What are the best two or three methods for securing an F350 against theft? I recently discovered that Ford does not put encrypted ignitions in their trucks, and was advised by a dealership that horn systems are more of a problem than a help. What is the best solution? Three months ago, my F350 was stolen. I have replaced it, but I am very uneasy.

 

any good alarm with a ignition kill system will do...also...there is a compacy out there that sells a door handle fit to re-enforce the flimsy plastic handle assembly......and if you have a sliding rear window.....I have not heard of any good fixes for that.....both the handles and rear sliders are extreme weak point and a long screwdriver can pop both.

 

papa3,
If a thief wants to steal your vehicle, and if they are an experienced thief, they aint a lot you are gonna do to keep them from stealing said vehicle. Just my 2 cents. However there a number of things that can be done to a vehicle to help you find your vehicle again after the thief steals it.

1. The small wire that goes to your alternator exciter can be cut, run a wire that you have attached to the hot side of this inside your truck to a hidden switch then run a wire from the other side of the switch back to the wire going to the alternator. This will mean that every time you get ready to drive your truck you have to turn this switch on; OR the alternator won't charge your batteries. Then don't turn the switch on start your truck and drive (after recording your mileage) until batteries are dead (record your mileage). This is the radius of the circle where you will find your truck the next time it gets stolen. I had this set up on a 1967 Mustang that I was pretty proud of one time.

2. Put same type of switch in your fuel system. No power No Flow. No Flow No Go.

People that steal cars know more about Anti-Theft alarm systems than just about anybody. However if you K.I.S.S. most times they won't troubleshoot just to steal your car they are basically lazy people or they would get a job and buy a vehicle instead of steal it.

Again just my 2 cents worth

KitsKid
2004 F250 SuperDuty Crew Cab 6.0 PSD

 

1. a good alarm.
2. a tracking device like lojack
3. park in a secure garage whenever possible.

Being in chicago the auto thieves have hit me 4 times in my life. last time was at 2 pm when a tow truck backed up to my car in front of the house and towed it away, and i live in an "nice"neighborhood. the neighbor told me later how it happened. he thought i naybe needed it repaired and had it towed.it had a steering column collar and an alarm. car was never found and been 1 year. now i come to the conclusion that if someone wants it bad enough they will find a way to get it. I have added lojack as extra insurance on all of my rides now, cause i want to find the sob when it happens.

 

Thanks for your timely reply. I have pretty well decided that there is little I can do, if someone wants to simply tow the vehicle away. I have an appointment for window etching, which the police seem pretty high on, and I am in contact with LoJack for an installation. I appreciate your ideas. The electrical and fuel kill switches are intriguing, and I have asked around to see who may be trusted enough to do it for me.

papa3

 

Oddly enough, my truck was broken into just last night. Thry punched the driver's door lock in, and simply turned it. The alarm went off, but being in an interior room, I never even heard it. The low-lifes made off with a couple hundred bucks worth of my tools (nothing real fancy, but still....) and left me with about $100 in damage. The alarm at least kept them from having time to remove anything that is permanently installed. I also live in a "nice" neighborhood. Oh, well, merry xmas to me.

 

Unfortunately, that is true. But the kill switches that aren't part of a known alarm system are some of the best things ever devised. Lojack service? I dunno how much that costs, but I think some insurance companies give a discount if you've subscribed.

Other than that. The best defense is to park in a safe place. (There's more than one reason I live where I do)

Arm yourself!

 

Wow. No offense, but that is a really dumb idea. My guess is they would have enough juice to get to the chop shop. I have driven pretty far with a bad alternator.

I agree with others, a skilled thief will steal the car no matter what. My '03 SD was stolen, stripped, emptied, and wrecked in Houston.

I noticed at a UPS place at night they had boots on the wheels of several trucks (like cities use to immobilize the cars of those that don't pay their tickets) I think one of those would work pretty well, but it would be extremely awkward.

 

S and W!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You may consider a two-way paging alarm system, which has an LCD screen on the remote. It will tell you the status of your alarm – if someone opens a door or if someone triggers the impact sensor – on the screen. The new breed of auto security systems are GPS/cellular-based. These systems can automatically call you on your cell phone if your alarm is tripped and tell a service where your vehicle is at so they can contact the authorities. You can even track the vehicle yourself online. A lot of people are worried about mechanics taking their car for a joyride when they drop it off. You can set up a GPS geo-fence around the car, so if it is taken outside of a certain boundary, it will call you, or if your car exceeds 80 miles per hour, it will call you. For more info...

http://www.directed.com/security/viper/gps.asp

Realistically, there is no practical way to completely prevent someone from breaking into or stealing your truck. Ultimately, they could use a tow truck in which no alarm system can defend against. All you can do is to deter a thief from even wanting to try or make it more difficult. That is the primary effect of a well-installed alarm system along with some common sense.
See this thread for good info...
http://forum.sounddomain.com/forum/u...c;f=9;t=001941

 

The best way I have found to deal with the slideing window is to place a small piece of all thread in the track to prevent the window slideing and lead to the alternitive, that is busted out window! But at least they have to work for it!!! LOL

 

1. Alarm with paging

2. Jimmi Jammers

3. secret switches that do nasty things. Fuel cutoff is a good one, but I like the other guys idea of the alternator wire. If you really wanted to, you could wire in some kind of extra load that would kill the batteries faster than normal (extra lights, etc), but only when the switch isn't in the right position. Here's another good one. A switch that displays flashing red and blue lights (or something) whenever the truck is in (D) but the switch hasn't been killed. Something that would get a thief pulled over, without them knowing it was happening. In some areas, they have these stickers you can put on your car that allow police to pull over your vehicle if it is spotted driving between midnight and 5am. Good if you are a predictable person that never drives at night, but wouldn't work for me. The flashing lights are along these lines.

Some interior strobes would be cool, and cheap. Fairly easy to defeat, but they would make it really hard to drive, and even harder to not get noticed. A deterrent nonetheless.

I had thought years ago about building my own version of lo-jack with a basic gps unit, old pda (palm-pilot), and some radio gear (ham or otherwise). Same secret switch theory, where it would broadcast on a set freq it's gps coordinates. Obviously you would have to be within radio range to receive it, but I bet I could build something mostly out of stuff I already have.


4. Glock

5. large Dog(s)

6. ...With laserbeams on it's head.

 

why not a switch for the ignition. then they can't go anywhere. just follow the wires from the key and cut the one that engages the starter. no start then they have to tow it.

 

Lots of good feed back. Thanks, everyone. I'll be asking questions and looking for the guys with skills to help me.

papa3

 

All I know, if someone steals my truck, I don't want it back unless it's totaled. The last thing I want is a truck that's been broken into and who knows what done to it.

Eric