About Wheel Lock

My car came with McGard Wheel Lock system. That is 1 key and 4 screws which can replace the screws in the vehicle wheels. The screws have special screw-nuts which can only be operated by corresponding key. So, after the screws are installed into 4 wheels, the key must be used to take out the wheel.

The "screw" mentioned above can be replaced by "lug nut", an automative jargon. :)

The key and the screws are special-made so that a thief can't randomly choose a key to operate my screws. If I lost my key, I have to mail a registration form with my serial number to the manufacturer to get a new one.

So, to protect the wheels from stolen, we must keep the key out of the reach of pass-by. It's meaningless to put the key and the lock together.
Can we put the key at home? Only when we need to rotate the tires or when we send the car to mechanics for maintenance, we bring the key with us. Is it safer this way?
Yes, that can be safe since we seperate the key and the lock. But what if you get a flat tire when driving to a national park? You park your car at the road side, take out the spare tire, only to find out that you can't replace the flat tire because you don't bring the key with you?

Anyway, we keep the key in the trunk with the lug wrench. Don't tell anybody.