Anyone have any door lock modifications or upgrades to deter theft? I just returned home from a trip where we do "park and fly" with a hotel near the airport. While I was gone my truck was stolen. They "punched" the PS door lock, opened the hood cut the alarm, then "punched" the ignition and drove off. Luckily the dumb asses left the truck running outside a complex with the screwdriver still in the ignition that someone saw and called the authorities. Truck was impounded until they could contact me. I found out about the theft when I returned to the hotel to drive home (we live 200mi from the airport). Several hundred dollars in impound fees, plus lots of work to replace what they had stolen and stripped off the vehicle.

Anyway, the police told me the F-Series trucks are very popular among auto theft rings and also said they can punch the locks and ignition and drive away in less than a minute. So if F-Series trucks are so popular and easy to steal, why doesn't Ford modify door lock cylinders, ignition cylinders, etc.?

Anybody have any ideas, other than "don't park at that hotel anymore"?

 

 

I installed Jimi Jammers (or whatever they are called) when I first bought my truck. They were an install of opportunity because I had the handles apart anyway to replace the power lock actuators.

 

I have Jimmi Jammers on my trucks.

Jimmi' Jammer Products - Riffraff Diesel Performance

Stewart

 

I use the Cyclops myself. It is "concealed" enough that a smash and grab won't work. Not sure what a jimmy jammer prevents, but the guy with a hammer will get into any vehicle.

 

It only prevents entry from the door lock being punched.

Nothing stops a hammer on standard auto glass.

Stewart

 

the jimmi jammers help reduce the possibility of punching your way in via the weak point between the metal of the door and the plastic handle (usually just below the lock) where its easy to trip the door rods to open them.


as for the person with a hammer....I have a solution, motion detection and a .38 revolver...the truck usually sits in my driveway which has at least 3 cameras on it at all times.... but I do get the point LOL!!


remember were trying to make a layered defence to make it as difficult for a thief to take the truck, with both the Cyclops and revelco you just about need a flat bed tow truck to make the truck disappear, the only difference between the two is revelco just compleatly kills the truck (depending on how it is set up) and the cyclops will let the truck crank but wont allow the IDM or GP to fire off and just lets the truck make a lot of noise

 

My dad's truck (now mine) was stolen as well. They put some device on it that won't allow you to start the vehicle unless the device (female) is plugged into its male counter part. It won't even turn the power on to the truck unless the two are plugged in. Not sure how well this holds up, but I would think you'd need power to start the truck/etc.

 

if its a circular type device thats most likely the Revelco I and others have referred to, as for the door lock "mod" here is the door handle I used, there are others and the seller lists only one left, but at $8 or so I couldn't pass up the deal for it...so I picked one up.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AM-New-Rear...72.m2749.l2649

 

Yep that is what he put on. Are those pretty good security devices?

 

Ok this is a general question that I hope someone could answer, but I have just successfully completed my "door lock" shave mod and have the remaining rod that connected the key cylinder to the door lock actuation mechanism stuck in place, I can move the door lock piece up and down and the rod is just loosely laying in the door, so my question is does anyone know how I can safely remove it with out damaging any thing incase I ever need to reuse the key lock.

 

You can't remove the rod with out cutting it. I used a pencil grinder with a cut off wheel to cut the rod.

 

 

I am not really familiar with the insides of the door, but could you just tape the rod out of the way?

 

To ease your paranoia a tad, don't forget the Excursions have one more layer of security the F-Series trucks don't have, and that's the PATS system, to make it more difficult to steal.

Stewart