you can see, although the Gorilla Guard and Gorilla X2 wheel locks are slightly shorter than the Tesla OEM parts and therefore they seat on the stud with no wheel in place, they have enough clearance to safely fasten the wheel to the hub once a wheel is on. When the wheel is installed, they seat on the cone face as intended.
Here are some pictures of each lug nut or wheel lock fully threaded onto a stud:
Tesla OEM:
Tesla Wheel Lock (available in Tesla online store, manufactured by McGard):
McGard 64073:
Gorilla Guard 61641:
Gorilla X2 71641X:
Here are some final pictures of the wheel with 3 McGard 64073, 1 Gorilla Guard 61641, and 1 Gorilla X2 71641X installed. By the way, these are the T Sportline 20" turbine-style wheels. I did not check these measurements on a Tesla wheel, but the TST wheels are supposed to be fully compatible with the Tesla wheels:
On a separate but related note, wheel lock discussions online typically always devolve into the effectiveness of wheel locks. Most people believe that wheel locks will not stop professional and/or determined thieves. This may be somewhat correct, but I feel that discussion is moot because the wheel locks are so inexpensive.
A 4 pack of the Gorilla Guard 61641 is $19.04 at Amazon.
A 4 pack of the Gorilla X2 71641X is $23.90 at Amazon.
I can see debating the merits of wheel lock effectiveness if the locks were a substantial investment, but at $20.00, does it matter? Even if the only thing they ever do is stop a teenager and his friends from pulling a prank, it's probably worth it.
Plus, both the Gorilla Guard and the Gorilla X2 have a decent chance of stopping even pro thieves. The Gorilla Guard has the free-spinning external sleeve, so you can't hammer a socket over it, and the keys are quite unique. The Gorilla X2 has the top half that free-spins, so you can hammer a socket over it, but you can't get any torque to the lower portion. It's keys are even more unique than the Gorilla Guard's.
Which brings around the last thing: DON'T LOSE THE KEY! If you register your set with Gorilla, they can get you a replacement if you lose one, but if not, you might be in a real pickle.