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I work for a large public transportation agency in California and thefts of vehicles is becoming common. My wife reads the local police blotters and advises that Ford vans are common targets for theft. My good friend owns a fleet of vans for his plumbing company with kill switches on all his vans.
My buddy and I designed a simple kill switch for the E-series vans. It works on most vehicles. If anyone wants this simple schematic, PM me as I don't want to post how to steal Ford vans on this forum. The kill switch uses a momentary switch similar to your computer power-on button. The nice thing about this kill switch is that you have to activate it with the key on to drive your vehicle. As soon as you turn the engine off, the fuel delivery system is shut off until you push the switch to engage the fuel pump. In other words, you cannot drive the vehicle until the momentary switch is pressed!
I purchased the following parts for this project and used existing wire and connecters.
Anything that slows down potential car thieves is a good idea but keep in mind most of us are pure amtuers at that game, those doing the stealing are full blown professionals---most of what we self-construct can typically be easily discovered and overcome by such miscreants.
I'm all about saving money IF a process can yield the same results as something more costly but if its considerably less effective I don't know it would be worth the savings. Naturally I say that not having seen Coolfeet's idea so could be very much off base there. The brand Ravelco is highly effective and no I do NOT sell them nor am I affiliated in any way. Not a cheap solution but a few anecdotes of them in use says its a good investment.
Catalytic converter theft is nearly impossible to prevent unless your vehicle is stored or parked inside a secure building. Behind a so-called "security fence" isn't effective as its still outside.
@JWA What you are saying is true. Anything we do that slows down thieves helps. I read the daily logs from my police agency. Most thieves go for the low-hanging fruit. My kill switch is hidden in plain view. It's hard to find. It's nowhere near the driver. My son complained that's it's an inconvenience to start the vehicle. Professional thieves can easily find it. However, my van is stolen by average crack-head drug-induced thieves. Anything more complicated than defeating the ignition with a flathead screwdriver is beyond their intelligence level. I place a useless Club steering wheel lock that acts as a nuisance device. When I need more theft protection, I remove the fuel injection relay.
My simple relay/momentary switch is simple and effective for protection against the average stupid criminal. I installed the Club mostly to prevent window smashing. Lazy thieves go vehicles without a Club as it saves 30 seconds and requires less equipment for stealing the vehicle.
Today I am installing a CAT Strap to CAT. It makes sawzawing through the exhaust inconvenient. I am preventing average thieves from tampering with my vehicle. If I was driving a $25k vehicle, I would do more.
The only remedy for not getting your vehicle vandalized or stolen is not owning one. LOL. Seems like that is what this new Green Deal is about. My .02 worth.
I guess the police would not too happy if you had some kind of metal netting insulated from the rest of the van and connected to a ignition coil with a sensor to trigger it when someone tampers with the cat.. I remember years ago someone kept getting broken into and devised an electrical device and it killed one of the thieves breaking in.. The owner went to jail.. A police taser is 50,000 volts!
I should really think about some kind of anti-theft device for my van..
@JWA What you are saying is true. Anything we do that slows down thieves helps. I read the daily logs from my police agency. Most thieves go for the low-hanging fruit. My kill switch is hidden in plain view. It's hard to find. It's nowhere near the driver. My son complained that's it's an inconvenience to start the vehicle. Professional thieves can easily find it. However, my van is stolen by average crack-head drug-induced thieves. Anything more complicated than defeating the ignition with a flathead screwdriver is beyond their intelligence level. I place a useless Club steering wheel lock that acts as a nuisance device. When I need more theft protection, I remove the fuel injection relay.
My simple relay/momentary switch is effective for protection against stupid criminals. I installed the Club steering locking device to prevent window smashing. Lazy thieves look for vehicles without a steering wheel lock saving 30 seconds for stealing vehicles.
Today I am installing a CAT Strap to CAT. It makes sawzawing through the exhaust inconvenient. I am preventing average thieves from tampering with my vehicle. If I was driving a $25k vehicle, I would do more.
The only remedy for not getting your vehicle vandalized or stolen is not owning one. LOL. Seems like that is what this new Green Deal is about. My .02 worth.
Originally Posted by annaleigh
I guess the police would not too happy if you had some kind of metal netting insulated from the rest of the van and connected to a ignition coil with a sensor to trigger it when someone tampers with the cat.. I remember years ago someone kept getting broken into and devised an electrical device and it killed one of the thieves breaking in.. The owner went to jail.. A police taser is 50,000 volts!
