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How do you secure your HAMB vehicle when you are out and about?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Goztrider, Jul 30, 2008.

  1. Goztrider
    Joined: Feb 17, 2007
    Posts: 3,066

    Goztrider
    Member
    from Tulsa, OK

    With the rise in thefts, and thinking about how to properly secure my RPU when I'm out driving it, I got to thinking. How do you secure your car or truck - ESPECIALLY RPUs - when you are out driving it and have to (or decide to) stop?

    I'm not just talking about a run inside a convenience store or Walmart, rather I'm talking about places like a movie theater, work, or when you are driving to a show or get together - a hotel?

    It may not be a HAMB worthy idea, but I've been contemplating a small steel case type box (approx dimensions 10"x8"x12") to mount to the firewall of my RPU. In it, I've been thinking about adding my gauges, headlight switch and turn indicators, CD player (I know you may not like it, but I don't care), fuse panel, and since I'm running a Ford starter relay I'd move it inside the box/case as well. I've also been contemplating adding a second ignition switch which would cut off all external power to various circuits, as well as a line lock type device placed under a sliding panel which could be secured by a lock. I'm also thinking of an alarm system - complete with shock sensors - to be installed within the box as well.

    So, I'm curious as to what you all do to secure your rides. Show/tell me if you would. Thanks!
     
  2. Steves32
    Joined: Aug 28, 2007
    Posts: 1,280

    Steves32
    Member
    from So Cal

    Hidden kill switch. No- I'm not telling you where it is.:p

    Best plan for me is lots of insurance. If they want it bad enough- it will be gone. I've had several friends loose cars to a flatbed tow. No one questions a tow showing up. They can drag it up & be one in minutes.

    They stole my neighbor's 427 Cobra right out of the locked garage while they were on vacation. Backed up driveway- pried open the roll up door- drug it up on the flatbed & GONE!
     
  3. vivalahotrod
    Joined: May 6, 2007
    Posts: 743

    vivalahotrod
    Member

    that's what I got on mine.
     
  4. Hidden kill switches work great. LOjack is better. Get one of those boots the city puts on it and nobody will touch it, since all the vehicle info is in the city computer..."supposedly".
     

  5. Midnight 50
    Joined: Jul 27, 2008
    Posts: 568

    Midnight 50
    Member

    I am an ex car audio store owner with a masters certificate in security (MECP). There are plenty of ways to secure your car, but the old K.I.S. rule (keep it simple) is still the best. If it doesn't have fuel or fire it can't be stolen. Kill switches do not work because most people install them near the ignition so most thieves ALWAYS bring their own jumper wire about 3 feet long. There's nowhere in the cab you can put a switch that's 3 feet out of the way and thieves already know you are going to try and hide it. The best place is right in front of your face in the wide open.

    My favorite places for kill switches are blower motor switches, headlight switches, or other factory installed switches that are clearly marked for their intended purpose. On one of my cars I relocated the headlight switch and used the factory switch for my kill switch. If the headlights weren't pulled out in the on position, the car didn't run. It wasn't the headlight switch. :)

    A fuel cutoff valve was installed on the climate knob of the same car. Instead of turning the climate knob to low, med, high, you were opening the fuel cutoff switch by twisting it from off to high.

    Thieves already know you are hiding your switches. The most obvious place is the most hidden place. Put it right in front of their face, and they'll never find it.
     
  6. J Man
    Joined: Dec 11, 2003
    Posts: 4,131

    J Man
    Member
    from Angola, IN

    I lock the door
     
  7. beetlejuice55
    Joined: Feb 18, 2007
    Posts: 738

    beetlejuice55
    Member

    with all of these thefts going on recently. why is it that you will see a buch of cars at a show...with the keys in the ignition and no one around ?
    sure i'll bet there is a battery cut off switch somewhere, but....if passersby don't know who's car it is, what's stopping someone from just reaching in and snatching the keys ? no one would question someone that walks up to the car like they own it, and taking the keys like they are theirs.
    later that night at the motel, when the car owner is asleep...the thief has a full set of keys to the car, and darkness on his side to search for the battery kill switch.

    i have a secret to securing my car...and if i told you what it was, it wouldn't be a secret anymore.
    but like so many others have said...if a thief wants your car/truck bad enough, they will figure out a way to take it. locks and alarms only keep the honest theives away.
     
