DionR
Well-Known Member
Best idea I have come up with so far is to relocate my battery to the trunk and then use a latching relay switched using a cheap Viper alarm.
Here is a thread that talks a fair amount about some of the relays, even though the original topic was a inertia switch.
www.forabodiesonly.com
I did wire the alarm into the dome light so if I arm it, not only does it cut power to everything from the truck forward, it will also do the standard car alarm thing of setting off a siren if the door is opened. And I think it will go off if the car is towed or run into hard enough.
There are a couple of threads I have commented on or started stretching back eight or more years because I had a friend get his '72 Demon stolen out of his garage 10 minutes after he got back from the track. His security camera recorded the thieves under the hood for a brief moment and then the car was gone. It was then that I realized that a 6 foot piece of wire and a quarter was enough to start the car assuming nothing was changed (coil wire missing, etc.) and there was a hot wire under the hood. On my car, they would have to break the steering wheel lock as well.
In the end, cutting power past the back seat seemed like the best option I could come up with, and it cleaned up the engine bay to boot.
There are certainly better alarms than a Viper now. Some that will talk back to your phone and everything. I just didn't see the need and didn't want to spend the money.
Oh, and as a bonus, I wired in the Aux1 button to disconnect the battery so I can cut the power but not arm the system. Works great for when I park the car in the garage and don't want to worry about something draining it. I also hard wired in a battery tender plug as the battery is up under the package tray (didn't want to lose the trunk space) and would (will?) be a bear if (when?) the battery needs to be removed.
I like the idea of an AirTag, but be aware that there are apps to look for ones that aren't recognized by the phone the app is on. So, a savvy thief could use the app to check your car for one before he even steals it. Maybe that would be a deterrent, or maybe it just means he would take it somewhere and rip it out before taking it home. Either way, I plan to add an AirTag to my car at some point soon.
Here is a thread that talks a fair amount about some of the relays, even though the original topic was a inertia switch.
Battery relocated to trunk, inertia switch?
Been in the works for like 8 years now, finally getting my battery into the trunk with a remote cutoff switch. Not doing this for NHRA or anything. I just want to be able to walk away with the alarm system armed and no power forward of the trunk. Where I am struggling is with the rather large...
www.forabodiesonly.com
I did wire the alarm into the dome light so if I arm it, not only does it cut power to everything from the truck forward, it will also do the standard car alarm thing of setting off a siren if the door is opened. And I think it will go off if the car is towed or run into hard enough.
There are a couple of threads I have commented on or started stretching back eight or more years because I had a friend get his '72 Demon stolen out of his garage 10 minutes after he got back from the track. His security camera recorded the thieves under the hood for a brief moment and then the car was gone. It was then that I realized that a 6 foot piece of wire and a quarter was enough to start the car assuming nothing was changed (coil wire missing, etc.) and there was a hot wire under the hood. On my car, they would have to break the steering wheel lock as well.
In the end, cutting power past the back seat seemed like the best option I could come up with, and it cleaned up the engine bay to boot.
There are certainly better alarms than a Viper now. Some that will talk back to your phone and everything. I just didn't see the need and didn't want to spend the money.
Oh, and as a bonus, I wired in the Aux1 button to disconnect the battery so I can cut the power but not arm the system. Works great for when I park the car in the garage and don't want to worry about something draining it. I also hard wired in a battery tender plug as the battery is up under the package tray (didn't want to lose the trunk space) and would (will?) be a bear if (when?) the battery needs to be removed.
I like the idea of an AirTag, but be aware that there are apps to look for ones that aren't recognized by the phone the app is on. So, a savvy thief could use the app to check your car for one before he even steals it. Maybe that would be a deterrent, or maybe it just means he would take it somewhere and rip it out before taking it home. Either way, I plan to add an AirTag to my car at some point soon.
