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What do you folks use for securing your truck?
My truck was stolen and then quickly recovered (unharmed except for a broken ignition cylinder) a couple of years back - I guess that stock Old School trucks are pretty easy to break into and get started.
Id like to keep that from happening again now that I've got a few upgrades into her. I've used a logging chain and master lock through the rim for longer storage periods, but the chain seems overkill for frequent use.
There are a ton of The Club variants out there and some other devices. Any ideas?
What do you folks use for securing your truck?
My truck was stolen and then quickly recovered (unharmed except for a broken ignition cylinder) a couple of years back - I guess that stock Old School trucks are pretty easy to break into and get started.
Id like to keep that from happening again now that I've got a few upgrades into her. I've used a logging chain and master lock through the rim for longer storage periods, but the chain seems overkill for frequent use.
There are a ton of The Club variants out there and some other devices. Any ideas?
toggle switch under dash to cut power to ecm circuit
As mentioned, a switch to cut ecm power or fuel pump if efuel would be good, too.
Good insurance is nice, but you need to have realistic expectations from them. They usually don't care about the 10k in parts you had, they're gonna pay out for a bone stock 95 f350 with a couple bucks on top.
Thanks.
I like this idea, Clutch sensor kill switch write up | Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum , as I installed a very similar clutch-engagement based Killswitch in my car. I didn't realize that I could use the same method on an automatic transmission, but it makes sense that the wiring harness will be the same, regardless if it's an automatic or manual. I still see value in having something visual like The Club, or a chain to encourage thieves to choose an easier target, but if they get in, the Killswitch and/or a no start tune should be enough to thwart most criminals.
IMO you're not really going to stop the thief, your best bet is knowing it's been stolen as early as possible, and being able to find it as quickly as possible. Tracking devices and geofencing. With any luck you'll also get more of the *******s off the streets.
Or, agreed value insurance is also a thing. It's going to cost more, but you also know what your total loss payout is ahead of time.
I've seen registers for fuel trim in torque, but that might be bogus, I know coolant temp is bogus and it's there.
You could put the switch on the ground leg of the coil circle of the IDM's power relay. That will do nothing more than keep it off.
The thing about doing switches like this though is you don't want them to be done in a way where they can be flipped off while the vehicle is running in a way that will kill the engine. So if you do it that way, rather have the switch toggle a relay, and have the relay in control of closing or breaking the circuit that you want to control. The relay then can be self-sustaining, have the output loop back around to the coil so that once the relay is on it will keep itself on. Then the only way to turn it off is to turn the source off, the key.
In this way if the switch is off, turning the key on does nothing. If the switch is on, turning the key on turns the relay on and then the relay keeps itself on, turning the switch off does nothing.
It is a shame that we have to deal with this sort of thing, but I am grateful your truck was recovered.
A similar event happened to a 1999 - 2003 SD owner not too long ago and a few of us provided some ideas and thoughts on theft prevention to him. I know that you have an OBS, but a lot of the 7.3L systems are the same from 1994.5 - 2003 regarding anti-theft ideas.
Weird timing. My truck was broken into again last week. I've had it in storage for a while and frequently get asked if I want to sell it - I guess someone decided to try another route.
The ******* broke the wing-window, rolled the main window down and opened the door, then smashed the ignition cylinder to try and crank the engine.
No-Go. I'd just installed a Hydra chip in the PCM - and fortunately had engaged the No-Start tune, and removed the selector switch (see the pigtail connector indicated in the photo) the night prior to the attempted robbery.
I got a replacement wing window assy from the junkyard, new ignition cylinder from O'Rielly's, and all is well again for about $50. I credit the Hydra for saving the truck. All the same, I'm now also keeping a logging chain through the wheel and locked to the frame until I find a better place for storage.
Alot of people go the kill switch route or put a no-start tune into their system. Another option I have seen lately (which I am looking at) is something like compustar or viper. Which is a security system/remote start plug and play. It gives you the ability to "arm the truck" in different ways with engine kills and alarms and what not, but also good for warming the engine up during the cold months.
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