Security for your parked car?

[67Thunder]

When I went to the auto parts store for my son's xmas gift, they had on display a tire clamp similar to the parking lot type clamps.

Originally I was thinking of anchoring the car via a chain and lock to an anchor in the concrete floor.

These clamps might be an option. I have to park the car at grandma's (not the most fabulous neighbourhood) now that it's getting close to being a rolling chassis, I have to think about security.

 

[68FBJJZ109]

I have wondered about the same thing. So I came to the conclusion its being built to drive not park... Though thats not realistic so I plan on putting in like two kill switches.

 

[mustangman70]

Colt .45...no problem

 

[ultrastang]

Colt .45...no problem

In 1997, I had an '89 5.0L Mustang GT. I was in Little Rock, Arkansas and parked my car in a well lit, busy, area but it didn't stop the theives from getting it anyway.

At the the time, if I could have found who stole it, I would have loved to put my model 1911 government issue Colt .45 to use. The '89 GT was never recovered. I had to wait 30 days after the GT was stolen before the insurance company made a settlement with me.

During the 30-day waiting period, I had located another GT --a '90 model, and bought it after I got the settlement, which in reality was an even better car than my '89.

Rigging your car with a hidden kill switch makes it much harder for a thief to steal if he can't move the car under its own power. However, if a theif wants your car bad enough, they'll figure out a way to get it.

I had heard of a car theft ring that would target a car, then steal just enough parts off of it to more or less render it a "total". The vehicles would be auctioned off and the theives who stole the parts would be there to bid on the remains. If they won the auction, they would take the car back to their shops, put the stolen parts back on, then sell it with a clear title.

 

[68FBJJZ109]

Colt .45...no problem

But what if you hit the car...

 

[Jester67]

Colt .45...no problem

So the plan is to get them drunk with the hopes they will forget about the car?

 

[67Thunder]

The colt 45 or a baseball bat would be good, but I live 15 minutes from where the car is parked.

One good thing is that she has a big a$$ german shepard at her house. Still I want to lock the car down once I put the wheels on it and take it down off the blocks.

I think for now I can just sink an anchor into the concrete and loop a chain over the axle

 

[68FBJJZ109]

Yeah but how long does it take to remove the axle, slide off the chain, and the reattach the axle and push or winch your car onto a flatbed.

 

[BullittStangV8]

What about those things that you always seen on cars that are getting impounded/taken away? It looks like a clamp that goes around the wheel and is like a locking wedge? I would think hidden kill switches/car alarm/chain it down/ect. are all decent ideas, and doing more then one would be smart. The more time it takes a theif to work on it, the better chance you have that someone will report it.

 

[Rusty67]

This is one of those things that you don't want to think about but you have to. My car's security at the moment its its terrible body. Its so bad, no one would want to steal it.

One thing that I found myself forgeting is that a thief doesn't treat the car the way you might. If they have to smash a window, so be it. If they need to cut your grill, they will. Keep stuff like this in mind.

My MSD box has a disable option and I've got hood pins that have a key lock on them so my car can't be hotwired unless they open the engine bay (which is where the box is). To do that, they would have to cut my grill open and brake/unbolt the other side of the hood pins. The only other way to steal my car is to flat bed it as it is parked outside.

Ever seen an F1 tow truck ? They have that sweet crane arm that grabs the cars and puts them on the flatbed. If a thief got one of those suckers.... it would be bad.

As for chaining the car down.... a good thief could easily get around that with liquid nitrogen and a hammer or even a good set of chain/bolt cutters. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so even if you get some giant/thick chain.... your lock better be beefy too or its worthless.

I've been thinking about custom making some lug nuts to prevent wheel theft. Maybe some sort of variant on torx or something. Wheel theft was common enough in my old nieghborhood. If you didn't have some wheel locks if was possible you would wake up without a drives side tire.

