Topic: easy anti theft device

[dieselsmoke]

this is probably the easiest way to defend against theft

1) get rid of the sliding rear glass

while it is true that a door glass can be broken that makes noise, personally I can get in a truck with a sliding rear glass in under 30 seconds and it would look as if I had got something out of the bed

2) wire a relay into your starter circuit

use a standard relay 30 amp and use the wire from your flash to pass high beams to close the relay
that way you will have to hold your high beam ( flash to pass ) to start the truck

3) don't get those bull crap whoop whoop alarms if you want a security system spend the 500.00 and get lojack that way the popo can track the truck and string the bastards up by their short and curlies

lets just say I wasn't always a mechanic, I used to live in Florida and their is a great demand for parts of all ages, makes and models

I hope this information is of use to all of you, I know personally I'm sinking a boat load of money in my heap and it would suck hard if some lolife crack head messed with it

besides all the 4x4 conversion work I have the killer alpine stereo with a 1200 watt jbl sub amp 2 audiobanh alum12 subs a 400 watt Jensen 4 channel with 4 jbl coupled componet 4" speakers for my mids and highs all in a regular cab 86, yeah a full 12 ounce soda can will jump 1 1/2 " off the roof of my truck

by the way audiobanh rules my subs RMS 1200 and peak at 2000, and the jbl amp is under rated it puts out about 1475 watts the subs are dual voice coil 6 ohm so I have them wired so my amp sees 1.5 ohms
gives you a nice massage on the ride home

I still have to install my 2 farred capacitor, during the day my volt gauge would twitch and at night my light flicker when the bass hits hard

[86 4runner]

why advertise everything you have in your truck. seems kinda foolish to me

[dieselsmoke [OP]]

first of all I don't live in california or any high theft area for that matter

second I park my truck in my yard with 2 100# rotties

out here in the country where I live people don't lock thier houses we don't have a problem with crime

the total population of the county I live in is just over 10k people, thats what like 6 or 8 city blocks for you

besides to look at my heap it would be last on a long list of potential targets

[86 4runner]

i live in the boonies surounded by like 10k cows and peoples still gets jacked

[mudmaster]

Mines in the garage and I own a gun and WILL use it.

[Rocksurfer]

High-beam switch is old, already been done to death in and around here and most everyone knows about it. I have a few that I have done in a similar fashon, but I'm not tellin' what I did. Just get creative with the relay(s) and what triggers it/them.

[dieselsmoke [OP]]

I said it was easy, I didn't say it was a new idea,

but here's a good one for you, take a long piece of 20 gauge wire ( the smaller the better )  put it in your coil with the coil wire, run it to a toggle switch on the dash
and be sure to properly position the on/off plate, then run the wire up under the drivers seat and fan out the wire on the seat

Note: you will want the switch to be off while you are in the truck

the potential thief will think its a ignition kill or something and turn it on, much to his/her surprise they wont be able to get out fast enough

seriously though the seat belt warning lamp wiring can be used to close a relay
a potential thief wont take the time to put the Seat belt on, it is on a timer but if it is used for a starter interupt then the truck wont start unless the seat belt is connected
and it will also keep you from getting a seat belt ticket

[Rocksurfer]

My Camry was stolen so many times it's silly, I have one nobody can figure out (yet) If I forget to set it and you do actually steal it you better not stop anywhere and shut off the motor or it won't restart. I forgot to disable it once and sure enough someone took it that night. It was found the next day in a parking lot, and they had been trying to figure out why it wouldn't start, you could see they had been checking stuff and had tryed to jump it. I was like whew it worked.

[yotaboy79]

my anti theft devise is a ring welded to the t-case shifter and a pad lock so i can lock it into 4 low reverse and back into the parking spot

[Cheesemaker]

I remember reading about this drug running car that had a hidden compartment, it took the cops like two days to figure it out!  They had this series of switches wired up.  It was like turn on the wipers on high, put the heater switch on cold-recirculate air, and defrost, and buckle the left rear seat belt, etc.....   The order of things they had to do was incredible!!

