#478383 - 13/04/03 06:20 PM
Tips on how to prevent thieves from stealing your stereo equipment
|
Grand Masta
Member
Registered: 14/11/00
Posts: 14278
Loc: ???
|
Offline
|
|
This post is regarding alarm systems and how to best protect your equipment from being stolen.
Here are some common features that are included with most decent quality alarm units:
115dB Siren
Impact Sensor
Keyless Entry
Starter Kill
Horn Honk
Parking Light Flash
Headlight Flash (Low and Hi)
Hood and Trunk Pins0
Door Pins
Although those features will stop most timid thieves out there, they probably aren't going to stop veteran thieves, crack heads, and thieves with a lot of guts. So here are some ideas on how to go one step further in preventing these people from stealing our hard-earned belongings.
1) This is the major problem: A thief can simply bust out your driver's side window, reach in without opening the door, pop your hood, cut the battery cable, and now the car alarm is totally disabled. For a skilled thief this process would literally take about 15 seconds. There are two things I would recommend you do to prevent a thief from disabling your alarm in this manner. The most recommended method is for you to invent in a steel cable hood lock. The cable runs from under the dash of your car, through the firewall, and mounts itself underneath the hood. It is locked and unlocked using a key from the inside of the vehicle. Without this key, the hood cannot be popped open. This will prevent easy access to your battery. At this point the thief can either run away, try to grab and dash, or try to access the battery by crawling under the car. Although I highly doubt a thief would go through the trouble of crawling under your car to cut the battery cable, it has happened before. Mount your multi-tone siren next to the battery pointed downward. Mount a peizo siren next to it, also pointing downward. We want to make it very uncomfortable for our thief to stick his head under the car with those sirens blazing right in his ear.
If you aren't interested in the hood lock, the other method is to invest in a siren with an internal battery "backup system". This siren will continue to sound even after the battery has been cut and power has been disabled. The siren is disabled using a special key. A thief would have to take this siren and smash it on the ground in order to disable it. Because of this, I recommend you use more than one battery backup siren in your alarm system.
2) Most alarm installs are done by splicing into one of the vehicle's constant +12 volt wires either at the steering column or at the fuse box. I am pretty certain that a thief can smash the fuse box with a crowbar or baseball bat and destroy the vehicle's electrical fuses. Of course this would disable the alarm system without the thief even having to mess with the battery. To prevent a thief from using this method to disable your alarm system, I recommend that you run your own constant +12 volt and ground wire from the alarm's brain straight to the battery, and fuse the 12+ wire at both the brain and the battery. This way, if the fuse box gets smashed it won't affect the alarm at all.
3) At this point our thief is more than likely very frustrated. There's a chance he will now choose to get under the dash and snip some wires to disable the alarm. Any single bright colored or red wires are going to be targets. I recommend that you run all of your wires through black loom tubing so that they appear to be part of the vehicle's factory wiring. Wrap the loom in black electrical tape to prevent the thief from opening up the loom and looking inside. And use black plastic zip ties to mount the loom high up inside the dash. Mount a peizo siren under here pointed downward toward the floor. It will be extremely uncomfortable for a thief to have his head anywhere near this type of siren.
But you definitely do not want to mount the alarm's brain here under the dash. You want to hide the brain as best as possible. I recommend you mount the brain inside the dash, underneath your center consol if possible, or in the trunk. You could also mount it under one of the seats but a thief may check there.
4) I just want to mention the sirens once more. Most alarms come with a single multi-tone siren, around 115dB or so. I recommend you purchase one or two more multi-tone sirens and several 115dB peizo sirens and incorporate them into your alarm system. The louder the alarm is when it is tripped, the more attention is drawn to your vehicle and the more likely a thief is to give up and run away. Not to mention it will hurt a thief's ears if he goes anywhere near the peizos.
5) Let's talk about something I mentioned earlier, the good old grab and dash. Even with a security system of this caliber, that won't necessarily stop a thief from popping your trunk lid using the trunk latch inside of the vehicle, grabbing your subwoofer enclosure or amplifier, and running away with it. If possible you may want to remove your trunk latch. That way, you would have to use your key in order to open the trunk lid.
Another thing you could do is bolt your subwoofer enclosure or amplifier rack to the trunk floor. Use safety torx or another odd-shaped screw to do this. Chances are a thief won't have the correct tool to unbolt your equipment and will give up.
Also, you want to secure your headunit to your dash's frame so that it cannot be removed using those slide rail "keys". Use safety torx screws for this as well.
