Should we be worried or suspicious?

[Trevor]

Hmmm Autotaser £200 versus pair of rubber gloves at a fiver? Dragons Den would have a field day on this product

 

[Ben]

This is the reason I fitted a quick release steering wheel. Now if I'm not in the vehicle neither is the steering wheel.

Wont stop someone winching it onto a recovery truck, but should hopefully stop/discourage anyone else.

I've found it useful the last few weeks as I feel a bit happier leaving the truck running on the drive for 20mins every morning while it de-frosts, unattended.

 

[Euan McGilp]

Chris, excellent idea about bulldog post - also, if you have a gateway-type opening, Marius, then a firkin big chain locked across it can be a further deterrent.
IMHO, nothing will stop a really determined scrote, but the more obstacles (= hassle) & therefore layers they have to get through you can give them, the more likely you are to be left alone... (possibly credible someone cutting 1 lock off their own drive post - but 2 or 3 would cause delay / loads of noise and therefore suspicion amongst neighbours/possible witnesses.

These are fun too!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trip-Line..._ShootingSports_ET&hash=item460982d991&_uhb=1

until you forget it yourself - focuses the attention well!

 

[Euan McGilp]

Marius, there's also this: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bdf_1352583873&comments=1 but I wouldn't recommend it in our 'new society' where Judges reckon burglars can be "brave" - you'd be the one nicked for barbequeing the little SOB

 

[ModelMakerMan]

I do several things which probably wont stop someone taking my truck but will definitely slow them down, maybe enough to put them off......... or at least long enough for me to get there with the baseball bat! :

Park next to a wall with the wheels on full lock toward the wall and the steering lock on.
Put the transfer lever in neutral
Remove the fuse for the starter motor
Block of wood under the clutch pedal
Cover the windscreen (I do this for frost but its something else they have to do before they can drive away)
Set the stereo to come on full blast
Move the drivers seat either all the way back or all the way forward
Put stuff on the drivers seat

 

[Towpack]

Get yourself an IP CCTV camera, rig up to your PC and/or router and you can keep an eye on your property via your iphone or other inet enabled device from anywhere in the world where there's inet access. These cameras are quite affordable now. You'll probably need a static IP address with your broadband service though.

 

[Zeusv8]

Buy a dog ,preferably a big one ! let it sleep in the truck,job done!

 

[karl webster]

I dont think id be to bothered if i were you. Ive do similar myself. I would just make it alot harder for them to take it. May just be a blessing that those chaps have been to make you very aware that there is people out there who will take your truck.

 

[ram]

Marius def need to be safe than sorry
i was in the same situation 2 years ago when i had stored my 80 at my brothers place which was rented out.
I had the same thing, people leaving notes and cards and knocking on the tennats door at all the hours of the day asking if the truck was for sale and i think the only thing that saved my truck was a very heavy duty clamp i had on the front tyre(i cut the clamp off when the new security firm clamped me in my own space for being about 6" out side my space and where i had been parking for 25yrs, anyway that's how i came to have a clamp)
Any way you are more than welcome to borrow the clamp for as long as you want.

 

[Chris Green90]

Get yourself an IP CCTV camera, rig up to your PC and/or router and you can keep an eye on your property via your iphone or other inet enabled device from anywhere in the world where there's inet access. These cameras are quite affordable now. You'll probably need a static IP address with your broadband service though.

Everyone these days is wanting their DVR's/Camera's hooking up to the internet and whilst it is a very useful tool at times (checking up on employees being the main) For pretty much everything else it is totally useless/pointless. Say you "Check in" on you camera for 15 mins a day whilst away you only have a 1:96 chance of actually catching something. IMHO the last thing I want to be doing whilst I am on holiday is spend all day looking at my house. Infact I tell my next door neighbours not to even tell me if the place burned down. "I am on holiday and there is sod all I can do about it."

Plus for reasonable money £100 the sort of picture you will be looking at is something like this

And more like this if it is an enclosed space like a driveway due to glare from the IR. (Can't find any pics at the moment)

You may be thinking that the picture isn't that bad but I garuntee you that in the dark all you will see is what they are doing and you will have no chance of seeing who it is.

However the camera being there does act as a deterrant. You look at 2 houses next to each other. 1 with a camera, 1 without. Which are you gonna go for. Therefore in most cases a decent dummy camera is just as effective.

Remember these people are going to steal something from somewhere and the main thing you want to achieve is it being someone elses. The best you can hope to do is to make yourself not look like an easy target.

IMHO I don't want these people to steal my stuff, get away. only to track it down in bits at a breakers or set on fire. What I want is to have and keep my stuff, safe and in the condition it was left. To this end I would be looking into options that stop them coming onto your property at all rather than equipment that "might" catch the thieves after they've taken it.

