Unofficial Master General Car Security Thread (theft deterrent ideas, all makes)

[yoyoyoda]

I've been noticing how cars get knocked off on youtube.

Usually car manufacturers put the car horn in an easily accessible place, easily accessible for a thief from the outside of your car.

Like your front bumper, stick your hand up underneath the front bumper of your car and more than likely you will be able to unplug your cars horn from the outside, with the bonnet down and locked.

This thread is to make awareness of these vulnerabilities and find ways to patch them.

I will be relocating my horn sometime tomorrow on my Toyota Camry SXV20..

After all we don't want our rides being stolen, granted it might be a slow get away but we still don't want them to do anything to our cars in the first place.

What else have you guys done on your cars to improve security? Besides the obvious conversion to Stick.

#1 Toyota Fortuner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QRxQonFd5c

Vulnerability:
Disconnect 1st horn from front of car underneath front bumper.
Crowbar up the bonnet on right hand side, 2nd disconnect horn.

Patch:
Relocate both horns to somewhere else.

Or as red devil has said:

Originally Posted by RedDevil

The horn relocation is a good idea, but you may as well just add a horn and leave the OEM ones where they are. That way they will likely trip the alarm and get noticed.

Put a fuse with a lower rating than the in-dash fuse in the leads to the OEM horn(s) so if they short the wires they will also leave the hidden horn enabled, as the extra fuse will blow and disconnect that from the circuit.

#2 ALL types of Steering wheel lock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd2Op5VpUrg

Vulnerability:
Steering wheels are usually made of soft rubbery stuff which can be easily sawn with a hacksaw.

Even the multi-point steering wheel locks, and other variants, all have the same problem, the thing that they are attached to is soft and easy to cut.

Patch:
Got an automatic? Use a pedal lock made from steel on the floor instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm01YrbIYLs

#3 Battery disconnect with a key:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAeD0xi9sl4

Vulnerability:
What's stopping me from buying the exact same switch online and using the key on your switch? None of them are keyed like regular locks.

Patch:
None at the moment, will update this when I find one.

Unkeyed battery disconnect:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...bC6T6sfZM#t=74

Vulnerability:
As above, what's stopping a thief using a knob and screwing theirs into your disconnect terminal? Or even better yet, whats stopping a thief from just wrapping some electrical tape around the two terminals and reconnecting the battery?

Patch:
None so far.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by yoyoyoda

What else have you guys done on your cars to improve security? Besides the obvious conversion to Stick.

Apparently I buy cars that nobody thinks are worth stealing.

I owned a convertible once, and always used to leave it unlocked to avoid having the roof knifed open for the sake of stealing a few coins.

I used to take the coil wire with me if I was leaving it parked for a while.

[RedDevil]

The horn relocation is a good idea, but you may as well just add a horn and leave the OEM ones where they are. That way they will likely trip the alarm and get noticed.

Put a fuse with a lower rating than the in-dash fuse in the leads to the OEM horn(s) so if they short the wires they will also leave the hidden horn enabled, as the extra fuse will blow and disconnect that from the circuit.

[Frank Lee]

Drive something that looks like this and nobody will bother it:

[user removed]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Drive something that looks like this and nobody will bother it:

After reading the OP's initial post about the Camry and how much of a POS it was, I find it astounding to believe any competent thief would even consider stealing that car.

regards
Mech

[Frank Lee]

P.S. I should have said, nobody will bother it except the cops.

[yoyoyoda]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

After reading the OP's initial post about the Camry and how much of a POS it was, I find it astounding to believe any competent thief would even consider stealing that car.

regards
Mech

hahaha

but... if I'm going to be gradually putting new parts into it I'll want to secure it.

and you never know who i might piss off and will want to steal my car as a matter of revenge or something.

Burning it out might be an improvement though.

thanks for the laugh.

[Cobb]

It depends on what you are trying to do. Some cars are stolen for parting out, others are just broken into for the radio, gps, change, laptop thats visible.

I too like the idea of 2 horns. Having the horn up front helps for the sound to travel to the car in front of you.

In the "hood" we use fake blinking leds to make people think you got a viper or some fancy alarm system and they move to another vehicle.

When I drive a stick shift I make it a point to park it in a gear in the 2nd position so the shifter is positioned rewards vs forward like the park position of an automatic. Many people dont steal stick shift cars.

Lastly, park in a good area. It maybe worth the parking fee, walking a block, etc.

[backpacker3]

The fake LEDs are actually a pretty good deterrent but I've also seen stickers that simulate rust and scratches.

Something else to think about is the catalytic converter a friend of mine had it stolen off his car because it has good scrap value. One way to fix that is adding a set of wires from the battery to the CAT then when you come out in the morning and see shoes sticking out from the car just call the cops JK.

Seriously though if you want to add a kill switch to the ignition instead of using a normal mechanical switch get a magnetic reed switch glue it under the dash some where then you can only start the car by putting the magnet on the place you put the switch.

[redneck]

.

Just get one of these...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geynA-JYDHE

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