My truck I don't see as being very desirable to steal. It's a stock F-2 with a flat six and four speed non-synchro tranny. I never lock the doors for two reason, I don't leave anything of value in the truck and I'd rather have someone open the doors and rummage through it and find nothing of value than to pry open a wing window, breaking it in the process or worse, prying open the door some how. When I do leave it alone in a parking lot over night I pull the coil ignition wire. During the time the thief realizes the truck isn't going to start the battery will be drained down. I park in the best lit area of the parking lot within view of my hotel room if possible. If I'm with a group of other special interest vehicle I also try to park next to ones that are nicer, and more desirable than mine, which is all that hard. I would assume my truck would get passed over for a nice shiny souped up F-1 or F-100.

Another thing the guys on the HAMB talk about is GPS tracking systems for there rides. While many suggest different systems a few have said they buy cheap cell phones, turn them on and hide them under the seat or somewhere else. Cell phones can be tracked when left on. Just another thing to think about.

I have always thought the alarms are a total PIA. I personally have walked past numerous cars in parking lots thinking how obnoxious there are and never really caring about them other than when is the owner going to turn the damn thing off. I have thought a system with a delayed fuel cut off would work better. If a person would start your car or truck, pull it out into a lane in the parking lot or street and within 5-10 seconds the vehicle would die the thief wouldn't want to stay around while he has people coming up behind him waiting for him to move the vehicle. With an alarm a true professional would probably know how to disarm it in a matter of seconds while it's in the parking spot and the people around would just be happy that he killed the noisy PIA and he would be able to go on his way.

 

Our years of trucks would not likely be stolen for reselling the parts. That is a big reason for more modern vehicle thefts. Most of the parts on our old trucks are not that much in demand. The next big reason would be to steal to export to another country. Not a lot you can do about that. The next would be someone to joy ride. Those are the ones the cut off switches and other security items will slow down or stop.

A group of people that steal cars for a living will back up with a roll back and have your rig and be gone in a couple of minutes or less. Brake locks and chaining tires will not even slow that down. It will not matter if you turn your wheels all the way to one side or not. It will go on the roll back.

My truck is fairly nice and if they steal it I will collect insurance and go on. It is not worth going to prison or at least spending several days in jail to confront someone and end up killing them over my truck.. It darn sure is not worth me getting killed over.

I learned a long time ago as far as securing things, the bad guys break out of Leavenworth Penitentiary. If they want in your house or business, they are gonna get in. If they want your stuff bad enough they will get it. If you install a device that sends you a message if your vehicle is being bothered, you have to ask yourself, what am I going to do and if I am willing to die or kill someone else to keep my truck. if I go running out.

Most GPS devices will lose signal inside a building. If they take your truck and go in a building to strip it or hide if for a while you're not likely to get a signal from a GPS device. If your truck is in a container on a dock going over seas, it is not too likely the GPS will be useful.

 

Bob, not all alarms are the noisy PIA units that you refer to here. My alarm for instance does not even alert at the vehicle unless I turn that feature on. I have a fob on my keychain that alerts me of an intrusion. A correctly installed alarm is virtually impossible to disarm without setting it off first.

 

Sorry Larry . . . my nature is more like Ross's.

 

Larry, I totally agree with everything you typed. No piece of iron is worth killing for or being killed. Now if I happen to stumble on someone messing with my stuff I probably would confront him or them. I'd have to make a quick assessment of situation and figure out whether it would be more prudent to run away or stay. I'm no hero and I'm not going to get killed over a stupid piece of metal. On the other hand if I heard someone coming up my stairs in the middle of the night and knew it was someone who wasn't suppose to be there I will assure you either that person or I am going to be leaving the house feet first. I will go the distance to protect my family members.