I must admit that I am lucky in the sense that my LC is parked up behind the wifes MX5 in an alarmed garage with a door you can only open with a forklift (Unless you have the key) all monitored by a CCTV system worth in excess of about £20k (I love demonstrator models). (Quotes available on request(Sorry if this breaks the rules))

Hope all of that make at least a little sense.

 

[Graham]

Could you perhaps take the battery out?
or take the front wheels off?

gra

 

[frank rabbets]

Hi
I don't think anyone would put a sticker on if they were after your truck. When anything is stollen the first you know of it when you realise it's gone.
A good idea is to splice the wire down to the starter motor and put a keyed master switch in whether or not you suspect anything might happen.
Might be an idea to call this chap just to make sure he knows you are about the place!! I've seen signs in some windows of a revolver pointing at you with a face behind it captioned "I don't call 911".
Frank

 

[Marius De Kock]

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas from you all. I like the “I don’t call 911” and the big dog ideas but will probably go for the wheel clamps, security posts and cut-off switch for now.

 

[Crushers]

ummm, you do have insurance right?
make sure you have adaquate insurance to cover the actual value of the vehicle and let the buggers lift it.

 

[Towpack]

Everyone these days is wanting their DVR's/Camera's hooking up to the internet and whilst it is a very useful tool at times (checking up on employees being the main) For pretty much everything else it is totally useless/pointless. Say you "Check in" on you camera for 15 mins a day whilst away you only have a 1:96 chance of actually catching something. IMHO the last thing I want to be doing whilst I am on holiday is spend all day looking at my house. Infact I tell my next door neighbours not to even tell me if the place burned down. "I am on holiday and there is sod all I can do about it."

Plus for reasonable money £100 the sort of picture you will be looking at is something like this

And more like this if it is an enclosed space like a driveway due to glare from the IR. (Can't find any pics at the moment)

You may be thinking that the picture isn't that bad but I garuntee you that in the dark all you will see is what they are doing and you will have no chance of seeing who it is.

However the camera being there does act as a deterrant. You look at 2 houses next to each other. 1 with a camera, 1 without. Which are you gonna go for. Therefore in most cases a decent dummy camera is just as effective.

Remember these people are going to steal something from somewhere and the main thing you want to achieve is it being someone elses. The best you can hope to do is to make yourself not look like an easy target.

IMHO I don't want these people to steal my stuff, get away. only to track it down in bits at a breakers or set on fire. What I want is to have and keep my stuff, safe and in the condition it was left. To this end I would be looking into options that stop them coming onto your property at all rather than equipment that "might" catch the thieves after they've taken it.

I must admit that I am lucky in the sense that my LC is parked up behind the wifes MX5 in an alarmed garage with a door you can only open with a forklift (Unless you have the key) all monitored by a CCTV system worth in excess of about £20k (I love demonstrator models). (Quotes available on request(Sorry if this breaks the rules))

Hope all of that make at least a little sense.

Hmmmmm... I think we have different ideas of 'reasonable' money. £100 buys you a webcam. I was thinking more along the lines of a security camera/system with HD quality and the ability to warn you when it's activated, for which you'll have to stick another '0' on the price!

 

[sae70]

I've got to say that the factory alarm on mine is the most insainly loud item I've ever heard and has had me quickly on my heals to turn it off the two or three times I've had a false alarm, day or night! Not because I'm concerned about it being nicked, but due to the worry of it offending any of the neighbours because of how loud it is!!! It also has some kind of acoustic glass break sensor that listens for the sound of breaking glass, but will also activate the alarm when the CB twig slaps the roof after being casually pulled back released by any of the kids!!! I mention all of this as there's a lot to said for a descent alarm as a deterrent. Despite my very very loud and sensitive alarm, I still always park her up with all the diffs locked in gear, hand brake fully on and the steering locked either fully left or right hand down. The other thing I do is remove any other objects of desire from plain sight including the iPad RAM mount and the CB mic. On my previouse truck I used a steering wheel lock that gave me a good level of peace of mind combined with the alarm. It was one called a DiscLock that completely covered the entire steering wheel. I did a lot of research on steering locks before I made this purchase and the DiscLock was the one that came out on top as being the hardest to remove and the only one that required special tools to remove it. That said though if you had the special tools and the knowledge it could still be removed in under two minutes!!! I do like the idea of Bens removable steering wheel though. My m8 Pete whom owns the local Forge has a Nissan Cabster that attracts a lot of unwanted atension from the local travelling community and so he chains it to the ground each night with a short length of hardened steel chain that has one end set in the ground!!! The other thing I like the idea of is putting a good handful of long carpet/upholstery tacks on the the driver seat pointing up underneath the seat cover, anything that slows them down at the end of the day. A live tracker is the ultimate devise at the end of the day, as soon as the truck starts to move without authorisation you get a phone call to ask if your happy that its moving.

 

[Chris Green90]

Hmmmmm... I think we have different ideas of 'reasonable' money. £100 buys you a webcam. I was thinking more along the lines of a security camera/system with HD quality and the ability to warn you when it's activated, for which you'll have to stick another '0' on the price!

