Need advice for truck anti-theft device

[jaxs]

For me going to Home Depot with my service van was an open invite to thieves... even in first parking space right at the entrance.

It got to the point I simply could not go to Home Depot unless I had someone stay with the truck.

Liability lawyers have made it hard for Home Depot to control merchandise theft but they came through for my neighbor's employee when he shot a thief in their parking lot. Neighbor stopped at Home Depot and his crew stopped their van farther out in lot to wait. Thieves pulled up and proceeded to remove his gooseneck tailgate. The support cable hung and slowed them long enough for one of his employess to run to truck yelling. Thief's get a way driver sped away, thief hit the guy with tailgate and guy shot him. Depot mgr advised guy to wait for their lawyer at police dept before making any statements. Lawyer sat with guy while he made a statement then posted bail. Grand jury no billed him but without security tape and statements from Depot's lose prevention to district attorney it might have went to trial.

 

[IndyJay]

Reminds me of an incident that happened many years ago when an old drinking buddy of mine worked as a bouncer at a roadside tavern. His truck was constantly being burglarized while he was on the job. He tried various alarm systems but, as you noted, they were mostly ignored in the crowded tavern parking lot.

Out of frustration, he wired two oil burner transformers to the truck body so a would be thief would get a 5000 volt shock when they entered the cab. It worked very well for a few months until one night, he found a dead body lying next to his truck after he got off work. It was an older, well known thief who had several B&E convictions. He had a heart condition and the shock killed him when he tried to break into the truck.

To make a long story short, my buddy got in serious legal trouble for booby trapping his truck. What really gets me though is, the thief's family hit him with a wrongful death suit! He was in court for a couple of years and I lost touch with him so I don't know how it all ended.

I guess this is why you don't see high voltage alarm systems on the market.

Where he screwed up was telling anyone he rigged it. It is unlikely they would have determined anything other than a tragic heart attack. Somebody must have "mentioned" it or joked about it, maybe even bragged about it.

 

[ultrarunner]

Don't even know what an oil burner transformer is or how one would power/keep operational and how you would electrify the surface of the truck

One of dad's friends took a 12 volt fence charger and tried to make a deterrent but without a ground and on dry blacktop it did nothing... plus with today's electronics it would probably fry the electrical system...

 

[Oaktree]

Sounds like you live in the pro-criminal state of Kalifornia ..

Maybe so, but the OP of this thread lives in Texas.

 

[gsganzer]

Maybe so, but the OP of this thread lives in Texas.

It's getting bad everywhere. The Houston area is the worst, especially for vehicle smash and grabs and vehicle theft. But I've even noticed that here in Denton (North Texas) that I'm seeing more of the parking lot sentries, those towable crank up towers with the cameras and flashing blue lights.. Which is telling me that they must be starting to see an uptick here.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Any chance those towable crank up towers are repo vehicles ? A lot of repo has started to happen in North America. Times are getting tough for those that haven,t been able to manage finances over the years, and credit cards are all maxxed out.

 

[lilranch2001]

I dunno..I heard bidonomics is really working well for most of America!

 

[ultrarunner]

It's getting bad everywhere. The Houston area is the worst, especially for vehicle smash and grabs and vehicle theft. But I've even noticed that here in Denton (North Texas) that I'm seeing more of the parking lot sentries, those towable crank up towers with the cameras and flashing blue lights.. Which is telling me that they must be starting to see an uptick here.

Popular here but not sure what they accomplish other than feel good since property crime gets a pass by Law Enforcement and District Attorney?

Security can't do much either regarding property crime.

Walk into any store and higher end items such as a small spool of electric wire or laundry detergent is now locked in a cage...

Wonderful commentary on the state of things.

 

[lilranch2001]

Popular here but not sure what they accomplish other than feel good since property crime gets a pass by Law Enforcement and District Attorney?

Security can't do much either regarding property crime.

Walk into any store and higher end items such as a small spool of electric wire or laundry detergent is now locked in a cage...

Wonderful commentary on the state of things.

I’m glad in these parts of Indiana the cops still respond to a crime report!

 

[gsganzer]

I have a Ravelco installer coming out tomorrow to put one on. I might also double down and add a hidden GPS tracker.

I came across this GPS that has a battery backup and no monthly fee. It costs $119 for the first 2 years and then just $25/yr thereafter. It has 2 install options, one is a plug in to the OBDII port, which just seems too obvious and the first thing an experienced person would look for. The second option gets hardwired somewhere.

GPS Tracker

With the places I park, I've had a number of instances where my Ford App tells me my alarm is going off, especially in the hotel parking lots at night. I can't stand the thought of the hassles involved if I ever had my vehicle stolen.

Question: What's everyone's thought on having the decals installed that says these systems are installed?

