Anit-Theft and Security

Recently this month the president of our jeep club had their house broken into and had some stuff stolen along with his jeep. Speaking from personal accounts ive had a few friends have their jeeps either stolen of broken into.
I would like to hear what you all are doing as far as security and anti-theft goes.

Obviously lock your doors, dont keep anything of value in sight or even in the car for that matter. Having dark tint helps. But what about some of the car alarms out there? Any really good ones? how about really bad ones? lol.

My beater...doubt anyone would steal it its soo ugly has a few kill switchs in it. mostly my failed NSS switch bypass i wired up. Anyone done something similar to the DD? heard about a fuel pump kill switch.

Just throwing this idea around on beefin up security on my jeep and thought who better to ask.

I use a dei hyper led. That's it. Like $7 on ebay. Flashes so bright it lights up stuff behind the limo tinted back window. My philosophy is that if someone goes ahead and breaks in after seeing indications of an alarm then they are probably good enough to bypass and alarm fast. If they know they aren't good they are going to walk right on by.

I have alarm keyless entry. If the alarm is armed you cant start it without unlocking it from the fob and if you break the glass or get the door open some other way (key or force) you have like 5 seconds to push a button while turning the ignition before the alarm goes off and you cant start it. It was like 300 bucks installed at audio store.

oblivion_twister said:

I use a dei hyper led. That's it. Like $7 on ebay. Flashes so bright it lights up stuff behind the limo tinted back window. My philosophy is that if someone goes ahead and breaks in after seeing indications of an alarm then they are probably good enough to bypass and alarm fast. If they know they aren't good they are going to walk right on by.

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so pretty much like the fake home secuirty signs you can put in our yard to deter the "smash n grab" theifs. Not a horribly bad idea given the cost.

I used it in this and was in the worst parts of many cities with it, never a problem.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/415996/1999-chevrolet-monte-carlo-scottsbluff-ne-us

How about putting a hidden kill switch on your ASD relay, if you have a later model XJ? By disabling the ASD relay; that prevents the fuel pump, ignition coil,and injectors from powering up. At least by rendering the vehicle inoperative where it sits, it is not likely to go anywhere.

So, you have to be creative where you hide the kill switch. Here's a few ideas I've thought about for hooking up a kill switch for my ASD relay.....

I have a replacement steering wheel I bought on Ebay that came with cruise control buttons, to replace my stock one because the leather is peeling. Yet I have no cruise control feature on my XJ. I thought of using one of those button as my kill switch. I also have WJ seats with several seat adjustment switches that are of no use since I mounted the seats on the stock XJ seat rails. One of those switches now controls my garage door opener. I could also use one of the spare switches as a kill switch. A friend of mine even went as far as to drill another hole in his A-Pillar plastic molding, mount a push button on/off switch, and then camoflage it with another matching plastic plug, that is used to hide the screws that hold the A-Pillar plastic molding in place. You can't even tell it's there, unless you notice there are three plugs on the driver's side A-Pillar molding, and two on the passenger side.

Anybody ever yank the coil wire for some safety? I used to do it on my chevelle when parked in those not so comfy areas. Unless thieves are carrying around a coil wire in their pocket, or a tow truck, they shouldnt get much.
Also a good idea to keep keys left in the house in a very unvisible place, if not locked away in a safe.

Be aware. Think like a thief. Quick and easy, nothing is too cheap to steal. The Club is a great deterrant - it decreases the room needed to work in. Where I work the theives will break a window just to steal the change out of the cupholder. Out of sight, out of mind. I keep my XJ looking as undesirable as I can stand it. I have a sound system, but you can't tell and I keep it turned down in areas I intend to park. Don't advertise that you have stuff to steal. I have cameras installed around my home and with my wife's and my odd work schedules, anybody casing the place never know when we are not home. I turn the porch lights on when we are home sometimes. We hardly ever answer the door, but make noise and the dogs bark at the doorbell. I have motion lights out back so the dogs can see when the do their business at all hours of the night. I usually keep the house dark and I put limo tint on all the front windows. I have locks on all my gates and I made it a PITA to jump the fence. Someone ended up in my compost heap a couple weeks ago! I haven't found signs that the neighborhood kids have been using my pool when we are not home for about 2 years now, so something's working. I haven't had the methhead scam artists knocking on my door for a while either. Maybe they saw my wife's bat in the umbrella holder.

Oh - if you have NRA stickers or any kind of gun paraphernalia on your house or car, YOU WILL BE A TARGET. Theives like guns - they are a top commodity and, even stolen, they are easy to sell.

Ivan said:

How about putting a hidden kill switch on your ASD relay, if you have a later model XJ? By disabling the ASD relay; that prevents the fuel pump, ignition coil,and injectors from powering up. At least by rendering the vehicle inoperative where it sits, it is not likely to go anywhere.

