Anti-Theft mounting of lights

[socal66]

I am in the process of fabricating some mounts for a pair of off-road lights on my Jeep bumper. The mounting plate itself will be pretty well secured on my winch plate or frame inside the bumper. The question is how to best secure the light bracket to that mount and then the lights to that bracket to deter theft. From what I have read some popular methods are to use security nuts such as those found here or to use Loctite on the mounting nuts and bolts. Are there any other methods in addition to these that are effective?

 

[Boostpowered]

You can use any of those methods. you can also foul the threads on the bolts after they are tightened down with hammer and Chisel or flat head screw driver. If your absolutely sure they are gonna last and that's where you want them you could tack weld the nut to bolt. I've never had to worry about theft but all these methods are pretty common for keeping a bolt from backing off a nut

 

[madcratebuilder]

Tamper proof nuts and bolts are going to slow down 99% of smash and grab ass holes. Tamper proof allen of torx bolts with the nuts you linked are GTG.

 

[MMc]

I use hex drive bolts and nylon nuts, far from total theft proof but has worked so far.

 

[Smileyshaun]

I use cheap lights nobody would want to steal

 

[LostWoods]

I am in the process of fabricating some mounts for a pair of off-road lights on my Jeep bumper. The mounting plate itself will be pretty well secured on my winch plate or frame inside the bumper. The question is how to best secure the light bracket to that mount and then the lights to that bracket to deter theft. From what I have read some popular methods are to use security nuts such as those found here or to use Loctite on the mounting nuts and bolts. Are there any other methods in addition to these that are effective?

As far as McMaster's fasteners go...

1. Tamper-resistant torx/hex (minimal security): Torx and hex are ubiquitous fasteners and since the security tools work on the standard fasteners, someone coming to steal only needs to carry the security set. Nearly every medium sized universal set includes these now so it's very likely even a low level thief will have them.
2. Spanner (medium security): The two dot style are more secure but more importantly, the McMaster ones have a larger bit than is included in most universal bit sets. I have five large sets from my wrenching days and all stopped short. The more unlikely a thief is to have the bit, the more likely you are to keep your lights.
3. Tri-Groove (medium security): Require a specific socket that is relatively universal but also uncommon. Like spanner, not something an average thief is going to have but YMMV since it's commonly sold from companies like Leitner as their secure fasteners.
4. Asymmetrical (medium-high security): On McMaster's security bolt/screw page, these require a bit only McMaster sells (at like $20 a pop) so extremely unlikely anyone will have it. Pretty much top-level security by obscurity here.
5. Sloped (square) nuts (medium-high security): Require another nut to install and remove. IMO the best solution for single-fastener mounted lights as they can be removed to adjust the light but with some blue loctite, they will be secure enough that most aren't going to have any means to grab them.
6. Break-away nuts (high security): Pair these with red loctite and you've got a solution that isn't coming off without power tools or a torch. Perfect for lights that have a central main bolt with a smaller bolt to lock down after adjustment.

I use a mix of 5 and 6 on my lights... everything gets flat-head, hex bolts with sloped washers (so there's nothing to grip). Pods get sloped nuts with blue loctite. My LP6 lights have 3 mounting screws on bottom so I use the breakaway nuts and red loctite with nylon washers (to allow for adjustment with a little force and no wear on the bracket) on the center bolt to secure the light and use the two "adjustment" bolts to actually hold it in place with standard hex + nyloc fasteners. The screws holding brackets to the lights are spanner with blue loctite.

Probably overkill but it wasn't too pricey from McMaster and since I only have one brand, all the threads are largely the same so I'm not buying 8 different fasteners. It's worth it to me to secure the investment.

 

[smritte]

I just throw a small tack weld on the nut. Put it in an area that's easy to access with your grinder. I do this on a few pieces of my gear. Some items its for theft and others to keep them from rattling loose.

 

[socal66]

Thanks for all the input. I will probably be going with some sort of nut solution to secure the light bracket to my mounting point. The lights themselves (LP4's) are mounted at a pair of horizontal pivot points to the bracket with bolts that screw into the light casing. I can't find any real good options I like for bolts so I am either going to have to go with a threaded rod paired with a security nut or just bolt it up and tack weld the bolt head it to the bracket.

 

[MidOH]

Weld a washer over the nut. Then bend it back covering the nut.

If I can lock any of my tools over the bolt, I'll just snap the welds, or snap the lights stud off completely.