There is a lot of discussion about this subject on the HAMB. Every time there are numerous yahoos who say they'd play John Wayne and walk out in the middle of the night with their 12 gauge or 9mm. My reply is what happens if there are two or more people out there each with a shot gun or 9mm? Also, think of it this way; whoever is out there stealing your stuff is the bottom of the food chain bottom feeder with nothing to loose. You on the other hand probably have a family, a house and a good job and a little savings. He has nothing to loose, you have a lot. Even if you're proven to be in the right you will still face financial and time losses. While you are facing off you're thinking about your family and life and the consequences of your actions. This may only take you a half a second to think about before you pull the trigger, the loser on the other hand won't care and will have pulled his trigger while you're thinking.

I'm just glad my trucks aren't that desirable. I build them to drive and enjoy, not to be show winners and they aren't flashy. They're just old trucks.

 

On the other side of the coin...

My truck model isn't popular. The paint is ugly. It has the stock, somewhat undesirable 4 speed crash box and bounces like a pogo stick. Only a few of us would ever pay a penny for parts off it. It's big and slow.

I think it has its own built in theft deterrent.

And if I catch anyone trying to steal it I'll blow their head off and ask them what they're doing... in that order.

 

One more thought about Larry's comments. The comment about the bad guys breaking out of prison. I watch a few shows about people in prison and some about how they have escaped or were able to overpower security personnel. Professional, and even amateur, car thieves are like any other professionals. They spend a lot of time honing their trade. Just like convicts who have nothing else to do all day other than think of ways to escape and study weaknesses in the system. We can sit here for a few minutes this afternoon and throw out ideas on theft prevention but that's all the time we'll give to the subject. The pro spent their time thinking about ways to defeat the systems. If they want it they'll get it, all we can hope for is to slow them down a little.

I personally think anyone who steals something a person has worked hard for should be sent away for a long, long time but thieves are considered non-violent and are let off too easy so the system can keep the really bad people off of the street. Too bad.

 

They do sell a brake lock that has a keyed actuator. That would really make it hard to load.

 

I've loaded cars with locked up brakes, with rust that is, and all I have is a tilt bed trailer, a manual chain hoist and a big son. The pros are going to have a lot better equipment. I don't think there are many deterrents out there that will slow a determined thief down.

My dad used to tell me about a guy he went to school with who had a lifting rigged up in the trunk of his car. He said the guy would park outside of bars and wait for a nice sounding car to come along and when the owner of the car would park his car and go inside this guy and a friend would back his car up to the parked car, pop the hood, cut all the wires and unbolt whatever needed to be unbolted and hoist the engine into the trunk of his car. My dad said the guy had a real system, he could pull an engine in a couple of minutes. Just for fun he'd pull the car down the block and wait for the guy to come out of the bar and watch his reaction when he tried to start his car.

I don't know if this was an urban legend or not, but my dad like to tell the story. These guys will get what they want.

 

Guys, Trying to protect your vehicle with your own personal firearm is going to get you more grief than dealing with any insurance company claim. Just not worth it.

 

Ray, again, totally agree. Basic thought to blow the guy away is fair but laws aren't always fair. Before the law and lawyers are through you will look like the scum bag. You will be the piece of dirt that cold bloodedly killed the poor young man who was straightening out his life, even thought he probably was out of prison for the third time.

 

Boy this thread went downhill fast. Sorry but I don't agree with calling someone names because they legally carry a gun and use it.....and since I'm quite fond of all you guys on here and depend on you for most of my companionship, I'll bow out of this particular thread. No harm done!

 

Stick around, Wayne. Go back and re read all the posts. All this loose gun action talk can get a person in deep trouble real quickly. I don't think anyone is calling anyone names, just pointing out the way things could come down if a firearm were introduced as theft deterrent or worse.

 

In PHX you don't need to carry, just call Sheriff Joe!

Ray is 100% correct, there has to be an imminent threat to your life (not just property) to justify actually shooting.

 

Ray
I agree with you and Bob. Anyone that thinks they can shoot someone for tampering with a motor vehicle and walk away really needs to talk to a lawyer before that happens. I can guarantee you will need to talk to one after it happens and you will be making that call from a jail cell.
Larry