6) If you want to take your security system one step further, I recommend you incorporate a blue police beacon. This may be considered overkill by some, but it is very effective in preventing thieves from continuing with the robbery once the alarm is tripped and the police light is activated. Especially in a public area such as a parking lot or a residential neighborhood. People don't really tend to pay attention when they hear someone's car alarm go off in a parking lot, but everyone tends to take notice when they see those blue rotating police lights. It would draw a lot of attention to your vehicle, therefore causing the thief to flee. Of course, it would have to be mounted somewhere on the inside of the car.
7) Always check with your insurance provider to make sure your stereo equipment is covered in case of a robbery. If it is not covered under comprehensive, as them if you can take out a separate policy on your equipment. Make sure your insurance provider has receipts for all of your equipment and pictures as well. Often times when a thief realizes they are unable to steal your equipment they will destroy it in anger. If your insurance company refuses to cover your stereo equipment, I highly suggest you switch to a different provider who offers this.
8) Besides insurance, the most important thing is to not draw attention to your vehicle. Car audio stickers are a dead giveaway to a thief that the vehicle has something worth stealing inside of it. Vehicles with expensive rims, exterior modifications and body kits, alteza tail lights, racing decals and stripes, etc, are also targets for thieves. Always remove your faceplate before exiting your vehicle. Always lock your doors. Do not tell anyone that you do not trust 100% that you have an expensive audio system. Turn OFF your stereo about five minutes before you stop and park your car somewhere. Bumping your system in the mall parking lot as you look for a space to park may not seem like a big deal, but you have pretty much told every would-be thief in the area to "steal my stuff". Also, if you are in high school or college, NEVER turn on your system anywhere near campus. There are a lot of stupid kids out there who have no respect for other people's property. Be smart and protect yourself.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#478388 - 13/04/03 10:46 PM
Re: Tips on how to prevent thieves from stealing your stereo equipment
|
IamMurph
Security Guy
[ADMIN]
Registered: 30/10/01
Posts: 30219
|
|
Offline
|
|
These are a few good ideas.
Running power to the battery is what Clifford used to suggest. There is no need to run a ground there. Your intire car frame is a ground.
The blue police light is a cool idea but it's illegal.
I would suggest this.
1.Standard alarm with one siren, LED, keyless entry, starter kill, dual stage shock sensor. 2.Add one or two internal piezo sirens. One under the dash and another in the trunk by your system.
3.A battery backup is a must. Battery backup sirens are good but they only power themselves.
4.Add a hood and trunk pin. Most vehicles have at least a trunk pin to control the light.
5. All wires should be soldered and tapped. I love the yellow flex loom method. Anyone who knows cars knows yellow means AIR BAG wires.
6. Hood locks are a great way of keeping the hood closed and the battery protected.
7. Add extra sires for a better effect. This will draw more attetion than that 6 tone siren everyone has on their car.
8. Horn honk on top of sirens really draws attetion.
Smashing the fuse box under the dash dosen't do any damage to most installs. The main reason for this is, the power wires at the ignition are fused under the hood.
Glass breakage sensors are almost pointless if you have tint. The tint will absorb the shock of the glass breaking.
Motion sensors are very tempermental. The weather can greatly effect them. Not to mention birds and people passing by. Don't waste your time unless you have a convertable.
The best advice I can give is don't advertise your system. Everybody wants to show off. It's your friends that jack your ****. Take off the face plate. Buy a carry case and take it with you. Lock it in the glove box if you have to. Tint the windows to hide things. Use back straps to hold the radio in the dash. Mount your amps with odd screws. Mount your sub enclosure. If it was a pain to install. Just think how hard it will be to steal. Just my 2¢
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#478409 - 13/06/03 04:45 PM
Re: Tips on how to prevent thieves from stealing your stereo equipment
|
fawkes
Junior Member
Registered: 04/06/03
Posts: 3
Loc: Central Cal
|
|
Offline
|
|
If these tips have been mentioned before in this thread forgive me as I did not read through it completely. Here's my two cents...
1) Don't bump your system too close to home, work, the gym, the movie theatre, etc. If you're going somewhere where you'll be staying a while without leaving; i.e. the movie theatre or fancy restaraunt, thives know you're not likely to rush out of the movie theatre to save your car's stereo equipment, CD's, or other items.
- Solution: keep your system quiet and don't make yourslef too known.
2) Don't make yourslef a target by being stupid. Don't rush into your local liquor store leaving the keys in the car and the car running. This would seems obvious right?
- Solution: always take your keys with you, and always lock the car and arm the alarm.
3) Your system is your business, not passers-by. Be proud of your system, but not by all means. I love my Alpine HU, and my MBQuart speakers, but I don't display their manafacturer's stickers on my ride. A thief sees Alpine stickers, he see a target.
