Ways to protect against theft...

[Slick]

Well after getting broken into for the 2nd time in 6 months, and this time getting completely wiped out, I have been brainstorming ideas of how to protect against car stereo theft. These are what I have come up with

1. Shave rear hatch handle, so that the only way to open the back hatch is by my remote

2. Switch out back glass for strong plexiglass

3. More sirens on alarm, as well as have it so my underbody neons flash as the alarm is going off therefore drawing even more attention to the car

4. Bolt down everything VERY good

5. always remove faceplate and CDs from the car


Any other ideas? lets hear em guys, these will help everyone

 

[Chronic]

don't pound your system in your neighbourhood and always park it in the garage

 

[Slick]

I have to park in a parking garage because I dont live at home. About the only other things I can do is try to park on the 1st floor and close to the entrance so everyone would see it as they go to their car, and also very well lit areas i guess

 

[zekex2]

leave a gaping hole in the dash with wire hanging out or a really cheap $10 system from a junk yard, and mount the good one in the glove box. don't show off the system. a lot of this stuff is from freinds of friends if you know what i mean.. You have most likly been cased.

 

[Howard]

As zekex2 says your car has probably been put on the list. The thieves know that you will replace your system and will just wait till you do and get you again. Go totally stealth glove box mount is good but you'll have to hide your subs (under seats). Old cheapy system is a good idea as is a pager for your alarm. One of my friends has a small camera inside linked to the alarm which has caught several nobodies. You could change all the glass to laminated. Not so easy to break. But use your common sense and park it in an alternate location with high visibility and no loud music near where you park. Good luck.

 

[Slick]

I dont think I was on a list for one reason: 15 cars on that floor, and only that floor, of my parking garage got hit that night. So i think they just went to the farthest part of the lot, where i had to park, and just got as much as they could from as much cars as possible then booked it, i've also considered the pager

 

[Howard]

You may be right but if they've done it once and got away with it you can bet they'll try again. All the best.

 

[ammo troop]

It took me a lot of time, but I installed my amps in the stock speaker locations(s), The only thing visible in my whole setup is the head unit. but then again i don't have multiple subs, just 1 8" in the little compartment off to the right in the hatch and 4 6X9's in the rear door and infinity series in the front

 

[MrExplorer]

I agree with the pager alarm, And alarm with its own battery backup. Ive hooked my battery leads for the alarm to the wire that leads to my cap. It will hopefully keep the alarm up long enough for them to realize its still not disabled if they cut the battery leads. Put a shock detector in the hatch or nearby. Ive also tossed around the idea of hooking up a relay with no\nc contacts. Hook up your horns lead to the normally closed contacts and a positive lead from the battery to the coil of the relay and to the common for the contacts. Hook the other end of the coil up to the chassis of the HU so it has to be cut to remove the HU. As long as the wire is hooked up the relay will be energized. If the ground wire is removed the relay will turn off thus turning on the horn. Basically a last ditch effort to stop the thieves. Use a smaller relay to minimize the draw on the battery. I use security screws on everything i can. Most thieves dont carry around driver bits for those. They are kinda pricey, but then again compared to a new system. And dont plaster rockford, jl ect stickers all over the vehicle. That and pounding in the nieghborhood is advertising STEAL ME!
If they want it bad enough they will get it. You need to get the thieves to want to move on to another victum. Just my $.002

 

[B94Sport]

Here's what I did after my last system got stolen...
I felt it was time for an upgrade, so I replaced my stolen system with one that cost about 4x more... The only thing left from my previous system was my HU, because when I installed it I removed the dash, installed the metal mounting sleeve, and then bent it so that it could not be pulled out without removing the dash... I was surprised they didn't just destroy my HU instead, but it remarkably remained intact.

So on to the security measures:

1) High-end alarm
I installed a CrimeGuard 745i3 alarm. It comes with all the bells and whistles. I wired it to flash my interior neons and dash when it goes off. The siren was mounted in a very stealth location and I even went so far as to use old split-loom to cover the wires under the hood to make them look stock.

2) Pager for alarm
I added a CrimeStopper paging system to the alarm that pages me if the alarm ever goes off. The pager is loud enough to wake me up at night very quickly and works within a 1/4 mile radius from the truck.