 

[gsganzer]

I had the Ravelco plug installed today. The installer came to my house and it took him about 1.5 hours. He installed it just to the left of the steering column. I didn't hover over the guy, but I watched him to enough to feel like it's a competent and professional installation. Quality electrical connections etc.

For those not familiar with the Ravelco system. They install a multipin female receptacle in your vehicle. You have a corresponding male plug that clips to your key chain. It's just a fancy kill switch that prevents the vehicle from starting. All the other features of the vehicle work if the plug is removed (except for remote start, obviously).
You remove the male plug whenever you want that added level of security.

Cost was $650 installed. They install them on all sorts of vehicles and equipment.

 

[zzvyb6]

Get an On-Star subscription. They can tell the vehicle is in storage and the door just opened. They can tell that it's moving, they can shut off the engine, and they call the police with the position of it. They can even hear what's going on inside. We used it in GM test vehicle parking lots to locate a vehicle anywhere on the grounds.

My Tahoe was stolen a few years ago and the theft ring from Flint took it and crashed into the back of a gravel truck. The truck was auctioned off by a company to a company which buys trucks for use overseas. So, it's been traced to it's current location in Vinnytsia, Ukraine as an ammunition carrier and ambulance. I believe I've seen it in a YouTube video, because I saw a dent in the tailgate that I put in it while backing up a trailer with a windmill tower stub on it.

 

[CADplans]

All the newer vehicles have a single fuse that powers the "ignition"
That fuse is typically low amps, like 10 amps.. It is easy to add a switch

This add a fuse will allow you to connect a remote switch,,

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083R5B35Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

flip the switch, nothing works,, the vehicle acts like it is dead.

I ordered those add-a-fuse things for another application, but, since they sent several, I was thinking about making a remote disable out of the extras.

Under $15 for everything that you need,, cheaper than a months worth of dog food!! LOL!!

 

[gsganzer]

Get an On-Star subscription. They can tell the vehicle is in storage and the door just opened. They can tell that it's moving, they can shut off the engine, and they call the police with the position of it. They can even hear what's going on inside. We used it in GM test vehicle parking lots to locate a vehicle anywhere on the grounds.

My Tahoe was stolen a few years ago and the theft ring from Flint took it and crashed into the back of a gravel truck. The truck was auctioned off by a company to a company which buys trucks for use overseas. So, it's been traced to it's current location in Vinnytsia, Ukraine as an ammunition carrier and ambulance. I believe I've seen it in a YouTube video, because I saw a dent in the tailgate that I put in it while backing up a trailer with a windmill tower stub on it.

I think the Ford system on my truck is similar to the GM On-star. I have an App on my phone that will tell me where the truck is parked, how many miles until empty, oil status etc. I can start/stop the truck from my phone and I'll get an alert if the alarm goes off. I can set up a service appointments, see past service etc.

The problem ,I think, is all of that is dependent on the truck battery and YouTube videos show you how to defeat/disable it in 30 seconds. The guy that was installing the Ravelco said there's even some gizmo's you can buy that will scan for a GPS device/signal and there are other devices that create a jamming "bubble" around a stolen vehicle. He might be full of BS, because he's trying to be the cheerleader for the Ravelco system.

However, the aftermarket GPS system I found for $119 for 2 years and $20/year thereafter is powered from the vehicle battery and then will alarm when it loses power and goes to its own backup battery (which last a couple days). Seems like a pretty good system if you keep it hidden well and seems to be cheap enough.

I have a call with my insurance Monday to see if they offer discounts for the Ravelco immobilizer and/or an aftermarket GPS.

 

[BravoXray]

Years ago I had a truck driver friend that would let the air out of a couple of tires on his truck if he was going to be gone for a week or two. He figured most thieves are too lazy or in too much of a hurry to bother with airing up or changing tires.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Years ago I had a truck driver friend that would let the air out of a couple of tires on his truck if he was going to be gone for a week or two. He figured most thieves are too lazy or in too much of a hurry to bother with airing up or changing tires.

Great idea unless the thief breaks into the truck and steals the compressor or air tank used to refill the tires.

 

[MTGreen]

Great idea unless the thief breaks into the truck and steals the compressor or air tank used to refill the tires.

Yes but the time needed to air up the tires is a big deterrent so they will target the next one down the street instead

 

[bdhsfz6]

Yes but the time needed to air up the tires is a big deterrent so they will target the next one down the street instead

My point was, how is the owner going to refill the tires if the thief breaks into the truck and steals his air tank or compressor.

 

[lilranch2001]

My point was, how is the owner going to refill the tires if the thief breaks into the truck and steals his air tank or compressor.

Who is the say even it’s using an onboard air compressor? Maybe it’s parked next to a building that’s got a compressor?!?!?

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

A much older friend many years ago said "the only thing you can buy for security is time".