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I have a '15 Powerstroke F250 and it was stolen from a store a few months ago. I got it back with no damage (lucky).
I have installed a really nice alarm with GPS tracking and remote commanding.
My question is do these older trucks get stolen much? I have a '73 F250 that is in decent shape (pic below) and am wondering it I need to worry about it on the streets? I am wondering if I should get a similar alarm for it.
Your risk for theft and need for investment in security is largely determined by the crime rate where you live in and your parking habits / areas you frequent with the truck. There are various reasons people steal vehicles. These trucks are easy to hot-wire and with no ignition steering wheel lock can be driven away.
And then it’s personal preference on what makes you sleep at night.
I just found an NOS steering wheel “Club” from the 80s at a Goodwill store for $5.99. That’s my security.
The way I see things, almost anything can be broken into with a battery powered grinder with a cut off wheel. Chains, locks, large pieces of metal, almost anything really. Now the next question is can it be grindered? A thief probably isn’t going to just take a grinder to your toolbox in a parking lot, or a chain in your backyard, or anything out in the open with other people around. It’s loud, throws sparks, easily recognizable behavior, etc. not likely to be done in many circumstances.
I use a big yellow club I got off amazon for $20. Easily seen from the outside and gonna take a grinder to get it off. But if the trucks parked somewhere it would be easier for that to happen then that might not be enough or what you’re looking for.
The grinder effect as I’ll call it here greatly reduces unplanned theft. Most people aren’t gonna carry a grinder with them and aren’t gonna want to take your truck your truck and enough to use one. But if you’re truck is worth it for whatever reason, a thief could plan out the use of the grinder and target your truck after scoping it out. That’s a tough one really. Depending on the brains and perseverance of the thief almost anything is possible.
I don’t know anything about alarms or gps systems.
Some people wire in hidden kill switches, some take out the coil wire, others swap the coil wire with a hollow wire so nothing seems wrong. Others just plain take the coil out. I've also heard of someone wiring the ignition to multiple switches where things like the ashy tray had to be opened first and then buttons pressed in the right sequence to allow the truck to turn over. You can get as elaborate as you want in making the truck not start but at the end of the day if someone wants it bad enough they'll find a way. (Rollbacks and repo trucks can make quick work of stealing a truck)
Plan is to make it not look like an easy target and you'll deter most thieves. As for the other ones, may want to look into lo-jack/ gps stuff so you can recover the truck once it's stolen.
They are very easy to steal, esp if in running condition. Take a knife and slip up the wing-window lock (non-locking), reach in and open the door. Unplug the ignition switch and plug your own in. Start the truck and go. OR open the hood and manipulate the starter relay. Starting around 77, ford offered locking wing windows and hood release to help against this. Best bet is to park it where it would be difficult to remove it from the property. Hide a switch somewhere that removes power to the coil. Use a battery cutoff switch in-line with the starter feed cable, they can jump the relay all they want but starter will not activate. On our fleet rigs we use a "Spider Box". This unit senses a draw when the vehicle is sitting and cuts the power to everything. There is a reset switch in the cab. This switch can activate and deactivate the power supply. Many options out there, just to name a few. Just wanted you to know that your truck, if it runs good, can be started and driven off before you get out of the house. All without creating any damage.
Hidden fuel shut off and a quick disconnect steering wheel and take it with you. And put LoJack, or similar, in so it can be tracked. A large bolt cutter will go through our steering wheel like butter and then The Club slips right off. Doesn't even take a minute. There's no alarms I know of with disabling capabilities for our trucks, so it's just a horn to make noise, 10 seconds to neutralize and disable. Physically disabling it is the only semi guaranteed way to stop theft, unless they show up with a flat bed.
You can take the throttle linkage that connects the carb to the gas pedal, install a kill switch, pull the terminal off the starter solenoid and pull the coil wire off. Just in case they figure one out they have a few more to go. My property is under constant video surveillance. A good thing to have an agreed value collector policy on my trucks and cars. They are all insured for more than I paid for them. But that is only if you do not drive them everyday.
That's a lot of moving parts, but certainly it wouldn't go anywhere then. I have a declared value collector policy on it for more than I have in it, too. They are way cheaper than I imagined.
usually something is stolen for monetary resale. Or with money gain in some way. Example. My license plate was stole n to put on a stolen vehicle. They parked a block over and got ticketed. Yeah, I got the ticket in the mail
I'm a Cop in a large city. In the 7 years that I have been on the job, I have yet to take a report, or recover, a stolen classic vehicle. Now, I have had several occasions that involved a new F250. They are one of, if not the most, stolen vehicle on the market. I think you would be fine without an alarm for it.
