The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Vehicle security

I'm still waiting delivery of my not quite daily driver '51 GMC, but in the meantime I have too much idle time to think and worry. I'm worried that the simple key and door lock is not adequate for this day and age. Most modern vehicles have locks, and chips, and security systems, and steering wheel locks, and ..... If one leaves one's pride and joy out of sight, is it foolish to assume that it is safe?

Nope nothing is safe these days, but who would steal it? It's an older truck, looking good, but not really fast, probably a standard which is not the choice of the average person to begin with. Starter on the floor? That is another difficulty for the average thief. Now when you put that little switch on off under your seat that connects the ignition to the battery you make it too difficult for the average one. The guy who really wants to steal it won’t be stopped by anything, but the rest will give up and find another one. Of course they do have those small motorbike alarms that will respond to movement and can be hidden anywhere (inside the door on the left side?), running with a remote control nobody will ever assume that an oldie like yours will have one. But the best way to go; get a high insurance, a locked garage and a guard dog on duty 24/7, but this is supposed to be fun hey. While working on it you could put your postal code on everything that you take out before you put it back, then you can prove it was/is your truck part. All my steel parts have RR stamped on it to prevent a mix-up with the other 152 made that year

That's true. Most vehicles stolen today are Neons and Hondas, taken by teenagers for joy rides. I could hope that the foot starter, 4 speed, and slow speed would deter them. Moving or hiding a switch or two could further confuse this category of fiend. Hopefully, old farts like our crowd have more honor. Alarms don't seem to accomplish much in the city...they are so commonplace that they just get ignored.
...Neil

Hi Neil,

I have found that most people respect old trucks (generally old vehicles), for the most part. When my truck was assembled, I never left it anywhere over night. It was left in parking lots for only a few hours at max (I know, plenty of time to steal). Once, home it was in the shop.
Foot starter even gets young(er) mechanics.
Anyways, good luck.
Any pictures?

I have a couple of poor pictures, but when the old girl finally gets delivered, I'll post one or two better ones and add a couple of words.
Around home, I can lock the truck in the garage. I am just concerned about driving to a store or restaurant and losing sight of it for a couple of hours.
...Neil

dude dont worry the more eletical cr** you put in the more likey you lose a window just keep it simple plus arent the most stolen cars high end full power pieces of sh** my .02 keep it simple

I have an interesting anti-theft device. My truck is in back of my house outside all the time. Just to prevent 'unauthorized use', I drilled the park brake for a master lock trailer hasp lock. Put it in, and lock, and the drum brake on the tranny is locked solid.

Perhaps a 'club' would work for you. Just enough hassle that no one would bother. I had a guy in my office who had a 15 year old clapped out honda who used one. I one day asked him 'why bother?' That gave him pause for thought.

my truck is too ugly to steal

but i'd rather have it looking good enough to steal..

add a kill switch for the ignition..

There's alarms that don't make a sound,but they page you when your ride is tampered with. This gives you a chance to not only prevent your rig from being stolen,but to catch the thief in the act,thus stopping others from having THEIR vehicles stolen by that thief as well. One less car thief on the streets. You then have the option of handing the car thief over to the authorities or feeding him to the fishes or worms...
Speed

on my truck i originaly set it up with a hidden switch that in one position would allow the truck to start normally, in the other position would disable the starter solenoid and sound the horn when the key was turned.

after finding myself forgetting to switch a few times and leaving my truck unprotected i updated to a simple hidden push button switch and relay that now sounds the horn when the key is turned unless the button is being pushed at the same time.

now i only have to remember to do something when starting the truck

My truck looks kinda rusty, but will drive any where.
I almost always leave the key in the ignition, I figure how far are they gona go at 50 MPH, if they can even get it started.
It is so easy to hot wire, I bet I could do it in 10 seconds with my eyes closed, might as well not have a locking ignition switch to start with.

When I get my new 48 diesel done I will probably do something to make it difficult to start. Or more likely difficult to make it run, they can try the starter button on the floor all they they want. With my air starter I will only have about 8 seconds of cranking time, then it is out of air. So by the time they realize that they need to do something to make it run they will be out of air to make it start...

I wouldn't worry too much. A thief that really wants it will probably get it no matter what you do. Keeping it out of sight when not in use is probably a good idea and as noted above, a hidden switch between the battery & switch will add a level of security if it's really a concern.

I have a disconnect switch mounted on my battery which is still under the floor in the stock area. I think between the floor starter and the switch most people would give up before too long.