So, you have to be creative where you hide the kill switch. Here's a few ideas I've thought about for hooking up a kill switch for my ASD relay.....

I have a replacement steering wheel I bought on Ebay that came with cruise control buttons, to replace my stock one because the leather is peeling. Yet I have no cruise control feature on my XJ. I thought of using one of those button as my kill switch. I also have WJ seats with several seat adjustment switches that are of no use since I mounted the seats on the stock XJ seat rails. One of those switches now controls my garage door opener. I could also use one of the spare switches as a kill switch. A friend of mine even went as far as to drill another hole in his A-Pillar plastic molding, mount a push button on/off switch, and then camoflage it with another matching plastic plug, that is used to hide the screws that hold the A-Pillar plastic molding in place. You can't even tell it's there, unless you notice there are three plugs on the driver's side A-Pillar molding, and two on the passenger side.

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This is how mine works, howver the hidden switch is a magnetic reed switch hidden behind the plastic lower dash. If you try to start the car before swiping a magnet across it, it will turn over but never start. I can post wiring diagrams if anyone is interested.

nosdujshsdl said:

This is how mine works, howver the hidden switch is a magnetic reed switch hidden behind the plastic lower dash. If you try to start the car before swiping a magnet across it, it will turn over but never start. I can post wiring diagrams if anyone is interested.

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Yes, post the diagrams.

With the huge problems of tow rigs and chase trucks getting stolen in Mexico, teams have tried all kinds of alarms and such. So far, this has worked the best -

http://www.notmycar.com/

Get a racing/aftermarket wheel... take it with you when you go into the house. Can't really drive off in a car with no steering wheel.

Disconnect the CPS if you're gonna be leaving it there for a while.

The club is good, if you leave your steering wheel in the car.

Disconnect the cable from the gas pedal.

Leave the transfer case in neutral and the parking brake set.

Hell, build a disconnect for the shift cable on the side of the transmission (if automatic.) Even if they can get it started, that's going to be tough to figure out and they'll move to the next target instead.

Install a kill switch for the tail lights. When you park it, disable them. Cops do in fact pull people over for that, in this case a pretense stop works in your favor. Thieves know how to look for a fuel pump kill switch, but if it starts and runs they aren't gonna stick around to inspect the vehicle's condition before driving off with it.

DieselSJ said:

With the huge problems of tow rigs and chase trucks getting stolen in Mexico, teams have tried all kinds of alarms and such. So far, this has worked the best -

http://www.notmycar.com/

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cant find anything on website about price..but i see they were on what looked like "two guys garage"..so im thinking $$$$$. lol

C85D4x4 said:

Yes, post the diagrams.

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x2 on that diagram.

Here is the Diagram:




And Here is a link to the write up, all of these items can be purchased at radio shack or amazon. Obviously this is written up for a tj, but very easy to adapt to our cherokees, also if you cant find the magnetic reed switch check ebay, I bought a 10 pack for 5 dollars last month. Also you can wire a flashing led to #1 or #2 (depending on when you want it to blink) and run it up to your dash to warn off potential thieves.

Maybe try looking into that security film that you see at vendor shows. while it does not do alot for hot wiring and the like it sure would make getting into a vehicle alot more difficult.

My jeep was broken into a few years ago at the mall. So i got a good Ole auto-lock-attchio AKA brake club. and have no problems since

In my wife's old car, we hooked her cigarrette lighter to the fuel pump. It has to be pushed in for the fuel pump to work. It is unlikely someone would think to do that, but for added piece of mind, you can take the lighter with you when you leave. Downside is, it no longer served as a 12V power source.
On my Jeep, I have a switch hooked up to it. I thought about where to hide it, and eventually concluded that anywhere I put it, I would be paranoid of it being found. So, it is easy to see, and is where a different switch is on some models. I don't think a potential thief is going to spend a lot of time flipping switches. You can drive yourself crazy with most systems with "what if they do this" ideas. I like simple unorthodox stuff, myself:spin1:

How about some ideas for those of us with manual transmissions... Anything to keep someone from putting my car in neutral and rolling it away?

Floydargue said:

In my wife's old car, we hooked her cigarrette lighter to the fuel pump..On my Jeep, I have a switch hooked up to it.

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Same here. Plus there's 4 other toggle switches of the same type in mine, so it's not like a theft will take the time to try flipping them, especially if its dark they may not even see them. The engine will start momentarily too from the remaining fuel pressure (unless its been sitting for awhile), so the theft will probably just bail once it dies if they are actually able to start it.

Jeep450r said:

How about some ideas for those of us with manual transmissions... Anything to keep someone from putting my car in neutral and rolling it away?

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The only thing that I can think of would be an electric line lock, with a switch labeled as something else.