Anti-Theft Mods

[wakingtowinter]

I was reading the stolen vehicles/parts section on Pirate4x4 and it was kind of a wake up call to me with regards to security systems, of which I have pretty much none...I was reading about all these people who've had vehicles stolen right from out of their driveways, out on the street, etc. And most of them weren't competition-level rigs with $25,000 in mods or anything, actually it seems like the most stolen vehicles on that board are older toyota beaters. Got me thinking about how my roommate's KLR was stolen from out in front of our previous house last year, and I'm starting to think about some inexpensive things I can do to make it more difficult for my ranger to walk away on me.

I would love to have Lojack but can't afford it right now (and probably won't be able to any time soon), so I'm thinking about simple cut-off switches and such. I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to car stuff, the hardest thing I've done on my ranger so far was ball joints. I don't have much experience with electrical systems either, only thing I've done so far is wire up aux lights. Anybody want to school me on how fuel cut-off, coil cut-off, etc. switches are installed? And what is a brake pedal lock? If anybody can suggest any good write-ups that would be cool too. Thanks!

 

[strvger]

keep in mind that if they really want it they are going to get it unless you stop them.
i have no idea about all that electronic stuff, except you increase your chances if you have a separate battery it's wired to directly.
all i know is when i'm home (at the end of a dead-end road out in the country) my dog is the alarm and a combination of shotguns, rifles, and pistols will handle the intruders.
not trying to be a smart a**, but i have absolutely no use for serious thieves and home invaders and won't rely on any electronic sensor or skinny piece of steel made in china for the protection of my family and property. just my $.02.

 

[Ranger Kip]

try this, close your windows, lock your doors, get a car alarm, and hope for the best, because "Locks are there to keep Honest people, Honest".

where I live, nobody locks there doors, no need too. A lot of them leave their keys in the car on the seat or dash too.

 

[Mac]

try this, close your windows, lock your doors, get a car alarm, and hope for the best, because "Locks are there to keep Honest people, Honest".

where I live, nobody locks there doors, no need too. A lot of them leave their keys in the car on the seat or dash too.

That's about the same here but keys come in the house. Front door to house never locked unless I'm gone for the week-end. One of the joys of living in the country.
Dave

 

[wakingtowinter]

I wish I lived in the country, but I have to deal with Tacoma for now. In Tacoma, you'd better have your stuff bolted onto the floor. If you're not paranoid about it, you WILL get something stolen. I had my previous truck broken into downtown, middle of the day last year. My friend's laptop was stolen last summer one evening when he left the front door open (he and a couple other people were in the house, but in the back yard).

We don't have a dog, but there are a lot of firearms in the house, so I feel okay about the house when there's someone here. When I leave for more than 24 hrs, I usually hide my laptop. Sucks to live like that, but my old neighbor told me many times about how he witnessed drive-bys and has had to get out his shotgun for more than just birds. He installed a surveillance system on his house. Now I'm a lunatic about locking the doors (even when I'm home) and locking the doors on the truck. But the reality is door locks and windows are really nothing to a thief. I know no vehicle can be 100% invulnerable to thieves, I just want to add a couple more layers of security than what I already have. But yeah basically don't live in Tacoma if you can avoid it

 

[Ranger Kip]

o_0 move to PA, mostly rural up north

 

[strvger]

there is no absolutely safe place, period. there are crazies everywhere and it's the least suspecting people and places that get devastated when home invasions occur. even here in very rural northern Minnesota, those incidents are on the increase thanks in part to meth labs being started away from the bigger cities. that kind of insanity knows no bounds.

 

[cody93]

the way i do it is to cut off power and fuel. on top of that, release a type of gas inside the cab that'll make someone passout and set off a very very loud alarm. reason why old toyota beaters are stolen is that older cars are easier to steal and use for crimes/joyrides

 

[Funnyman141]

my security is a "crappy" (what everybody thinks of my truck) truck that is loud, smelly, and rusty with no radio (was hidden, always had one) with bad battery clamps, and a manual transmission (fun to watch people who "know" how to drive a manual drive my truck with an underpowered 2.3 )

 

[Hopman]

my security is a "crappy" (what everybody thinks of my truck) truck that is loud, smelly, and rusty with no radio (was hidden, always had one) with bad battery clamps, and a manual transmission (fun to watch people who "know" how to drive a manual drive my truck with an underpowered 2.3 )

Same deal on my truck. Except in stead of crappy, it's the oddball color combo (deep purple truck /w a teal cap) that keeps them away. Cops could spot it from a mile away! Theives don't like vehicles that stand out.

Now my roommate's silver 2008 Corolla, on the other hand, is a prime target. There's thousands of them out there. It'll blend right in!

 

[martin]

The easiest thing is to put a switch in the feed to the fuel pump. It should stop the occasional thiefs or joyriders, they don't want to attract attention by trying to start something that is going to take time to figure out why. If they really want it they will steal it with a tow truck, doesn't matter what alarm it has in that case. Plastic rattlesnake on the seat might work.

 

[hoosier1104]

I have a cab monkey. It is known as a trunk monkey for cars.

 

[88_Eddie]

if someone wants to get into your car, their gonna do it. lock your doors and dont leave your gps sitting on the dash or anything like that.

 

[adsm08]

I love trunk monkey. Those things are awesome. I remember when Ford offered those as a factory option for a few years there. I think it was mostly on the CVTCGM platform though.


I don't worry about it too much. I'm on the edge of the city, but the crime rate is almost zero where I live, as opposed to 3 miles west of me where you'll get held up at gun point if you are out after 12.

My woman always locks her truck up. I don't bother. I close my windows in case it rains, some nights I don't even remember to do that. In terms of theft protection, we get about the same results, and I have a much better radio.

 

[Nhaz]

One of the best security systems is a interrupt switch inline with the ignition system. (hidden of course)

That way it will turn over but wont start not even if they try to push start it.

This worked great for my mustang. which at the time I was living in the middle of a city and not a nice area. It was attempted twice that I know of. Came home and the hood was up first time and second time I found it out of its parking spot a few feet.

I Never locked the doors on it, and I left the keys in it. I would rather them try to steal it then have them break a window in it.

The most irritating part of the mustang was the cops hated it. I was Never EVER given a ticket. yet they pulled me over all the bloody time for nothing.