There's a certain amount of truth to Tiny's comment....if someone really wants to steal it, they will! I think I'll go with the general feeling...the floor starter button will confuse a bunch, and then either a battery or ignition kill switch should just make stealing it too much bother.
Thanks.....Neil

Chances are the only person wh'd steal a 'bolt belongs to this site, and he'd eventually screw up and post a picture of it here, so you'd get it back anyway.

here ya go........this is what I use

might work for you

Just unscrew the foot starter from the floor. Without that you would have a tough time starting it yourself.

How in the heck did you ever get the name, "Joker"???

3 years ago, I caught a guy trying to break into my truck. My Subaru was in the shop so I was using the truck for work. It was in the pioneer square area of downtown Seattle at 9am on a Monday morning. The guy had a full pick set and was working on the door when I caught him. He had busted off a one of his keys inside the door lock and was having a hard time getting in. I knocked him around a little and took his pick set. I had a job to finish, so I couldn't wait for the cops. They came to my house later and took a report(and the keys and picks I took from him). From now on, I always take my coil wire in addition to locking the truck. I've been meaning to get a battery cut-off switch and a brake pedal lock as well. Just for the times I'm in those kind of neigborhoods.

if it is a 3 speed on the column, no theif around can figger out how to drive it,,don't worry,,brian

I don't think a switch on the ignition wire is any good. Who is going to mess with the real ignition switch to start off? there is no steering wheel lock so why bother?

A theif simply runs a hot wire from the terminal on the starter to the coil, pushes the foot starter and he is off.

If you are to foil that plan the hood must be locked, then a hidden ignition switch could be usefull.

Or a hidden battery disconect switch that is hard to bypass and needs a key to operate.
To get around that would take a set of jumper cables to steal. Or a battery pack with the jumper cable ends to run the truck on long enough to steal it.

What a pair of....of....of....guns.

There are lots of different tricks people do to protect their hotrods in ways most people wouldn't think of.

For example, a 12v constant voltage solenoid between the battery and starter terminal. If the solenoid is wired to a relay that is hooked up to a switch, or the brake pedal, or the headlight switch, or an alarm... unless the switch (whatever it is) is flicked, no juice to the battery and tough to hotwire the car since it'll take too long for the average theif to figure out the solenoid.

And there are variations on that theme- how about a relay in the coil wire? If the switch isn't thrown the car will turn over all day but never start for lack of juice to the plugs.

Or, what about the same set up on the power line to the electric fuel pump?

There used to be a company that made special padlocks for the gear shift lever. You put the shifter in reverse, put the u-bolt portion of the lock around the shifter and then locked it. Even if someone could start your car, they wouldn't get it far.

The other day I saw a topless jeep with a removable steering wheel- The guy got out of the car, locked the steering wheel to the roll bar and walked away. How's a theif gonna drive it without the steering wheel?

When I drive my '75 to the train station, I leave it unlocked.

There's nothing in the truck worth more than the window glass!

I agree with the above. If someone REALLY wants your truck, they'll take it. No joyrider, though, is going to get ANY kind of thrill from a floor starter and a 3 on the tree, though!

B

Wire the coil through a contact switch, like an extra light or wiper switch in place of the cigarette lighter. The switch has to be pulled to start the truck. I don't smoke, so it works for me.

I just hooked up a relay to my new hei coil. From now I will simply unplug one of the wires that can't be seen. Along with the mising coil to distributor wire that'll keep em confused enough to give up. Unless they have a tow vehicle.

guess I should serious for a min... I have disconnect switch, dummy coil wire( vaccum hose with nipples on each end) and depending on how big of a hurry I am I also unscrew the starter bolt..

I also leave unlocked at times.. my old international was broken into yrs ago at one of those rental places.......they made a big mess and took nothing.. wasnti anything to take.. so I wonder if isnt just as good not to worry about it and leave it unlock.. anything of value take out .because if they want they can make a big mess out of it.. this thought would only be if you have it insured.........

Dummy coil wire...I love it! Anybody stealing an old beast would assume that you likely have to hold your tongue just right for it to start, not thinking that it was incapable of starting. That's better than interrupting the battery...any thief worth his salt would narrow that down pretty soon. You could even pour a cup of oil on the ground under the engine to add credence to it being an old beast that likely won't run too well. Ooops! The environmentalists would string me up for that one.

I used that deal a lot on 66 mustang convert I use to have,, have one or two pix of it on my website..

google up PHOTOBUCKET http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/ and do a search for my site using >>>> 1951otter you will see an engine hood lock

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001624#000003

there is lots about this subject
do a search

Maybe a big drooling growling dog would be helpful.