Enthusiast II
The rig I spent two years building was just stolen! Heartbroken
- Thread starter Mr.RoadWarrior
- Start date
AggieOE
Rank IV
Advocate II
Sorry to hear that but at least no one got hurt. Materials can luckily be replaced.
If you mean it was stolen from "Just Play Sports" near i10 and 8, then I am not surprised. I know of many friend's trucks that have been broken into in that area.
Happy shopping though!
Other than:
1. It will be my daily driver
2. It will go to the desert, beach, Ozarks, and long-haul travel
3. Must fit three people for at least a long weekend
4. No rock crawling or long travel needed
5. Considering new and used, as well as pre-built
What else are your parameters? Budget, SUV v Truck, Tow Capacity, Specific Technologies, desire to immediately modify or want to keep stock until tires wear out?
If you mean it was stolen from "Just Play Sports" near i10 and 8, then I am not surprised. I know of many friend's trucks that have been broken into in that area.
Happy shopping though!
Other than:
1. It will be my daily driver
2. It will go to the desert, beach, Ozarks, and long-haul travel
3. Must fit three people for at least a long weekend
4. No rock crawling or long travel needed
5. Considering new and used, as well as pre-built
What else are your parameters? Budget, SUV v Truck, Tow Capacity, Specific Technologies, desire to immediately modify or want to keep stock until tires wear out?
R.I.P. Sorry for your loss... you work half a lifetime to get some thing and some clown takes it away (or just destroys it) in a few minutes.
How long does it take to disconnect the battery? Keep a shorty ratchet and socket on hand, take the extra 30 seconds to disconnect the battery before you leave your vehicle. Take the ratchet with you, it shouldn't be hard to hide it in a pocket (or purse, if you're of the female variety).
Sure, it might be inconvenient to reset the clock afterward, but the extra 10 seconds it takes to do that should be more than worth it to save you the cost of a new vehicle. And the clock can wait until you're out of the sketchy places. Your phone has a clock.
Rigging a kill switch is also easy, but that can void warranties, ye be warned.
If you don't want to pull the battery every single time or rig a kill switch, you can just pull your starter relay or your fuel pump fuse or some other such. Of course, a truly dedicated baddie could still work around any of these things, but it would make his job harder.
How long does it take to disconnect the battery? Keep a shorty ratchet and socket on hand, take the extra 30 seconds to disconnect the battery before you leave your vehicle. Take the ratchet with you, it shouldn't be hard to hide it in a pocket (or purse, if you're of the female variety).
Sure, it might be inconvenient to reset the clock afterward, but the extra 10 seconds it takes to do that should be more than worth it to save you the cost of a new vehicle. And the clock can wait until you're out of the sketchy places. Your phone has a clock.
Rigging a kill switch is also easy, but that can void warranties, ye be warned.
If you don't want to pull the battery every single time or rig a kill switch, you can just pull your starter relay or your fuel pump fuse or some other such. Of course, a truly dedicated baddie could still work around any of these things, but it would make his job harder.
If the OP's avatar is the truck in question, there would be more - much, much more - involved than just resetting the clock every time he disconnected the battery before going to sleep at night or walked into the office for work every day. Presuming, of course, that he's not in the trades and doesn't need his truck for work.
Reset clock, reset presets, computer starts from scratch relearning, lose mpg calculations, no remote start, no auto unlock...
At some point, opening and closing the hood everywhere you went, connecting and disconnecting the battery, someone is going to see that and just do what they saw you do. By the way, the door lock is electric and the hood release is inside the truck so you either have to leave your truck completely unlocked all night or use your key manually. Could do that but it kinda sucks for remote start on those cold snowy mornings.
Fuses and relays, similar.
It's mostly dedicated baddies getting these trucks now as it is. Better off just adding "The Club" as another layer of security and hoping they dont just flatbed tow it off to some impromptu chop shop.
These days, most of the youngest two generations that are able to drive are unable to drive standard shift/manual. You could get a manual shift, write instructions how to drive it in cursive handwriting, place those instructions on the dash, and STILL not have to worry your car getting stolen by most 20- somethings. Cursive handwriting is like secret code or encryption to some of these kids, and they see driving manual as akin to churning butter or crank starting a car.
@ThundahBeagle Good points, but again, the system resets seem like it might be worth the inconvenience to prevent grand theft auto. The OP's truck undoubtedly cost more than all of my vehicles together.
Yes, people can watch, but it's not likely they would see exactly what you did with such small components as fuses and relays. You can keep the fuse(s)/relay(s) with you, and simply plug them back in before you leave.
I forgot that some people don't use their keys to unlock the doors. Nevertheless, the kill switch is always an option, but as you also mentioned, nobody can really stop a rollback. But we're talking about really sophisticated thieves, in any of these cases. A sufficiently dedicated thief will steal whatever he wants.
Yes, people can watch, but it's not likely they would see exactly what you did with such small components as fuses and relays. You can keep the fuse(s)/relay(s) with you, and simply plug them back in before you leave.
I forgot that some people don't use their keys to unlock the doors. Nevertheless, the kill switch is always an option, but as you also mentioned, nobody can really stop a rollback. But we're talking about really sophisticated thieves, in any of these cases. A sufficiently dedicated thief will steal whatever he wants.
I RECOMMEND A LAND CRUISER HJ61 IF YOU CAN FIND ONE. I HAD A 1988 AND LOVED IT. USED FOR BIG GAME HUBTOING IN THE ROCKIES SW OF CALGARY. MOST AWESOME UNIT.
Autism Family Travels
Rank IV
Enthusiast III
Sorry for your loss. I would flip the freak out! That being said, when I had my integra, I had an alarm system with pain inducers inside the vehicle. They are extremely loud sirens hidden in the vents that when set off they would make you shat your pants and everything. The warning on the package for testing was use foam ear plugs then defenders over them! ha ha. Might be an idea on your next rig if they are still available.
I would look at a large SUV, suburban, expedition etc for comfort! They are wonderful travel rigs.
I would look at a large SUV, suburban, expedition etc for comfort! They are wonderful travel rigs.
