Thank you for posting this, JWA.

Theft really isn't an issue with me...everything in my van has zero value to 99.998% of the people out there. My issue is the damage done during the break-in. As most people know, thieves will break your $200 window for thirty cents in the ashtray.

My van came with tinted windows, and then I had a shop tint them again. You cannot see inside the back of my van even with your nose against the window during the middle of the day.

That said, it couldn't hurt to install an alarm. Does anyone have any recommendations? I have huge train horns installed underneath my van, and if I had an alarm tied to them, that'd be enough to keep just about any thief away (once the alarm is triggered).

Speaking of, it would be beneficial to install a siren (or horn) *inside* your vehicle along with the typical external alarm siren. You want to make life inside your vehicle unbearable when a thief breaks in.

I wish there were some sort of deterrent device I could install to prevent the break-in in the first place.

 

Going direct will certainly save you paying the full retail cost from a reseller. In my case I saved over $100 over a friend who first introduced me to Slick Locks!

My original thought was to have the puck lock housings powder coated to better match my Oxford White body color. IIRC I was quoted about $50, perhaps less if I was in no hurry and they could be included in another customer's order of the same or similar color, a batch processing discount so to speak. That didn't seem to be an excessive cost.

A consideration was weather the puck locks could withstand the curing temps of the powder coating process----they're built by Master Lock Corp and they assure me they can indeed endure that short term temperature.

Most reputable powder coating operations can blend a color to match your exterior color. It doesn't have to be dead on, just close enough to slightly obscure the Slick Locks presence from 20' or more.

Per van these are excellent theft deterrents that are easily installed without irreversible exterior damage, all for less than $200.

 

Wanted to address your questions separately OSHS.

Since first posting about the Slick Locks I've incorporated something different. Read through this link, my contribution begins at post #9: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...oken-into.html (I am NOT affiliated with The Auto Bolt!)

The Auto Bolt has more than a few advantages over most every other type of theft deterrent I've encountered. The downside is installing them requires a huge dose of patience and mega-careful high attention to accurately locating the components. My first venture into this (so far) had a lot of challenges but I somewhat aware that would be the case before ever beginning. In the end its completely doable depending of course on your access to tools, the time you can devote to this one-time chore and most importantly your ability/desire to proceed cautiously and deliberately with patience---traits I am NOT known to possess!

The bad news about any alarm system is they do NOT necessarily deter any motivated thief from breaking into any secured vehicle. Our vans are so massively vulnerable to breaking in whether its through the flimsy plastic rear door license plate/handle bracket or the tempered door glass. With very, very little effort they're inside in a very few seconds. Trust me---I've had two vans hit with varying degrees of exterior damage.

Alarm systems that supposedly can/will alert for glass breakage also tend to be subject to false alarms during high winds or thunder storms. Besides aggravating the neighbors this can be a general nuisance.

Add to that any sort of sound whether train horns or interior sirens don't really effectively deter the motivated thief. They can and do break in, grab something, anything even marginally valuable and run away within 15-20 seconds. While a screaming siren might stop them from taking more the damage is already done so you've not really done much to stop them.

The Auto Bolt isn't a perfect system because it still allows the tempered glass to be broken giving the crooks a ****** and grab opportunity. For the most part they're highly effective to guys like me who have mega-dollars in tools etc stored inside, most of which can not be easily removed through the front doors.

Add another benefit of once engaged its nearly impossible to force any protected door open from the inside and we now have a van secured against most intrusions because they require so much time to defect or overcome.

Don't mean to be a buzz killer but the best we can do in a lot of instances is inconvenience the crooks AND make sure they see nothing of any value inside if they're cruising for a pay day.

Answering your other question I use Crime Guard 350i 5 by Omega, available from various on-line sellers. Here's Omega's home page: Omega Consumer Center - 350i5

I like these because they're inexpensive, highly dependable and long lived so far---one is over 5 years old and still going strong. Easy to install and incorporate into most Ford vans without a lot of complicated steps or exotic tools.

So that's what I know and think about car alarms...............in no particular order!

 

This is pretty great! I recently just bought a 1996 e350 club wagon for a band van. Security is our #1 concern and as hard as we try and hardly EVER leave out gear in any vehicle, sometimes it's impossibly. Going on the road this summer, we'll need to beef up the van security for sure. It's got privacy glass but I think we'll tint it darker. Also an alarm system. Are these lock (or any brand) just for the rear door? Do thiefs tend to go there, or do they hit the side doors too? As much as I would hate a broken window...a $200 window is better than thousands in gear.

 

Slick Locks can be used on any hinged door---I added these to my side barn doors as well but didn't show it.

In your case being a band if you have ANY signage or logos visible outside it'll be a huge target. Same with accidentally leaving something visible inside the front seats, especially if its musical gear related. I myself use a sun shield for the windshield and have made my own front door covers that completely obscure the insides. This too might arouse interest, thieves thinking if you're hiding something they need to have it or at least break in and look around.

Run your band hauler in as stealthy a mode as you can--that's the first step to slowing those goofs down. They'll breech any access point that meets their post-theft criteria for reducing their chances of being discovered---or worse.

NOTHING you can add will keep them out IF they want in---some have resorted to using cordless saws and cutting the exposed hinges off! Others have simply stolen the van and parted it out once it was hidden from view.

Another downside to touring is you'll be staying at and parking in hotel lots---one of the highest incidents of vehicle breaking in and thefts places FWIW.

 

Gosh I know. Security on the road is such a paranoia, but for good reason. We would never put our logo, or any sort of music sticker on the van, for that stealth reason. One of my friends mentioned it and our I immediately shot him down and had to explain you don't want to be a theft billboard. Some people can be so mindless. I think we plan on having at least one person sleep in the van at all times. Maybe a thief won't come near if they see some grunged weary traveler passed out in the front seat haha. Thank you for your advice also. After we get this thing cleaned up and fixed up, we'll look into these security features.

 

I added puck locks to my van and a window sticker that says " Nothing in here is worth dying for. Killing for, but not dying for!"