I should really think about some kind of anti-theft device for my van..
Well, the idiot should not have tampered with the vehicle!! Not the vehicle owner's fault. Like JWA said, the device has to be cost-effective. I could rent a secure garage for $100 a month and go broke. I will take my chances with the $17 fuel cut-off switch. The Club cost me about $30 and I know thieves can easily cut through it with sawzaw.
Thieves learned not too long after those hit the market defeating them requires only cutting through the steering wheel----no need to fool with the actual device itself. Once the steering wheel is cut there's virtually no visible signs that's happened.
Many, many years ago in the 70's, my FIL had his truck's battery stolen several time by "low rides" to power their hydraulics. He fabricated a simple alarm with two length of bailing wire and when the hood opened the two wires would touch and the horn would sound. The trucks horn tripped a night or two nights later but the thieves drove off before he got out side. So the following day he rigged a couple of double edged shaving razors next the hood lever. Two days later he found blood on the grill. After that he didn't have anymore problem with missing batteries. He was a wise old man.
With the right trigger, you can spray miscreants with mace or those dye packs concealed in cash bundles in the movies. With my luck I’d forget the off switch and mace myself starting the van
With the right trigger, you can spray miscreants with mace or those dye packs concealed in cash bundles in the movies. With my luck I’d forget the off switch and mace myself starting the van
Sixto
07 E350 5.4 175K miles
How about installing a low-voltage shocking device on the door handle like the gag gifts people send at Christmas?
If you haven't noticed by my lack of concern for a thieves health, I despise them. WE work hard for what we have! I had a 83 ford ranger stolen with all of my equipment in the back. A new camper top and tires and was going to leave for a vacation that day!. The police were more concerned about the pistol in the truck then finding the truck.
I would think a small GPS tracker would be nice to install so you might be able to locate it later.
I found my truck 8 years later when someone applied for a title.
This thread has grown to semi-silly proportions but I'll leave this to ponder..............
We're living in a time when taking all these Darth Vader criminal repelling steps that are essentially booby traps for the thieves can subject the creator to potential personal injury liability and less likely but possible criminal prosecution of their own. Deploy such devices knowing there are risks, that you being right doesn't make it legal or make you immune from consequences.
I get it as I've lost things of considerable value, had to repair damage created by smash 'n grab bandits, none of which were all that much fun to endure. Nothing is more personally insulting to have your property or "space" invaded by crooks but again these days hangman's justice is not widely accepted and tolerated by some jurisdictions.
GPS trackers, loud obnoxious alarms, automotive dead bolt door locks along with some sort of electrical interrupting system/device is our best bet to greatly minimize theft/vandalism damages. Do as you see fit but please consider if you're opening yourselves to further injustice by inflicting injury on the very people who're out to grab your stuff.
This thread has grown to semi-silly proportions but I'll leave this to ponder..............
We're living in a time when taking all these Darth Vader criminal repelling steps that are essentially booby traps for the thieves can subject the creator to potential personal injury liability and less likely but possible criminal prosecution of their own. Deploy such devices knowing there are risks, that you being right doesn't make it legal or make you immune from consequences.
I get it as I've lost things of considerable value, had to repair damage created by smash 'n grab bandits, none of which were all that much fun to endure. Nothing is more personally insulting to have your property or "space" invaded by crooks but again these days hangman's justice is not widely accepted and tolerated by some jurisdictions.
GPS trackers, loud obnoxious alarms, automotive dead bolt door locks along with some sort of electrical interrupting system/device is our best bet to greatly minimize theft/vandalism damages. Do as you see fit but please consider if you're opening yourselves to further injustice by inflicting injury on the very people who're out to grab your stuff.
for the record I agree with JWA. I am kidding about installing low voltage shocking devices on door handles. If someone steals something from another, In the end, the person will be judged. If the world was full of honest people we would not have to carry a set of keys. We would not need laws or enforcement of said laws. I do what I can to prevent thieves from messing with my vehicles.
****This kill switch really works great. It interfered with my alternator and disabled charging the battery.
DO NO NOT USE THIS METHOD.
As a reminder about kill or diabling switches its best to interfere with the fuel supply and/or the starter circuits. Both have access points inside the cabin although the starter kill does require removing the Central Junction Box (cab interior), the inertia fuel cut off switch also inside the cabin and slightly more accessible.
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Not a cheap solution but a few anecdotes of them in use says its a good investment.
