Hey guys, I just finished lifting, painting and interior on a '86 Bronco. Now I'm looking for some custom security ideas. I have a Viper alarm/remote start system installed but with all the attention Big Red is getting, feel the need for some more subversive ideas. Plus I've heard that if someone just crawls underneith and cuts the wires, alarm systems don't work very well.

I thought of a fuel line valve/switch mounted under the driver seat, or a removable key/ battery kill switch that you see at autozone/checker type places, but could really use some input from some of you guys on ideas, costs, install tips, etc.

 

i have heard of people running the coil hot wire through an unused switch on the dashboard, like a rear window defrost or something unused and leaving it labled the way it is, so nobody is the wiser that you have to turn on the defroster to start the car....just a suggestion.

 

we put a fuel pump kill switch in my freinds 97 f150, worked great

 

Shooter glasses hanging off the rearview mirror, earmuff type hearing protector clamped over the seat, and one or two NRA stickers should do it.

 

A few bumper stickers for the NRA, and one that says protected by Smith & wesson should do it nicely. if not, the ole guy in a rockin chair next to the truck should work well with a shotgun.

OR if you want to go electronic, there are actually alarms that go off when someone so much as bumps the tire. I've seen such alarms in action. they work well for this purpose, and make MASSIVE amounts of noise.

I use dogs at home for security cause they have a 99% success rate with me.

 

Try hooking the horn relay to the dome light switch on the doors. put a hidden switch on it somewhere.

 

Since you are handy try www.brakelock.com.

Four wheel hydraulic brake lock. I went further and mounted mine in a 3/16 steel box (bolted to firewall with carriage bolts with the nut on the engine side) with a hole drilled out big enough just to fit the key in. I suggest mounting it on the firewall near the gas pedal under the master cyl.

Then a alarm with a pager. I bought an alarm from www.autoloc.com before and it was pretty good.

 

An alarm siren with a built in battery backup will address this vulnerability. Cut the wires, the siren will go off for several minutes without power. You can also get a battery backup module of the alarm brain itself.

Like others have suggested, a hidden fuel pump kill switch will make any vehicle extremely difficult to steal.

Make sure that the alarm brain and its wires are well hidden and camouflaged. If not, your alarm system can be defeated in a matter of seconds.

 

I had a stereo system stolen in Italy.. I knew who did it but couldn't prove it.. So I took a blown up amliphier case, emptied it, and wired 3 model rocket motors, and a can of sardines to the inside of the case... then hooked the positive to the speaker inputs, and rca inputs....and ran fake wires so it looked like it was hooked up.....They stole the amp.. I wish I could have seen it when it was hooked up.

 

I'd be tempted to tie a kill switch into the seat belt buzzer alarm so if the thief did not buckle up they would not be able to get the starter solenoid to engage. If you think about it do you think a crook would be buckling up to quickly steal a vehicle? And how many times do you remember seeing the police pull a car thief out of a stolen vehicle while he was wearing a seat belt. Or I'd be tempted to tie a kill switch into the highbeam foot switch.

 

On my '83 F150 the ignition switch failed and would'nt energize the starter in the "start" position, tho the "on" or "run" position still worked. I ran a wire from the running lights to a pushbutton switch hidden under the dash and then to the starter solenoid. Starting the vehicle consisted of turning on the ignition, turning on the parking lights, and depressing the switch. Switch was tiny and half the time I had trouble finding it!

 

> If you think about it do you think a crook would be buckling up to quickly steal a vehicle

A pro will. Plus, he will flip every switch that it is not flipped (especially the defogger switch in a car without a defogger). Except for maybe Lo-Jack, many pros have installed alarm systems all the OEMs at one time or another for a living so they know the tricks of the trade.

You can stop the joy riders with fuel and ignition cut offs, but, a pro who is looking to make $1000+ from the vehicle will come with his own jumpers, spare parts, and opwer tools. Especially if the vehicle is located in an isolated area where they have five minutes. Many just flat bed it, even in the middle of a busy mall parking lot.

 

Dude, put a 100 watt speaker into the front, hook that up to the horn, and hook all that up to a radar system (fairly cheap) that will monitor the inside of the vehicle. My dad used to have it on his Mustang, some thieves tried to steal his radio, the second their hand went past the radar the horn started blairing through 100 watts of speaker. My dad says there were burn out marks in the street, and no equipment was stolen.

 

I kind of like tinkering with relays and stuff. I've been thinking for a while about magnetic switches. They used to be part of most alarm systems for businesses.

A magnet near them is needed to cause the contacts inside to close.

A switch like that could be mounted just about anywhere inside a dash panel that has a convenient spot to set the magnet down to trip it. My mid eighties trucks have a small shelf at the bottom of the guage panel, it isn't supposed to be a shelf - but it collects lighters and things on occasion. In fact - one of my trucks has a velcro patch there to make a lighter stay put!

The magnet could be on the keychain so it doesn't stand out in any way. Or it could be a magnetic base for some kind of pen holder that could be slid to the other side when the truck is parked.

The slick thing about mag switches is that installed right - there is absolutely no sign of them.

Whatever you do for a switch - it should be activated after you get inside and shut the doors. That way you don't call attention to an extra step.

Funniest anti-theft system I've seen was a lowrider Ranger that could squat all the way down onto its frame. Had frenched doorhandles and a remote opener too!

Can't get in, can't get under it, OH WELL!

 

Here are a.... few.... good threads about kill switches and security measures:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ht=kill+switch

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ht=kill+switch

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ht=kill+switch <-- GREAT thread

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ht=kill+switch

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ht=kill+switch <-- Great thread

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ht=kill+switch

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ht=kill+switch

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ht=kill+switch

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ht=kill+switch

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ight=brakelock

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ight=brakelock

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ight=brakelock

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ight=brakelock

Read through all those threads, and you'll get TONS of ideas for security measures.