I hate my nissan, I can't wait to get a toy, and yet nobody wants to steal it!  Even if I leave the keys in it and running at the local grocery store!  I come back hoping it will be gone, one time I actually thought it was gone until I realized I forgot to put it in gear and e-brake, and it just rolled back four spaces into a curb!  My wife keeps threatening the blow it up!      The problem is we have more cows than people in our county.

[TrikeKid]

One of the simplest is a well hidden battery cut off switch, hide it well and they won't have electricity to do anything, and now that you can get one with a small bypass circuit, they don't delete your radio pre sets etc... If you're storing the truck for any lenghth of time you can pull a part out of the ignition (like a coil wire or distributor rotor). My cousin had his old Ford (70 F250, beat to hell, ugly as sin and it's been stolen TWICE) parked at a lot owned by the trucking company he drives for, he pulled the rotor out after the first time it was stolen, from his driveway while he was home. The thieves actually figured out the problem, got a rotor, came back and took the truck, the only thing worth much would be the winch bumper (winch went on his new truck), and the axles if they knew what they were looking at. He didn't bother tracking it down the second time.

[SWAMPER]

I actually talked to my audio/alarm guy about this yesterday we talked for a good while to and I will proly have atleast 5 anti theft devices in my truck....maybe 6 if I buy a shot gun

[midwestmud]

my truck was broken into not to long ago came in through the sliding glass man that pisses you off !  I bought a bunch of single edge razor blades, painted them black and attached them on strips i connected to the sliding glass.  I rigged it so the blades will fold in slightly but close up when pulled back,  sorta like the old chinese finger cuffs.  next time some crack head breaks into the truck they will get their hand stuck or loose their fingers.  probably not a good idea since they will probably sue me

[SWAMPER]

just make sure that you cover the seats so the blood dosent stain ur upholstory...also you might want to get the seats professionaly cleaned since there was a bodily fluid involved thats if they make it inside

[jimbo74]

this kinda takes some work to do, but disconnect the throttle cable, all you have to do is get the little stopper thing out and jsut tuck the cable somewhere, its kinda hard to steal a vehicle that will only idle and drive it away...

they will probably give up trying

[Plowking]

my anti theft devise is a ring welded to the t-case shifter and a pad lock so i can lock it into 4 low reverse and back into the parking spot

I love it. Time to get out the welder

[topar]

Removable steering wheel.  I run tub doors when its warm here in Virginia.  I just remove the steering wheel and no one touches the truck.  Really helps that its ugly, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

[BLACKDOG]

  marlin low and reverse 

[Lenander]

I am doing the 4 low reverse thing to my truck along with a creative relay! Thanks for the good ideas!

[*FFC*]

I gotta do something like that to both my trucks... specially in our neighborhood 

[BigMike]

why advertise everything you have in your truck. seems kinda foolish to me

I feel very secure with my truck that I don't mind listing what I have done.

Another excellent kill device is to use an electromagnetic switch mounted to some metal installed behind any part of your dash cover. Keep a magnet in your ash tray, and then throw the magnet up along the outside of your dash in front of where you have the magnetic switch, and then start your truck, and then remove the magnet and put it back in your ash tray.

Anyone who finds a magnet could care less about it. And they would have to rip your entire dash apart to see what you are up to. Mounted like above your glove box or above your climate controls, yet behind the dash material and completely non-visible. Use it to interupt your starter signal wire or your clutch start signal (ie. a cranking process).

Also having a switch external to your cab is perhaps the best method. I've got a switch that I can flip as I leave my truck and walk away from the parking lot. It is simple to access and disables my fuel pump. The theif will be searching FOR EVER in my cab and he won't even know that he is in the completely wrong place. Even if he tries to manually power the fuel pump, the open circuit is not even in the cab.

I guess it just depends on how anal you want to be about keeping something you love and have worked you butt off for. If you ask me, I am happy to be anal about it because I'll be able to keep my rig and play with it when I want. I have not done the magnet idea yet, but I've thought about it..

I must agree that Lojack is the best method. Just face it: If someone really want's your rig, then they are going to get it. But what you are doing with kill devices is just preventing the "oooh that truck looks nice" theif.

That is what I think about when I hit my kill switches before leaving my rig. I always think that there could be someone watching my move to see what I am doing before I leave my rig parked at the store. But you know, I have to convince myself that I am not going through the motions of kill switches to prevent that guy, but rather some kid who is on his way home from highschool and knows that 1979-1989-ish Toyota keys are all alike and my Toyota truck catches his eye.

