gwh98926
Beer Geek
2 chocolate labs, 4 great danes, 1 pomeranian to wake the others, a long dark driveway and a arsenal of weapons. I dare someone to try
STOP THIEF!!! What you would do to make your IDI harder to steal...
- Thread starter SDEconVan
- Start date
eastsideauto
Full Access Member
labs are the world's worst guard dogs. great danes otoh.........
oregon96psd
Full Access Member
One click past 4 high, when your going to 4 low watch the 4x4 light, it goes out when it passes through neutral....or at least both of mine do.
mohavewolfpup
Diesel Wolf Puppy
Another good tip: NEVER talk about your mods/methods. If it's off the shelf and not commonly known, don't make it known
oregon96psd
Full Access Member
Its an 85 van...not many people are going to steal the van, only whats insiade of it. Just keep any valuables out of it so they dont see the eye candy.
ironworker40
NYC Ironworker
I'm glad I don't live close to you guys. I don't even lock my truck. Most of the time the keys are in it too. The theifs here must be high class because they aren't stealing 20-30 year old trucks and they most likely don't know how to drive a stick anyway.
sjwelds
Full Access Member
X2. Don't know if mines been locked since the day I bought it lol
Sycostang67
Scooty Puff Junior
I think if someone is gonna steal one of these old pigs, it's gonna be some punk kid wanting a joy ride. Other than scrap weight, I don't see much value in these trucks through the eyes of other people. Guys like us are the only ones who realize their true value. Regardless, it's hard to put a price on peace of mind. I do have my glow plugs on a disconnect switch, but obviously that wont matter if the motor is warm or it's above 90* outside. Just having a manual transmission makes my truck impossible to steal for the majority of low level thieves. 
mu2bdriver
Full Access Member
Locked, empty bed, absolutely nothing left out in the open, and if it's a particularly sketchy area I'll remove the fsv wire or disconnect the battery. There are much easier targets you can find just by casually walking through a parking lot.
Just wondering...I looked around real quick on Amazon and saw a couple of brake pedal locks:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Club-Vehi...d=1408513053&sr=8-1&keywords=brake+pedal+lock
http://www.amazon.com/Autolock-1704...d=1408513053&sr=8-5&keywords=brake+pedal+lock
http://www.amazon.com/Lawman-1640-T...d=1408513053&sr=8-3&keywords=brake+pedal+lock
Is any one of these any better or worse than the others? Or, is there a better one that Amazon didn't list? Not sure how much of the "features" mentioned (drill-proof, cut-proof, freon-proof, etc) actually mean anything and how much of that is just a marketing gimmick...
As has been pointed out, if someone wants the vehicle badly enough, they're going to get it, but it's possible to slow them down enough to look for an easier target...
I'd normally have to agree, a 30-year-old pile won't even get a second look, but because of our
locale, the VANS, especially older, windowless ones, are very desirable for human smuggling (and
also runs in parallel with the drug trade.) I stopped counting the number of stolen vans I learned
about years ago. The 3 most popular runs are from Mexico into the US, from AZ across the desert
to CA, and from the border (SD) up to San Onofre checkpoint.
Stolen full-sized vans are the tool of choice, one-time use then run down to Mexico.
20-30 y.o. trucks probably don't have any problems. On the other hand, in our beach community
we have a LOT of drunk driving because of the "Beach Dive Bars" where someone thinks they can
drive home and a couple blocks into it, they do this:
This is a long-time resident (60+ yrs) well-respected who had a Drunk hit his 1981 which I can tell
you was pristine like my Club Wagon, his baby. He's now over 80 years old, and won't even
get BlueBook on it. Because the cab got sprung it's considered a total and now a "Salvage Title"
at best, so our DMV makes it hard to insure. The Drunk hit 4 cars. This kind of stuff happens 1 to
2 times a week here in the Summer months mostly by visitors...
Another rich guy, just floored it and hit a bunch of stuff and people,
So off-street parking is good if you have it. But that doesn't stop the Trolls...
We also have a LOT of homeless who have drifted into the area and do petty theft, mostly the tweakers,
younger, bad ones are on skateboards and carry backpacks:
photo taken from my buddy's Powerstroke, after the tweaker tried to break in, WITH MY BUDDY IN THE
TRUCK!!!
We also have the Trash Trolls, they check EVERY SINGLE CAR DOOR, right in front of you,
Notice the poor elderly gal in the background, lots of older folk don't know what to make of it, we look out for them...
(I can almost hear you thinkin, "What a F&(Ked place!") but actually it is real nice, and the crime comes
and goes, we are on a noticible upswing, not enough law enforcement, and lots of new cheap drugs are driving this,
which is why I have the concerns. I am really hoping it goes away soon, to more tolerable levels.
So that is why my paranoia about the thievery of an old junker van...