Sorry mate I really don't think that a grand is reasonable money (Especially for something that has been proven time and again not to be a deterrent). For on the drive protection (assuming that your drive only has 1 way in/out) for a tenth of that price you can install 2 of the bollards I posted above. People really need to get it into their heads that the single most important thing is not getting your truck stolen in the first place. Once it off your drive and down the road anything can happen to it.

I cannot understand how anyone would be happier with a text message telling you that your pride and joy had just been nicked and then be able to watch the whole sad sorry scene back on your iPhone.

Unfortunately cars are going to get stolen and the only way to stop the thieves is to make next doors, the guy down the street or the poor chap a mile and a half aways truck look like an easier option. Again I will say why why why would you want to see you pride and joy being driven away.

Admittedly once the theft has taken place then trackers and expensive cameras are useful tools in recovering your truck but who knows what condition it is going to be in by then. So thats a grand for a camera, £250 for a tracker plus say another £100pa for monitoring, gee this is starting to get pricey.

The question is have the above mentioned people (Neighbour, bloke down the street etc.) Got Locking Steel Bollards infront of their trucks. If the answer is no then for £100 you have almost removed the risk.

No need for hi-tech solutions here. The best you can hope for is to pass the heartache to someone else.

Sorry about the rant. I just don't like to see people waste money.

 

[karl webster]

Sorry mate I really don't think that a grand is reasonable money (Especially for something that has been proven time and again not to be a deterrent). For on the drive protection (assuming that your drive only has 1 way in/out) for a tenth of that price you can install 2 of the bollards I posted above. People really need to get it into their heads that the single most important thing is not getting your truck stolen in the first place. Once it off your drive and down the road anything can happen to it.

I cannot understand how anyone would be happier with a text message telling you that your pride and joy had just been nicked and then be able to watch the whole sad sorry scene back on your iPhone.

Unfortunately cars are going to get stolen and the only way to stop the thieves is to make next doors, the guy down the street or the poor chap a mile and a half aways truck look like an easier option. Again I will say why why why would you want to see you pride and joy being driven away.

Admittedly once the theft has taken place then trackers and expensive cameras are useful tools in recovering your truck but who knows what condition it is going to be in by then. So thats a grand for a camera, £250 for a tracker plus say another £100pa for monitoring, gee this is starting to get pricey.

The question is have the above mentioned people (Neighbour, bloke down the street etc.) Got Locking Steel Bollards infront of their trucks. If the answer is no then for £100 you have almost removed the risk.

No need for hi-tech solutions here. The best you can hope for is to pass the heartache to someone else.

Sorry about the rant. I just don't like to see people waste money.

You do actually talk some sense sometimes Chris Only playing mate.

I do agree with Chris though. BUT, metal bollards infront of a 80 series. Start the truck and mow it down.Claps can be cut off or taken off in seconds. And we could go on and on.

The more things you can do the better IMHO. Metal post in front,wheel clamp,secret cut off switch. Another nice one i like is a switch that stops the rear lights and break lights working. Very simple thing and if the truck was stolen and police were following they could get pulled from it.

Always make the next truck far easier to take than yours!

 

[Towpack]

Sorry mate I really don't think that a grand is reasonable money (Especially for something that has been proven time and again not to be a deterrent). For on the drive protection (assuming that your drive only has 1 way in/out) for a tenth of that price you can install 2 of the bollards I posted above. People really need to get it into their heads that the single most important thing is not getting your truck stolen in the first place. Once it off your drive and down the road anything can happen to it.

I cannot understand how anyone would be happier with a text message telling you that your pride and joy had just been nicked and then be able to watch the whole sad sorry scene back on your iPhone.

Unfortunately cars are going to get stolen and the only way to stop the thieves is to make next doors, the guy down the street or the poor chap a mile and a half aways truck look like an easier option. Again I will say why why why would you want to see you pride and joy being driven away.

Admittedly once the theft has taken place then trackers and expensive cameras are useful tools in recovering your truck but who knows what condition it is going to be in by then. So thats a grand for a camera, £250 for a tracker plus say another £100pa for monitoring, gee this is starting to get pricey.

The question is have the above mentioned people (Neighbour, bloke down the street etc.) Got Locking Steel Bollards infront of their trucks. If the answer is no then for £100 you have almost removed the risk.

No need for hi-tech solutions here. The best you can hope for is to pass the heartache to someone else.

Sorry about the rant. I just don't like to see people waste money.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree then. The idea is the system is set up to warn you someone is up to no good so you can initiate a response whether that's a call to a friend/neighbour/police or even an alarm monitoring company if you have one. No solution guarantees 100% security but it's another weapon in the arsenal which decreases the odds.

A waste of money? Maybe but to who? To someone who can't justify the cost, definately. If you think something is worth the price then it's not a waste of money. Again, just personal opinion. Personally, I think CCTV is worth every penny.