I always think that if my truck EVER got stolen because I didn't activate a kill device that I would never forgive myself. Just because I couldn't flip one switch or turn one valve, or install my Club, just because I couldn't spare that 10 seconds of my life, now I've just lost one of the things most dear to me.

Protect your investments and enjoy them.

BigMike

[Cheesemaker]

I've been thinking about calling this company.  It's a GPS location device, that's like lojack, but you can find it via internet at all times!  Maybe somebody could check into this! 

http://www.geotracer.net/GeoTracer

Problem with lojack is that not all police agencies have the equipment to detect the signal!

I've played with a  buddies On-Star system in his new chevy, and I wish they had an aftermarket version of it!  They could make a killing with this!  Especially, with toyota owners!  There are quite a few stolen rigs in Washington, I've been following some other local boards, and it's a big problem up there!

[Cheesemaker]

Another GPS vehicle protection site!
http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/gps-car-tracking-vehicle-logging.html

[jimbo74]

i would want one to be wired into the vehicles electrical system..... however would would i do if the thief cut the battery cables or disconnected the battery for any reason? bye bye signal.....

[jimbo74]

would the shifter chain link for a padlock work with a stock tranny and tcase?

[Bass Man]

lol...  you have that much power on those subs and you can only bounce a can 1.5"?!?!
Here is what I did with 2 $30 subs and a Hifonics BX1000D...  only 914 watts rms...

http://www.realmofexcursion.com/videos/Various/americanproflex.1.wmv

And before you waste time (can't say money, cuz you alredy bought it...) all you need to do is do a Big 3...  I've explained the Big 3 so many times I stopped trying...  but just search for what it means.

[BLACKDOG]

would the shifter chain link for a padlock work with a stock tranny and tcase?

pick your gears that you want the truck locked in, (say reverse and 4 low)  and measure the distance, and weld on the tabs.  Make sure you don't give enough slop to pop either of the shifters into neutral, then it defeats the purpose.

Another option is to get one of those locks where the u-bar comes completely out of the lock body.  These allow you to lock the lock at different "tightnesses" per se.   (they're usually about 6" long at their longest locking spot)  And simply weld a nut or other small peice of metal to each of the shifters, on the front of the tranny shifter, and the rear of the t-case shifter.  Then put on the lock, and squeeze it to lock as tightly as possible.  Theives can't pry the lock over the nuts, and it gets squeezed so tightly you can't shift it.

[yota_krawler]

why not put it in 4 low and the tranny in neutral all the way over like reverse and 5th are but in neutral, that way it wont move for sure! just a thought

[robrub00]

in nutral you could still roll it  in reverse it cant be moved forward and he said he backs into the spot.   i like the idea it will stop the highschooler who has nothing better to do but ive broken a pad lock with a shoe before.  and with aprybar or somethin they can be real easy to get off.  all this is good inf though!!  keep it coming.  there is always the tow method too.  how do you prevent that!!!  i guess the gps or lojack is the way to go with that.  i want to get a proximity sensor and the paging alarms are coming down in price.  here is the thing big mike was talking about sorry long post good idea though pics at the link
http://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/A_0059/article.html

The World's Best DIY Immobiliser
Build your own car immobiliser that is simple, cheap and very, very effective.
By Adrian Cuesta


If wiring up a couple of relays doesn't worry you and you can handle a soldering iron and a multimeter, this immobiliser is for you.

You only need a:

    * 12 volt heavy duty car relay;

    * 12 volt Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) relay;

    * 12 volt flashing LED;

    * reed switch that closes when a magnet is nearby;

    * pushbutton that opens when pushed;

    * broken remote from a car alarm;

    * and a magnet.

Most of these bits and pieces you can get from an electronics shop.

Like all immobilisers, this one shuts down the car's EFI or ignition system. But what's different about ours is that if the thief steals your keys (with the remote control attached), he still can't drive away with your car. That makes it just about unique!