  8. GlenC
    Joined: Mar 21, 2007
    Posts: 757

    GlenC
    Member

    Mate had an open car with a blanket over the front seat. Under the blanket was an armed rabbit trap. No one ever stole the car but he found the trap had been 'sprung' a few times over the years.

    Cheers, Glen.
     
    taildragger1957 likes this.
  9. hotrodladycrusr
    Joined: Sep 20, 2002
    Posts: 20,765

    hotrodladycrusr
    Member

    NOT a correct statement. If it doesn't have fuel or fire it can't be driven BUT it can be towed without an issue.:rolleyes:
     
  10. safari-wagon
    Joined: Jan 12, 2008
    Posts: 1,457

    safari-wagon
    Member

    Time is the thief's enemy, so I have a fuel shut off installed & I disconnect the battery.

    Over the years, I've used a variation on a theme regarding kill switches.
    In addition to a regular kill switch, I've added "constant open" switches to the starting circuit on my cars. They're spring loaded, so you have to depress the button to complete the circuit & let the starter engage. These switches are small & can be hidden in a seat riser, door panel, etc.
     
  11. Insurance...I like the plain view hidden switches too.

    If you try too hard you'll just make yourself crazy.

    If they want it they WILL get it.
     
  12. Petejoe
    Joined: Nov 27, 2002
    Posts: 12,264

    Petejoe
    Member
    from Zoar, Ohio

  13. Petejoe
    Joined: Nov 27, 2002
    Posts: 12,264

    Petejoe
    Member
    from Zoar, Ohio

    Last edited: Jul 30, 2008
  14. Dirty2
    Joined: Jun 13, 2004
    Posts: 8,903

    Dirty2
    Member

    Insurance is the best. I sometime wrap a chain around the steering wheel to the pedals and pull the coil wire . But if they wont it they will get it.
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2008
  15. brokenspoke
    Joined: Jul 26, 2005
    Posts: 2,968

    brokenspoke
    Member

    I agree
     
  16. Shifty Shifterton
    Joined: Oct 1, 2006
    Posts: 4,964

    Shifty Shifterton
    Member

    There's a club-like device for under the brake pedal. Yeah, it can be defeated like anything else. But it's a large, obvious reason for a thief to move on. Strange things scare them and it's a couple minutes of exposure to defeat it before he moves on to whatever kill switch is also hidden on the car.

    Security comes in layers.
     
  17. 2002p51
    Joined: Oct 27, 2004
    Posts: 1,362

    2002p51
    Member

    I don't take the roadster to a movie theater or restaurant or anyplace where I can't see it. Even at car shows and cruises, depending on the type of crowd, at least one of us will stay with the car. I do have a battery cut-off swich that's not in plain sight, but not particularly well hidden.

    For out of town stays, we take the portable garage. Some call it a trailer but I prefer portable garage because that's how we use it. Yes, I know that entire rigs can and do get stolen but that's a whole 'nother degree of difficulty. At least the car itself is under lock and key and out of sight.

    And I know that several on here have said carry a lot of insurance, and we do, but that's not much consolation.

    "I used to have a really cool, fun hot rod that I put tons of sweat and energy into and it was one of a kind and I loved it, but now I have this nifty large check instead"

    That wouldn't make it any better for me!
     