 

[67Thunder]

What about those things that you always seen on cars that are getting impounded/taken away? It looks like a clamp that goes around the wheel and is like a locking wedge? I would think hidden kill switches/car alarm/chain it down/ect. are all decent ideas, and doing more then one would be smart. The more time it takes a theif to work on it, the better chance you have that someone will report it.

Yes that is what they have at the auto parts store.

I don't think that you are going to stop someone if they want to break into your garage and steal your car.

What I want to do is slow them down, so if they have to make a lot of noise, wake up the neighbours, or better yet the dog(s) Then maybe they will choose something easier

 

[bnickel]

if a thief wants a xcar badly enough they'll get it no matter what you do to protect it, the trick is to make it so difficult that they won't want to bother with it. the wheel chock/lock thing is a good option as is chaining the car down both of them together would make it very unlikely a thief would want to mess with it. also a Club and a brake pedal lock would be good as would one of the locking buttons for the auto shifter and as many kill switches or other theft detterent devices as you think is appropriate. like i said the harder it is for them to steal the less likely they'll even mess with it, or more to the point actually, the longer it takes for them to get through the anti-theft devices the less likely they'll be to try and nab it.

generally speaking if a thief has to spend more than 2 or minutes to steal the car they won't risk it and will go on to something else.

i kind of like the alaram systems with the perimiter sensing that will talk to someone if they get too close to the car.

 

[mustangman1974]

II remember in high school messing with those cars with perimeter sensors and keep setting them off to piss off the driver when they come back to a dead battery car. I just got Grants no wheel no steel. I currently have a viper(with start disable), hood lock, and hidden ignition kill switch. I did have wheel locks but some punk tried to steal my rims and beat a deep socket on the lug. I found out the next day when I was planning on doing brakes. What a b#$ch to get off.

Been thinking of getting lojack installed. I have a friend in the RPD and he says they all get a kick out of catching them. Might be worth the 500 bucks.

 

[67Thunder]

Good suggestions. I think once the car is nearing finished (drivable) status, the lojack or similar system is a must.

The other thing that I was considering was a removable steering wheel collar. One of my wife's work acquaintances drives a Honda Civic (apparently one of the easiest to steal / most stolen cars) It looks a little stupid seeing him walk around with his steering wheel, but maybe it could be locked in the trunk or something.

 

[krash kendall]

Is anybody using one of these?

http://home.teleport.com/~cosa/vap/TLock.htm

 

[bnickel]

Is anybody using one of these?

http://home.teleport.com/~cosa/vap/TLock.htm

that's the shifter handle lock i was talking about. i know there are a bunch of people on the vmf that have those and love them.

 

[bnickel]

Good suggestions. I think once the car is nearing finished (drivable) status, the lojack or similar system is a must.

The other thing that I was considering was a removable steering wheel collar. One of my wife's work acquaintances drives a Honda Civic (apparently one of the easiest to steal / most stolen cars) It looks a little stupid seeing him walk around with his steering wheel, but maybe it could be locked in the trunk or something.

talk about easy to steal, if there isn't any kind of anti theft device i could nab any 65-69 stang or earlier ford of any model in about 30 seconds, maybe less even. the 70-73 stangs will take a little bit longer becuase of the locking steering column but a really big pair of channel locks would take care of that. i only know this from owning these cars for so long and having to figure out all the "creative" ways to start the car or even just get into it in the event that i lose my keys, the ignition switch fails or the column lock has given me problems.

 

[ron67fb]

I have the Grant removable steering wheel kit which came with an '86 that I bought. You unlock it with a key then lock in a steel cover cap. The wheel and cap fit into a set of interlocking notches that's unique to your set, like a key. It's not something you could just bolt another wheel onto. The wheel can even be left in the car since only the person with the key can put it back on. Mine hangs in the living room with my coats.

It adds about 2" to the column but you can get around that if you shop for the right wheel. I like the wheel closer to me anyway.