Looking for brand and model advice. Older Clifford apparently has a fault the dealer says it should not have. So I am looking at new models to upgrade to. My biggest issue with old one is battery suck. Get maybe 2 weeks out of AAA batteries. Then you have problems unlocking.
Canbus doesn't sound applicable for an old barely even OBD compatible 1999 truck. I read about DS4 technology. How does one find some review and bitch forums?

Truck is Ravelco equipped. Want the added features of alarm for early notification when crooks try stealing truck with enclosed trailer at some car show in the future.

 

I suggest Viper Alarms https://www.viper.com/

 

I still have and run an older Clifford alarm, purchased in 2000 for my 2000, which was built in 1999, so basically the same year as your truck.

No, you are correct, our trucks do NOT have CANBUS.

After 22 years of no issues, one day my truck wouldn't start, and I finally narrowed it down to my alarm.

It took a little digging to figure this out though.





Turns out, the problem was with the alarm INSTALLATION (performed by a Clifford Dealer), who used pitifully poor wire crimp connections on one of the power circuits.

The alarm itself worked just fine, once power was properly restored.

In fact, the older Clifford alarms of 24 years ago (such as the 6000 series) seem to be sought after by car stereo enthusiasts (made more robust electronic components and circuitry), back when Clifford was the pinnacle automotive alarm company, well known for producing the best that could be had at the time, before Clifford was bought and sold to other companies with different management philosophies (cheaper, more profit, rather than best of the best, to maintain the reputation of the brand name).

One might argue that older alarms were made with less of a "throw away and replace" mindset, and as such are probably better built than whatever is being made today (albeit less featured, ie, no cell phone integration, etc).

So before condemning your old Clifford alarm, be sure to look under your hood to inspect the connections of the wires that feed the Clifford alarm. There should be two B+ feeds, one fused at 5 amps, and one fused at 15 amps.

It was the 5 amp fused wire connection that had finally failed on my truck, so I cut out all of the original installers wiring and redid the wiring myself, using OEM best practices, including the use of dual layer adhesive lined heat shrink to seal each wire connection.

I don't know anything about AAA battery versions of Clifford alarms, as mine uses the 12 volt vehicle batteries. My Clifford remote keyfobs use a nickel sized disc shaped (watch type) lithium battery.