Well, it's getting close to that time of year again, and I swear this winter i'm not gonna run out to the driveway to warm up my truck while my wife starts hers from inside with her remote starter (giggling at me while she does it too!).

Is there a certatin brand that's better than others for diesels, or is there a brand I should avoid? And how do these work with diesels? Normally I have my truck plugged into a timer to run the block heater for a few hours before I leave for work. Do the remote starters have a delay to allow the glow plugs to heat up for a minute or so before it starts?

Also, is this a DIY, or is pro. installation required. If it's not too complicated like rewiring the space shuttle, I don't mind tackling it myself, but I want to do this while the weather is still decent outside.

Thanks all!!
Peter

 

I installed mine but I install them professionally. I installed the Viper 791XVR 2way system. It works great with no issues so far. The nice part is the unit has a built in diesel wait to start timer built in and another cool thing is it has a temp sensor so that when it gets below a certain temp inside the cab it will start the truck and run it for 12 mins. Its a great system and have been using a 2way system by Viper/DEI for about 4 years now with no issues.

As for installing it yourself, i would have someone else do it that does it proffesionally. Im sure you could do it but there are many little tips and tricks that you learn after doing hundreds of them that you cant cannot pick up installing it one or two times. Im sure Best Buy will get bashed in here but I worked there for many years and was the shops lead installer. We RARELY damaged a vehicle and were known in our area being one of the best shops around. We even did full custom fiberglass work and everything. If you do happen to stop by a best buy, please make sure you talk to the installers. they are normally cool guys, if they arent, walk away. Ask them if they have worked on a diesel or any other forgin cars. Feel them out to see if they have any passion for what they do. also look and checkout thier toolboxes. If they are all crapsman, chances are they will not do the greatest job but thats not guaranteed. and really, whatever shop you do go to, talk to the installers.

Good Luck, I hope that I helped.

 

There are allot of good alarm/car starters,crimestooper,DEI,viper are all good.Im sure there are more that im missing.I right now have crimestopper and its great.You can wire it yourself with a wiring diagram of the truck,its not that bad.My first one was installed by a pro,i installed the second one myself.

 

I have mine installed. It takes a lot less time, even though I know my way around fairly well. The guy that installed mine did an excellent job, like I would have done if it did it myself as far as routing the wires and the "look" of the install. It just took far less time for him to do it.

You can do it yourself, it just depends on what your time is worth.

Also, I only have an ASTRA unit, which is a little less mainstream of a brand. It works fine, and as far as I know, you will only be able to get a unit with a fixed timer since the glow plug light is controlled over the data bus and does not have a seperate wire.

They change features fairly often, so shop around for things like cold start timer, two way capability, range etc. I would also make sure they tap into the RPM signal wire, instead of the "automatic" mode some of them have.

 

Hopefully this will help if you do it on your own but I personally would advise against it. I have seen too many hacked up systems that in the long run cost the owner so much more time, money, and aggrevation. Also, use some caution with the crimestopper units. That is the number one unit that we were pulling out to put in a DEI product.

Ok scratch that, I just tried for the last 15 mins trying to give you the wiring info but its too many characters for the forum in one post. PM me your emaill address if you want a copy of it.

 

I have had my crimestopper 2016fm for over a year with no problems what so ever.

As you stated " I have seen too many hacked up systems that in the long run cost the owner so much more time, money, and aggrevation"

I have also seen so hacked up pro installers as well.Just cause there garage looks good,means nothing.You have to talk to people who been there and had something installed for the right info.
At any rate,i would install it myself,and install it the way i want it to be installed.
All the info for installing them can be found on the net anyway.And you get the installers guide (which tells you what wire does what) when you buy the alarm/starter unit.

 

I understand that which is all discussed in my first post in this thread. But you will not convince me that someone that has installed HUNDREDS of these systems (for example: me) can do just as good a job as someone that has installed a few of them. As I have heard it a million times "You cannot beat someone at thier own game". There are plenty of pro installers that have messed up an install but are they really a pro installer then? well I wouldnt think so otherwise he would have had very little issues and would have been able to work through them on his own. Like I said, earlier, talk to the installers and get a feel for them and thier capabilities, see if they have a passion for thier job.

Also i just want to add that the crime stopper units work but dont last long in my experiance. if you have a unit that is working for you, perfect! I would not change it then. but they were almost always the unit that was being pulled out because it went rouge on the owner and getting replaced with a DEI unit. Astroflex has some really nice units as well. that would be my first choice but I already had a working viper 791 from my last car so that is what I installed.

 

lol I installed 2 units myself.And i can install it and make it look like professonal.Alls it takes is a little time.If your in a rush then yeah an installer would do better.But if you have the time,yours wont look or work any better then mine.Like i said i can find all the tricks and leran them and do it just like you.As fast no,but im in no rush.
To save myself 200 bucks and take 3 extra days to install something that i didnt have to begin with,is no biggie.
As far as saying crimestoppers are problematic,any unit can be,no matter what brand.But i have had 2 trucks,1st truck was a crimestopper 5 years no problem.
2nd truck ultrastart,got tried of paying the install shop 110 bucks to get me a new remote,so i pulled it and install the crimestopper.Like i said no problems.
Everyone likes differant things,as for one being better then the other,its not true.

 

I also have the crimestopper installed on my truck almost two years now and no problems at all. I can start my truck from almost 1/4 mile away I love it in the winter (no more cold truck when i get in). LOVE IT!

 

Thanks Guys, I appreciate the replies! Although I didn't mean to start a minor war....

Looks like from what I've read, this might be a little more that I want to chew, so I'm gonna look into having it installed.

 

No,no war,just different opinions.No one can say what the other person is capable of doing.

 

exactly, there is no war. Forums are for peoples opnions and thats what you got! haha