Making a car difficult to steal

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DionR

DionR

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The recent problems with theft (including the guy I know who lost his Demon last week) has gotten me to thinking about how to make it difficult to steal my Duster. Stuff like taking the rotor out of the distributor and things like that. I know the new cars have checks to make sure you can't just cross a couple of wires, but the older cars don't have a good option for that (that I am aware of). Anybody have any creative ideas?

One that I thought about was wiring in one of Painless Wiring's Phantom Key kit. Put the push button in a nondescript place and leave the column alone so it looks like that is still how you start the car. Pretty sure if you don't have the key fob, the button doesn't light up, so in theory the thief doesn't know it is there, so he works on the ignition switch instead. Wire the switch in the column to a relay that kills all power to the car and sounds the horn so that when he tries to hot wire the car, or start it with the switch because he smashed the column, all he does is disable it and set off an alarm to tell anyone close that he is trying to steal it.

Another thought is set up a cheap cell phone that you could call and trace if it does get stolen. Not sure if that is even possible, probably watching too many Burn Notices. But if it was possible, maybe hide it in the headliner, wired to power so it doesn't run down and set it up on silent/no vibrate/auto answer on mute so you can listen to the thieves, too. Can you track a cellphone without being a government agent?

Of course the first thing you need is some way to discourage the thief to begin with, like take the shifter with you so he can't get it out of park or something.

Thoughts?
 
Put a kill switch in and area that is difficult to find. They also make small GPS units that you can hide in your car and you can track it from your PC.
 
Electric fuel solenoid, and a toggle switch labeled fog lights, works for me.
 
One problem with my idea is the steering wheel lock. Either you need to be able to turn the key to unlock the steering wheel, or remove the lock. My thought had been to set it up as a trap, but turning the ignition key to unlock the steering wheel would trip it, which isn't what I was thinking. And I don't like the thought of disabling the steering wheel lock as it makes it harder to tow. Nothing is perfect, but no reason to make it any easier, either.

Also, the Painless kit is $800! Ouch.
 
Mr.FT said:
Electric fuel solenoid, and a toggle switch labeled fog lights, works for me.
Click to expand...
my 'map light' switch powers my electric fuel pump (not as an anti-theft device per se, it was just a handy switch to hook into).

edit- it's actually the 'rear air' switch, but same idea.
 
White wire on an MSD box run through a switch to ground does the J.O.B.
 
A hidden kill switch will take care of the less professional thieves. You can also put a kill on the fuel pump if you run electric.

But in some cases these guys aren't even starting the cars, they're rolling them into trailers or hooking them up with repo-man style tow trucks. I heard of one in So-Cal where the car (a pretty nice hot rod) was blocked by another car in the driveway. The thieves would have needed to use wheel dollies to get it out, and did so while the owner was sleeping in the room next to where the car was parked. If you're looking to stop the professional types, good luck.

Best option there is to GPS it so you can track it once its gone. There are several companies now offering GPS tracking devices for classic cars, although most have an ongoing monthly fee. A lot of GPS cell phones can be tracked by the owner of the phone using software on a laptop or home computer (all iPhones and iPads can be tracked by the owner with built in software), but then you're paying for one of those. And if it drops out of coverage (like it would, for example, in a shipping container), you're out of luck.
 
When i rigged up the MSD ignition in my car i used the little white wire (normally used when piggy-backing the msd with factory ignition setups) into a toggle switch up under the dash. When the wires grounded the box will not fire. Quick, dirty, and easy. in sure something like this could be rigged with factory ignitions as well. food for thought.
 
They make a in line fuel cut off switch that hooks to the fuel line under the car and sticks threw the floor .like a t shut off.maybe an I pod they have the find my I pod app that you can access from any computer my oldest daughter ran off one time she is 17 and grown she took her I pod and I found her by useing the app but its all useless if the person stealing the car uses a tow truck hook up in the back of a truck like the guys that do,repos they can hook up and drive off in just a few min. I was. Thanking of getting a wheel lock like u see in the movies that the city uses for parking in no parking spot
 
Car theft often does not involve actually starting the car. Driveshafts can be removed and then the vehicle can be towed or pulled into or onto a trailer. These are cases where just about no matter what you do, they will still steal your baby. So what came to my little mind was a form of line lock. Possibly an electric system that could charge and hold pressure so that all the wheels would be locked. I'm not sure this would be possible and I know that if someone really wants your car, they will still get it. Just thinkin'!
 
So far as tracking a cell, you don't NEED to. Your car is stolen, call the police. Tell them about the cell and they can have it tracked.

If I get time, I'l try and find out some info on this, but I don't think you need anything special. The type of cell might help. Some of the (older) cells will work on a car adapter WITHOUT a battery, so you don't need to worry about the battery going defective.

Of course if they unhook the battery "just because" that isn't good

Forget Lojack. Someone suggested it, but their coverage sucks. You don't have to get "very far" into the "country" to lose Lojack.
 
Grant Vehicle Security System: "No wheel, no steal"
All of my vehicles, except the 1 with an air bag are so equipped.
Just take the wheel off, replace it with the cap and lock the wheel in the trunk.
No anti-theft device is foolproof, but this one's pretty hard to defeat.
 
You could also use a Mico brake lock. You press on the brake pedal and flip a switch to activate a solenoid that maintains hydraulic pressure and locks the brakes. Unlike a Line-Loc, this solenoid is intended for long term use.
 
baby monitor under seat. loaded gun next to bed.
line lock holding the brakes all night (not sure how that would work.) last place on this one hahaha
 
Not a whole lot you can do to stop someone if they are determined to get it, unless you catch them in the act and you draw down on em.

Personally, after I get my engine built and the rest done mine will have the GPS and a kill switch, I will also try and use that as a bargaining chip to keep my insurance down.
 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRNVxHPJ0hM"]MagnaVolt Commercial - Lethal Response - YouTube[/ame]
 
Wow I don't remember john glover ever looking that young. I think the magna volt was in one of the robocop films. I remember seeing a key lock equipped non electric line lock valve some years back. I always figured if I found one I could install it so the key cylinder stuck up through the floor. Apply brakes turn key and rear brakes should stay applied.

I am afraid to buy a no name ebay gps tracker. Here is crutchfield's selection their company has a good reputation of standing behind their products. http://www.crutchfield.com/g_282850/GPS-Tracking.html?tp=151
 
I came up with the idea of putting a battery disconnect under the dash to isolate the ground and setting up another batter in the trunk that fires an ignition system through the body.
So you disconnect the ground, get out of the car and remotely activate the ignition in the trunk that is directly connected to the body of the car.
You would have multi thousand volts flowing through the whole car looking for something to jump to for a ground.

Do you think you could steal a car, or tow it away if it was like holding onto a sparkplug wire to get within a inch or so of touching it?
 
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