3) Bolts/Screws
My new system is completely bolted down in the trunk. The bolts are not exposed because they are covered by other parts of the box/false floor. (See my sig.) Any exposed fasteners are security-type screws with a non-standard head. My box is bolted down to the metal of the wheel wells multiple times and is quite secure. The subs are also held to the box with security screws. The amps, cap, crossovers (bolted to the base of the false floor and the actual floor of the trunk), and wiring are all located underneath the false floor, which is also fastened with security screws.

4) Miscellaneous
I no longer play my system in my neighborhood. I always park directly in front of my house underneath a light. I also installed a motion-activated flood light by my front door. I have my box covered with a sheet that makes it look like an extension of the back seats when you glance in at night through the factory-tinted windows. It is hard to tell that there is anything under there. The false floor is carpeted in stock-color carpet and takes up all of the trunk which is not used by that box. Looking in the trunk, it looks like nothing is there but the floor.

I've had the system in for about 5 months now and so far have had no problems.

 

[Defiantguy]

I like my ungo security system with the built in pager with the remote and battery backup. Works well and I don't blast it in the bad parts of town. My neighborhood is in suburbia and kids blast their stuff 10x louder than I do. Plus my parents don't like me rolling into the driveway and shaking the house. I

 

[MONMIX]

Several people have said it. Make em earn it. Tough well tightened bolts and hardware. Consider tamperproof torx ( though I have no idea where to get just the bolts ) Don't use sloted connectors on your amp go with the full hoop. I don't know what they are called. Loc-tight on the bolts won't hurt either.
And keeping every thing discreet and well hidden will help too.

 

[Dennis94XLT]

Solution to breakin

I was held up at gun point once in my well lit driveway while a pair of theives took out my stereo. There was even a security camera system aimed right at my truck and the camera was obvious (but not on a recorder then). Sometimes you just get unlucky. The people that took mine got a Blaupunkt code protected radio that was set to lock if it was removed from battery power so I doubt it did them much good. One thing I did afterwards was to put a little siren inside the passenger compartment connected to the alarm system. It is a special kind that just screams like hell and you (or the crook) couldn't stand the noise long enough to stay inside the truck. It really is unbearable. Check with a few alarm resellers to see if you can find one of these. They are tiny compared to the standard type, but intensely loud. Make sure you get glass break sensors. I've seen where crooks break the windows to avoid tripping a door switch. Hope this helps.

 

[Van I.]

I think those little sirens are called "pain generators". They put out a very high pitched tone. I have a couple of those under my dash to deter the thief from sticking his head down there to cut wires.

Slick, like U said, park on the first floor near the entrance in a well lit area. Does this garage have any security or is it park at your own risk? Can anyone come and go as they please?

Sorry about your loss

 

[Slick]

It is park at your own risk. They do have security friday/saturday nights trying to catch kids with beer and such, and during the day time u have to have a card to get into the garage. However at night people can come and go as they please, and i'm not sure exactly how late the security works in there. I received email from my college security saying that they now have undercover cops in unmarked cars patrolling in there at night and supposedly have already caught some thieves. thanks for all your tips guys!

 

[Crankcase]

If you take the plastic lock knobs off and and cut the power unlock wire in the doors, only the front doors can still be opened while locked, since the back three need the lock knob pulled to unlock them.


If you cut the wire leading to the back hatch and take off the knob, the only way to unlock it would be with a key.

 

[zman]

First tint your back windows dark
Bolt your speaker box to the floor
Use screws that only a allen wrench can undo on your speakers. this will slow them down at least.
Bolt your amp to your boxdown or under the seat.
make a fake factory faceplate to cover you radio.

just make your system time comsuming to take out and they will be less likely to take it being that more time + more chances of geting caught.

just my .02$

 

[Kevex]

I seen people say don't bump the system around your neighborhood and I can't stress that enough, I used to bang it around my neighborhood alll the time and one day left my car in front of my house to go to work then that night went out and I got a phone call a couple hours later saying that someone stole my system.
I had tint on the windows so you can't see in but it actually help the theives, they broke the window and the tint held all the glass in place making no noise they just tapped out enough to unlock the doors and tore out the subwall behind the seats with the amps. The only thing they didn't get was the pull out radio I had. Come to find out it was the kids right around the corner from me but there was nothing I could do about it.

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by Kevex
Come to find out it was the kids right around the corner from me but there was nothing I could do about it.

If you know who did it. why is there nothing you can do about it?

 

[rocket 5979]

that is what i am talking about. nothing i could do? B.S. i would at the very least teach those little sh*ts a lesson.