  18. NITROFC
    Joined: Apr 17, 2001
    Posts: 6,175

    NITROFC
    BANNED

  19. Von Rigg Fink
    Joined: Jun 11, 2007
    Posts: 13,418

    Von Rigg Fink
    Member
    from Garage


    That will get um thinking..hahahaha:eek:
     
  20. Silent_Orchestra
    Joined: Jun 17, 2007
    Posts: 1,313

    Silent_Orchestra
    BANNED
    from Omaha, NE

    Everything I have has hidden...in your face kill switches...My '80 Cutlass has the kill switch in the power seat controls...Whoops wasn't supposed to say that...Oh well it still has 4 more you have to flip along with it...and a fuel shut off.... If you want to....try breaking the hardened stainless band around the column...Oh and theres also the fact that it won't shift out of park with out another switch...

    None of the other cars are as elaborate as the cutlass but...G-body GMs are a major target for thefts around here. And as long as I have something to do with it your going to have a hell of a time taking my baby.
     
  21. gas4blood
    Joined: Nov 19, 2005
    Posts: 787

    gas4blood
    Member
    from Kansas

    Several LARGE cables, plastic covered, with huge padlocks. These get threaded through the wheels and suspension on each side. Not that they can't be cut, but they look kinda intimidating to the average thief. I get them at Lowe's. As said, they can still get the car, but why make it easy?
     
  22. Kill switch,,,HRP
     
  23. 41 C28
    Joined: Dec 17, 2005
    Posts: 1,772

    41 C28
    Member


    I agree, can't believe how many cars have the keys hanging in them. That's just asking for trouble. Like they say "a lock is just to keep an honest person honest''.
     
  24. Retrorod
    Joined: Jan 25, 2006
    Posts: 2,034

    Retrorod
    Member

    I lock my sedan. Not that it will slow down many theives but I think if it isn't easy to gain entry, they might go on to an easier target. The hard part about that is all the time I spent to engineer and fabricate the locks to work just like Henry Ford built it in the first place. Since I put bearclaw latches on it I screwed up and got the ones with no built-in locks. I spent WEEKS with the doors sitting on a stand making little lock pawls and rods & levers. The end result.....you lock the car just like an original car.
     
  25. C-1-PW
    Joined: Jun 11, 2006
    Posts: 357

    C-1-PW
    Member

    2002p51 wrote: I don't take the roadster to a movie theater or restaurant or anyplace where I can't see it.

    I agree. I have come to accept that thieves will always try to steal, and even nice folks will do the most thoughtless things like use your car as their trash bin, or scratch it up trying to admire it.
     
  26. CruZer
    Joined: Jan 24, 2003
    Posts: 1,934

    CruZer
    Member

    I have a roadster. I pray a lot.
     
  27. blown41
    Joined: Apr 6, 2008
    Posts: 139

    blown41
    Member

    Blowjack?
    This will instantly "part out" your car along with the thief! :eek:
     
  28. breeder
    Joined: Jul 13, 2005
    Posts: 10,948

    breeder
    Member Emeritus

    my thought was always simple....open up the national news with people who steal, gettin there fuckin arm cut off......few months of that shit,,,,and taa daa!!!!
     
  29. Goztrider
    Joined: Feb 17, 2007
    Posts: 3,066

    Goztrider
    Member
    from Tulsa, OK

    That is essentially the basic premise and idea. The can would save me much fabrication, but I don't know if I can use the lid or not. Thanks for the idea.

    Did you hear the joke about the blonde that drowned in her convertible? The top was down, but she couldn't unlock the doors to get out.

    I drive a roadster pickup, and the only thing locking the doors would stop would be blondes... and depending, I might want them to get in and stuck!

    I've contemplated doing just this as well.

    I'm probably going to look at one of these as well instead of using a chain between the pedal and steering wheel.

    I've thought about these as well as a few other ideas.

    The bottom line is that I want to slow them down should they choose my vehicle. There are several different ways to do it I'm sure, and I like the ideas of hiding things in plain sight. I know I can't completely protect it 100% unless I leave it at home in the garage, but I just want a bit of protection so I feel safer when I'm out and about with it.
     
  30. Midnight 50
    Joined: Jul 27, 2008
    Posts: 568

    Midnight 50
    Member

    So can a 747, we're talking about practical preventative solutions.


    [​IMG]
     

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