So how does it work?
Click for larger image

The guts of the remote transmitter case are removed and the magnet is placed inside. The circular magnet from a tiny speaker has been used here. When you enter the car, you casually swipe the transmitter case past a special place within the car's cabin. This place might be on the centre console, a part of the dashboard - pretty well anywhere. Hidden behind the area that you swipe is the reed switch - a switch that is sensitive to magnetic fields. The swiping triggers the reed switch that in turn switches off the immobiliser.
Click for larger image

Because the reed switch is located behind the plastic of the dash or centre console, there's nothing to see. The swiping movement can be quite natural - part of your hand movement as you put on your seatbelt or settle yourself in the seat. That means that even if a potential thief is watching you closely, he doesn't get any clues.The remote (at right) triggers the reed switch (left) whenever it comes close. Only you know the location of the reed switch!
Click for larger image

When you want to arm the immobiliser, you press the button. The pushbutton can be in complete view - the thief gains nothing by ripping it out and either disconnecting the wires or bridging them. When you press the button, the on-dash LED starts to flash, indicating the car is now immobilised. It also reminds you to switch off the system when you re-enter the car.
The Circuit
Click for larger image
The diagram shows the circuit that is used.

When this DPDT relay is not pulled-in (ie has no voltage applied to the coil), it connects the LED to 12 volts, causing it to flash. At the same time it also stops power flow to the heavy-duty automotive relay, in turn disabling a vital car starting circuit. The car won't start - the immobiliser is activated. Disconnecting the car battery switches off the flashing LED but makes no difference to the position of the DPDT relay. (Note that the LED is polarised and so must be connected the right way.)

Click for larger image
You want to go somewhere, so you swipe past the open reed switch with your transmitter case. This momentarily closes the reed switch, allowing power to flow through the DPDT relay's coil. It pulls in, with the second coil power supply path through the top contact causing it to latch - that is, stay pulled in, even after the reed switch has opened. The bottom contact of the DPDT relay then feeds power to the heavy-duty relay, causing it to pull in and complete the car starting circuit.

Click for larger image
You drive to your chosen location and want to disable the car. A single push of the normally closed pushbutton breaks the latching circuit of the DPDT relay, causing the relay to open. In turn, this stops the power feed to the automotive relay, and so it also opens, disabling the car. The LED starts to flash showing the immobiliser is set.

Installation

The system can be installed in three separate parts: the DPDT relay, the heavy duty automotive relay, and the reed and pushbutton switches. We mounted the DPDT relay in a 35mm film canister. The relay that we used fitted neatly into the canister, with the wiring passing through a hole drilled in the cap. The canister was mounted under the dash within the wiring loom.
Click for larger image

The heavy-duty 12 volt relay should be mounted close to where you break the vital starting circuit. A number of different approaches can be used. In an older car, inserting the relay in the low tension ignition coil power feed will prevent the car starting, as will open-circuiting the ignition key starting signal to the starter motor solenoid. However, if you do the latter, the car can still be "jump started" - not what's wanted!. If there are high current fusible links used for different circuits, it's easy to keep pulling the links until the car is as dead as a doornail and then wire the relay to open this circuit.

Finally, if your car has an electric fuel pump, the immobiliser can disable this. However, note that both EFI and carby cars will still start and run for a short period even with the fuel pump stopped. This might be just enough time for the thief to drive to the middle of the nearest major road intersection before the car dies!

The 'arming' pushbutton can be mounted anywhere on the dash. Note that if this button is accidentally pressed while you are driving along, the engine will immediately stop. Thus you should mount it where accidental activation is impossible.

The location of the reed switch is very important. It should not be awkward to access when you are seated and should also not be so close to the ignition switch that the immobiliser is disabled by the thief without him realising it! Its location is best picked when you are seated in the car. Attach the reed switch to the inside of the plastic panel using a smear of Liquid Nails or similar adhesive.

The most complex part of the system is the wiring of the DPDT relay. We built the complete system on the bench so that we could easily check that everything worked. With the system mocked up, the flashing LED should work as soon as power is connected. Swiping the hand control past the reed switch should switch off the LED, causing the DPDT and heavy-duty relays to click. Pressing the button should cause the relays to again click and the LED to start flashing.

Once the system is operating on the bench, you can install it in the car.

[robrub00]

all you need to do is do a Big 3...  I've explained the Big 3 so many times I stopped trying...  but just search for what it means.

i searched what is it???