Anti-Theft Ideas and How To?

[Subzero]

Since my truck has had lots of time and money put into it now I would really like to make it harder to steal. I don't have a garage to put it in and it sits on the side of the street. Theft has happened in my neighborhood before and I'd hate for the truck to be stolen after working so hard to make it nice. I want to install a hidden switch under the dash that will stop starting the engine unless the switch is "on". That way if I go to the store for 5 min I can leave it "on" and not have to worry about messing with the switch but if I let the truck sit for a few days I could put it "off" for better security. I've heard it done before but I'm not sure what to hook it to or how to wire it up. Any ideas or something you've done similar? Thanks

[duaneo]

Subzero,

I have thought about this a lot, and have come up with two approaches, the second being a little more involved than the first, but having some extra benefits. Here is the key question. Is your truck a daily driver, or does it get stored for days/weeks/months at a time?

If it's a daily driver, I would recommend interrupting the ignition wire with a hidden switch, ideally one that wouldn't get bumped of flipped by a curious passenger during the course of driving.

If it's a car that gets stored, (as mine is) I would recommend a marine style battery interrupt solenoid. Unlike your starter solenoid, it doesn't draw any juice while connected or disconnected, it just draws juice while switching. I have an extra couple of sets of battery cables wired to a project box behind the passenger grill by the headlight. I've got a momentary switch under the dash that I can use to completely connect or disconnect the battery.I have run and wrapped the battery wiring so that it's not obvious that this has been done. Unless you're looking closely, the wiring looks normal. The benefit here is that with the battery completely disconnected, nothing is going to drain the battery while the truck sits waiting for action.

I also picked up a cheap kit for toggling the battery with a wireless remote. The kit was about $11. I haven't tried it yet, but installation looks pretty straightforward.

here is the project box: free shipping from China, so SLOW delivery:
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J ... UTF8&psc=1

Here is the solenoid:
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B008 ... UTF8&psc=1

Here is the wireless module that would work with the solenoid (momentary, not on-off) again, on a slow boat from china:
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E ... UTF8&psc=1

Here is a similar on-off wireless switch that you could use instead of a hidden ignition interrupt switch:
http://smile.amazon.com/RM01-Channel-Wi ... 1GBEHJ8FKM

If you're also considering physically keeping someone from turning your steering wheel, take a look at the disklok product out of the UK. I think it addresses all of the weaknesses that any version of the club has. Getting one large enough four our steering wheels with left hand drive is a little spendy, but I am 99% confident that nobody is going to drive my truck away.

Cheers,
Duane

[Subzero]

Thanks for the help, my truck is a daily driver right now. But next year it might be stored, and driven less so the terminal switch might come in handy then. Or install both just to have them. I've seen the diskloc before but haven't seen it's price. I was going to get a Club too and leave it in the truck as my work is not in the nicest part of town and I've had issues of teenagers ststealing things off my F250 while at work.

[BobbyFord]

FWIW, a lot of the time thieves steal these old trucks from under the hood, using a wire with an inline ballast resistor, run between the battery and the hot side of the coil, they then jump the solenoid. This method takes about 20 seconds and bypasses toggle switches.
A hidden fuel shutoff makes more sense. A stock mechanical dual tank switch can be used. The thief isn't likely to stick around to try to "fix" a stalled stolen vehicle. Your truck would be a float bowl's distance away.
Lately around here they've been using a flatbed tow truck to steal high-end muscle cars.

[Subzero]

You've got a good point with the under hood idea. My main goal is trying to prevent some person from stealing it while I'm at work or at home when it's on the street. Fuel switch is a good idea. Do they sell them on EBay or anywhere else? My truck only came with a single in cab tank from the factory so it would need to be added in-line.
On another note a switch interupping the ignition would be a cheap and easy extra "roadblock" ( and keep people from borrowing it without asking, at least until they find out about the switch hehe). What wire is the ignition one I need to use? I'm also buying a locking gas cap as others have told me it might be a good idea in case someone wants to dump something bad in the tank to ruin it.

[duaneo]

To address BobbyFord's concerns:

I have a cable lock to keep the hood closed, though I don't quite have it's placement perfected.

If the cutout (solenoid style) is enabled, they could power the coil directly from the battery, but shorting the starter solenoid would get them nothing because the battery cable is interrupted between the battery and the starter solenoid. Granted at that point they would likely get curious enough to look closely at the cable setup and see that that red cable doesn't exactly run directly from the positive to the solenoid. Any thief that is THAT persistent is going to take my vehicle regardless. I'm counting on it being enough of a pain in the ass that they'll give up and move on.

I also have the disklok on the steering wheel, which I'm pretty confident will keep it from being drivable.

Besides parking in a locked space, there's very little you can do to protect against the flatbed truck.

At this point (as I'm sure it is with most of us) it's not a question of money invested in the truck, it's the time & emotional investment that I want to protect.

Cheers,
Duane

[duaneo]

Ok, I got a decent location for locking the cable lock. I might revise later, but this is good enough. Locked the hood only opens about 10"

here is my hood lock setup:







here is the lock:

http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty ... 66364.html

Cheers,
Duane

[69Ford]

Has anyone heard of doing this. If you have an Auto Transmission truck the wiring is there for a manual. Ford just put in a Jumper wire for the manual transmission neutral safety switch. located on the wire harness right under the master cylinder easy to spot. Remove the jumper and add a switch. Truck won't start thinks its in gear. I tried this on my truck did not work but I bypassed the resistor wire and ran power to the coil off the battery using a relay so that may have something to do with it. If someone tries please reply I'm curious. Here's a pic of the jumper I pulled it out for the pic its just tucked behind the harness.

[duaneo]

That right there is an interesting idea. I kind of wondered what that jumper was for.

Cheers,
Duane

[habu]

can't you just remove the coil wire and put in your wife's purse, no my wife has do idea what I have planned...... or your back pocket ?