And "No" you can't get a bunch of your friends and go on a "round up" like we used to do in the 70's, they
have and KNOW "their rights," which makes it all frustrating as heck for locals and law enforcement.
But I digress, imagine seeing your community getting like this, I'm a 5th generation resident here. "Do
you give up, turn tail and move away, or do you fix it somehow?" Depends upon your sense of community...
As for the Brake Lock, there was one brand that was noted to be pretty good, it was the AutoLock X
(not affiliated.) The Repo guys said it's a bear to defeat, pretty much need a cordless cut-off wheel
and a good 5+ minutes.
Be sure to get the "Second Generation" one it has the better lock and key.
Hope this helps,
George
locale, the VANS, especially older, windowless ones, are very desirable for human smuggling (and
also runs in parallel with the drug trade.) I stopped counting the number of stolen vans I learned
about years ago. The 3 most popular runs are from Mexico into the US, from AZ across the desert
to CA, and from the border (SD) up to San Onofre checkpoint.
Stolen full-sized vans are the tool of choice, one-time use then run down to Mexico.
20-30 y.o. trucks probably don't have any problems. On the other hand, in our beach community
we have a LOT of drunk driving because of the "Beach Dive Bars" where someone thinks they can
drive home and a couple blocks into it, they do this:
You must be registered for see images attach
This is a long-time resident (60+ yrs) well-respected who had a Drunk hit his 1981 which I can tell
you was pristine like my Club Wagon, his baby. He's now over 80 years old, and won't even
get BlueBook on it. Because the cab got sprung it's considered a total and now a "Salvage Title"
at best, so our DMV makes it hard to insure. The Drunk hit 4 cars. This kind of stuff happens 1 to
2 times a week here in the Summer months mostly by visitors...
Another rich guy, just floored it and hit a bunch of stuff and people,
You must be registered for see images attach
So off-street parking is good if you have it. But that doesn't stop the Trolls...
We also have a LOT of homeless who have drifted into the area and do petty theft, mostly the tweakers,
younger, bad ones are on skateboards and carry backpacks:
You must be registered for see images attach
photo taken from my buddy's Powerstroke, after the tweaker tried to break in, WITH MY BUDDY IN THE
TRUCK!!!
We also have the Trash Trolls, they check EVERY SINGLE CAR DOOR, right in front of you,
You must be registered for see images attach
Notice the poor elderly gal in the background, lots of older folk don't know what to make of it, we look out for them...
(I can almost hear you thinkin, "What a F&(Ked place!") but actually it is real nice, and the crime comes
and goes, we are on a noticible upswing, not enough law enforcement, and lots of new cheap drugs are driving this,
which is why I have the concerns. I am really hoping it goes away soon, to more tolerable levels.
So that is why my paranoia about the thievery of an old junker van...
And "No" you can't get a bunch of your friends and go on a "round up" like we used to do in the 70's, they
have and KNOW "their rights," which makes it all frustrating as heck for locals and law enforcement.
But I digress, imagine seeing your community getting like this, I'm a 5th generation resident here. "Do
you give up, turn tail and move away, or do you fix it somehow?" Depends upon your sense of community...
As for the Brake Lock, there was one brand that was noted to be pretty good, it was the AutoLock X
(not affiliated.) The Repo guys said it's a bear to defeat, pretty much need a cordless cut-off wheel
and a good 5+ minutes.
You must be registered for see images attach
Be sure to get the "Second Generation" one it has the better lock and key.
Hope this helps,
George
Last edited:
mohavewolfpup
Diesel Wolf Puppy
This is why I hesitate using my truck to haul down stuff for comic con later on. My truck means a lot to me, but insurance and the cops don't give a **** about all that. I stayed in national city a year ago within farting distance of the border. I've been raised on every thief from south of the border usually wants it to do labor related work with it (70's fords in particular). If i'm lucky it stays in the states. More often then not, it's probably heading south of the border where it's gone.
Might be using enterprise truck rentals and making them deal with the hassle of the loss. Better to let someone else take the bath...
your buddy has some serious money invested in his rig. mime looks/smells/sounds like a old diesel towtruck. I just "act like I own the damn place" attitude when I'm stealing cars and trucks.
I used to use my loud idi 17' car carrier for repos.no question of whether im gonna be able to get it.didnt matter how or where they parked once the deck dropped thier car was gone.
Best theft deterent???leave the keys in it.a thief is most likely not gonna touch it in fear of it being a setup or watched.reverse psychology.has worked great for me for 20 years.ive never had anything stolen from any of my vehicles.
No matter what you do,if they want it,they will take.if they want it bad enough they will roll up with a trailer,drag it on and be gone.you cant stop a good winch with all you fancy switches and brake locks.
firehawk
Full Access Member
Horrible idea. Thieves don't think that far ahead; they see it as easy pickings. If one see two cars, and one has the keys in it, that will be the one they take every time.
