Best Anti-Theft Device

[OneBadExpSport]

My friend almost got his GMC 4x4 stolen at the mall in San Diego, CA. They drilled into his keyhole and ripped apart his steering column. They must have been rookies because they were unsuccessful. I'm planning on purchasing an anti-theft device within a week, and was wondering which one you guys recommend.

Brian

 

[mrboyle]

You forgot the most effective one of all. A big ass dog that hasn't been fed in three days!

 

[X-1]

Yeah if they can get past that big a$$ dog, they deserve to get the truck.

 

[TarHeel085]

how bout, DONT TAKE IT ANYWHERE! whats the deal with this GMC that makes it such a big target for theives? is it decked out or somethin cause thats gonna be the reason.

 

[X-1]

I would like to comment on that, as a person that has lived in alot of different area's, I have found that the chevrolet,and gmc are so popular because everything inter changes. When I moved to Tennessee, Ii have seen trucks just dissappear, they take them across state lines and part them out. In fla., they would put in containers and ship over seas. Once knew a guy that was involved in a stolen vette ring, they had a house that the whole wall would open like a garage door, and they would drive a vette in, and it would come back out in boxes. Then they would bury the frame. Dismantle a whole vette in under two hours.

 

[expo5.0]

well a car alarm really doesn't do that much to prevent theft of a car. it discourages break-ins, but if they want to steal the car they will still steal it. it is most effective at preventing petty thieves from stealing your system or other valuables in your truck.

the club and any other things that are supposed to prevent your car from being driven if it is stolen can all be avoided by a good thief (read- anyone who will actually attempt to steal a parked car)

my honest recommendation is to get a L.E.D. light so that it looks like you have an alarm and get good insurance.

of course there are other benefits of alarm systems such as remote start and the coolness of them and if your going for those as well (like me) then go for an alarm. i'd recommend any of the offerings from D.E.I.

or if you have a vehicle that is for some reason really hard to get proper insurance coverage for (mods that they won't cover etc.) then the only thing you can really do is watch where you park it, that and look tough when you get in and out of it...

 

[MO_GUY]

here is an idea.....if you're going to get an alarm you know damn well you're going to spend quite a bit of money and most probably wouldnt wake you up in the middle of the night.....hell

do like whats his name said...get a big dog...pitbull, rotweiler, german shepard, whatever....and get it trained to guard the vehicle.....if anyone can get past the dog without killing it they really are one determined person

 

[asterus]

What about an alarm and Lo-Jack. My friends car was stolen from school and they found it the next day in Hartford because a pervious owner had Lo-Jack installed. My fraternity brothers mustang was stolen, found 3 weeks later in a Hartford Junk Yard with evrything removed and the rest cut into 5 pieces.


David Larson

 

[OneBadExpSport]

What's a Lo-Jack?


Thanks

 

[MO_GUY]

its a type of theft tracking device if i remember correctly

 

[woodychitwn]

Lo-Jack is a radio transmitter that local police use to track stolen vehicles. If the cop cars near you have four small antennas in a square shape mounted on their roof, then the police car is loaded with a Lo-Jack locator. When your car is stolen, you call the Lo-Jack company, they send a signal to your car which then begins transmitting it's location. The police can then track your car. It' has a battery back-up, is extremely small, and has to be installed by a Lo-Jack dealer.

 

[asterus]

Here in CT there is at least 85% coverage for Lo-Jack. I am not sure about other states though.



David Larson

 

[expo5.0]

but why do you want a stripped vehicle back?

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by OneBadExpSport
What's a Lo-Jack?Thanks

Take a look at http://www.lojack.com/

 

[asterus]

He didn't want his stripped vehicle back. Thats what he was told by the police.


David Larson

 

[expo5.0]

yeah, thats my point. The lojack system only works if you can convince the police that locating your truck is the most important thing the moment you realize its gone. Chances are if your cars been stolen its either for a joyride (after which its probably going to be f'd up and which doesn't take long enough for lojack to help you unless like your dad is a cop with the locator) or its been stolen because you have lots of expensive parts that someone wants to strip. good luck in that case it will be stripped before the cops get there unless your extremely lucky.

 

[asterus]

I don't think you understand it. My frirends car that was stripped and cut into 5 pieces did NOT have Lo-Jack and was found long after it was stolen.



My friends car with lojack was found the next day with almost no dammage.




David Larson

 

[Sean1973]

I think lo-jack would be a good way to go. I DON'T have lo-jack, but I have something like it. I run a ham radio connected to a GPS unit (and a few other things). When my first X was ripped off I got home turned on my setup in the house and found it in a matter of seconds. When the cop saw the setup he told me that what I had was better then lo-jack. a few down sides to my setup, got to have a ham license and got to leave everything on all the time and a big battery.

 

[asterus]

can you send me information on that Ham radio setup?


David Larson

 

[sunbum]

..and if they steal your lo-jack?

This is the computer age... we all know Micro$oft systems have to be booted often, so you rig up a webcam/gps unit running on Linux getting power from the battery with a solar cell mounted to the grill as backup. It runs a virtual transmitter back to your laptop where your friewall can trace the packets back to the ISP it connects to locally where it's stolen, or you can do a traceroute, etc. and ... or via the webcam, you track the movement/video from a website it uploads images to and ... (perhaps I have been working too much lately).