cheap car security: need advice

[bennymac]

Thanks in advance, these forums are like the best parents a guy could hope for: tons of good advice and no judging when it comes to chemical entertainment or avoiding work to have fun.

I recently bought a 97 4runner to get me and my bikes/skis around. Unfortunatly this mint truck has no security system to speak of. I live in BC where the hardcore drug problem leads to an elevated car theft rate.

My question is, can I get away with a steering wheel "club" device? Are these things effective at all? Or should I spring for the deluxe $500 noise maker. Wouldnt just a blinking LED light on the dash serve as much purpose as a full on security system?

Merry Christmas

[P_McPoser]

clubs are a waste of money

[Rippinsick]

ERRRRR BODY IN DA CLUB GETTIN' TIPSY!

[MeatPuppet]

Stick a Rottweiler in the front seat...problem solved.









Short of that, a hard wired kill switch is most likely to keep your truck where you parked it, and a noise maker(with a pager/text message notification) is most likely to keep your window from being smashed and/or your dash destroyed.

[LaramieSkiBum]

all you have to do to defeat a club is saw steering wheel....hacksaw, or high powered battery saw in minutes...

go with the kill switch, and look for the one of the magnetic switches at radio shack - hide it under the dash somewhere, then when you want to start your car put a magnet on the dash over the sensor till you get it started. No one would ever find that. See it done on jeeps, google it

[Snow Dog]

A passive immobilizer is the ticket around here. You even get a discount on your insurance. The sticker that says you have an immobilizer helps too.

[P_McPoser]

all you have to do to defeat a club is saw steering wheel....hacksaw, or high powered battery saw in minutes...

go with the kill switch, and look for the one of the magnetic switches at radio shack - hide it under the dash somewhere, then when you want to start your car put a magnet on the dash over the sensor till you get it started. No one would ever find that. See it done on jeeps, google it

The magnet is the way I went when I had my Jeep. It is the SICKNESS. Just don't lose the magnet when you're shopping like I did.

[Idris]

Back at university I resorted to getting the biggest chain and padlock I could find. 2 meters of heavy anchor chain and a padlock the size of an outspread hand. Normally this would just go a few turns on the steering wheel and the seat mountings. In places where they used to steel cars with a tow truck. I'd put the chain through the fron suspenssion and round a power pole!....The chain recived a few hacksaw attepts but I think they gave up because other cars were easier.
For friends with nicer cars we would make heavy duty copies of the club and the shifter/parkbrake lock from 1/4" plate steel.

[wildstyle]

I used to remove the distributor rotor arm and the lead from the capacitor to the distributor. Job done..... no cost.

[P_McPoser]

Back at university I resorted to getting the biggest chain and padlock I could find. 2 meters of heavy anchor chain and a padlock the size of an outspread hand. Normally this would just go a few turns on the steering wheel and the seat mountings. In places where they used to steel cars with a tow truck. I'd put the chain through the fron suspenssion and round a power pole!....The chain recived a few hacksaw attepts but I think they gave up because other cars were easier.
For friends with nicer cars we would make heavy duty copies of the club and the shifter/parkbrake lock from 1/4" plate steel.

Egads, people wanted your car that bad? Sounds like a scary place to live....

Don't use anything involving the steering wheel, theives have finally realized that they are not strong. Hence the above comments about clubs being useless.
Steering wheels are designed to be a yield point in a severe accident involving driver contact with the steering wheel. You can bend on in half with your head, i've seen it
Anyone with a hacksaw and ambition will be able to cut through a steering wheel in SECONDS, and with a proper set of bolt cutters, will cut through it in one snip. Best bet is still some sort of ignition disruption device, such as a well hidden kill switch (can be done for less than 5 dollars) or the free method as described above (removing the cap. wire).

[FNG]

Leave the doors unlocked and get a passive kill switch. That'll keep your car parked and your windows unbroken.

[Redskea]

Leave the doors unlocked and get a passive kill switch. That'll keep your car parked and your windows unbroken.

Nope, in NZ (high car theft) I repeatedly got the windows broken in an unlocked car because the theives were too dumb to try the handle.
(Car was a nasty 74 Hilman Hunter.)
The only time it got stolen (with a club on) the thing broke down within a mile so I got it back.
My sisters car (same city, car early 80s honda) the thieves couldn't get the club off (they breed thieves dumb in Christchurch) so they pushed it into a river.

Ended up diabling the vehicle by by disconnecting battery and making sure there was nothing in the interior to steal. (Same city had car broken into for $10 radio and a 1/2 packet of cookies)
This wouldn't work if the theives were any smarter than a rock though.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Yeah, I got my windows broken with unlocked doors too. Had to make a sign that I hung in both windows each day depicting a hand smashing the window with a crowbar all inside a red slashed circle then an arrow pointing to a hand opening the door by the handle. Underneath this in large letters was the text "Door Unlocked! No Valuables Inside!" That covered thieves that could read and those that couldn't. Seemed to work, no more broken windows though did find the glovebox open and rifled through a few times.

Agree on kill switch as best way to keep car from being stolen. If the car is really new, the old rotor & cap thing won't work as cars don't have distributors any more. Seems like that bar that goes between the brake pedal and steering column is a good idea too. Can't drive the car with the brakes locked and towing it away is inconvenient. A big hardened steel bar is hard to saw through though I've heard of them being chilled with liquid propane from a torch then smashed with a hammer.

Removeable steering wheel is also a good idea.

Best bet is to make the car more inconvenient to steal than the next one...

[Big E]

Best bet is to make the car more inconvenient to steal than the next one...

Bingo. That's the only reason the Club is useful. If someone wants to steal your car, they'll steal it. If they want to steal a car, they'll find the easiest one in the lot.

[EPSkis]