- Solution: keep your car clean of advertisements.
4) Detachable faceplates are meant to be detached. You park your car in front of your home, you go in, you fall asleep on the couch. Meanwhile the one time you leave your faceplate on, it's gone!
- Solution: Take the faceplate with you, it takes two or three seconds. Or $300-$500 to repalce it.
5) Don't skimp on the security. A good theif can disable your alarm by simply touching your frame with a pair of powered jumper cables. A good alarm will have a battery backup. Also a starter kill is a plus. A good alarm installed properly cannot be ripped out by even the more experienced thieves.
- Solution: pay the higher price for the better alarm. You get what you pay for.
Of course you don't have to take it from me... I'll just take it from you... your stereo, CDs, cell phones, garage door opener, your purse/wallet, and your kids gameboy!
_________________________
Alpine CDA-9813
2 pair MBQuart 6.5 Coaxials (1 front, 1 rear)
2 Lanzar DC12 Subwoofers powered by 1 Lanzar Vibe430 (1000Wattx4ch)
Slot Ported box
1 Farad Stinger Pro Satin Stiffening Cap
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#478414 - 28/06/03 03:43 PM
Re: Tips on how to prevent thieves from stealing your stereo equipment
|
ProjectRob
Member
Registered: 28/06/03
Posts: 166
Loc: Michigan
|
|
Offline
|
|
There are tons of tricks that can be done with an aftermarket alarm. Many have been listed above (the lock/unlock disable is a great feature to have ID_Jeep! Not too many people know about that one), but here are some more.
If you are installing the alarm yourself, always have a good prewire and keep everything neat. I made a schematic of my entire security system and it helps me when I want to add something later on.
Install the brain somewhere other than under the steering column. Doing so will prevent someone from just unplugging your brain that is tucked away under the drivers side dashboard. In my case, I put the brain way back behind the glove box with the back up battery right below the dashboard (near windshield.) Granted, you will still have to run some wires to your steering column, the brain being tucked away from the normal spot is a great idea. I put the Viper 550ESP in my car and extended the five wire ribbon cable (to the relay pack) to the steering column for the remote start feature. (I also had to run the door triggers, lock/unlock, etc. to the drivers side for obvious reasons) I also have two of the DEI Pain sirens in the car that are tucked deep in the dash that are completely intolerable when they are on.
If you are having someplace install the alarm for you, pay the extra labor (shouldn't be more than $50) to have the brain located elsewhere in the vehicle. I once installed an alarm brains for this guy that wanted to display it with his amps. Never understood why, but he paid well 
As people have already mentioned, be sure to fortify the radio to the frame somehow. Whether by backstrap from the frame to the radio or whatever, it takes 2 seconds to remove aftermarket radios with two thin pieces of metal. In Hondas, I've used the factory location where the two 8mm bolts are to secure aftermarket radios. That works very well.
"Select Products" sells the specialty screws along with a bunch of other 12v goodies.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#478417 - 28/07/03 11:38 AM
Re: Tips on how to prevent thieves from stealing your stereo equipment
|
Kenwood Kinda Guy
Member
Registered: 04/07/03
Posts: 400
Loc: somewhere over there
|
|
Offline
|
|
my car is a 83 escort with a horrible paint job that is discoloring. even the ford sign on the grill is broken. no thief would ever suspect, heh heh. my other protection method is as mentioned bolting down the equipment. i get a bonus because of factory slots, kickpanel cutouts, tint and a removable face plate i have absolutely no equipment in plane view. the jack a$$ would have to stick his face on the window to see anything.
something i havent seen in this forum yet is TINT. tint yur windows as much as legally possible especially when you have a hatchback and, therefor, subs and amps in plain view.
i get another security bonus, lol, i live in canada 
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#478418 - 28/07/03 11:53 AM
Re: Tips on how to prevent thieves from stealing your stereo equipment
|
Kenwood Kinda Guy
Member
Registered: 04/07/03
Posts: 400
Loc: somewhere over there
|
|
Offline
|
|
o ya, just a reminder to use fake faceplates, i actually ripped off the faceplate of my 83 stock am radio (looks like a day in the 50's) faceplate (wasnt easy cuz its not sposed ta happen) a little tape and a lotta luck and now my hu looks like sh!t, when i want it too...
heh heh
and as for those hatchback ppl with real expensive sub systems, cover them with somethng or face the subs to the back (hopefully tinted) window when your not driving.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#478419 - 30/07/03 01:03 AM
Re: Tips on how to prevent thieves from stealing your stereo equipment
|
DarkSide
Junior Member
Registered: 30/07/03
Posts: 5
Loc: Link Town
|
|
Offline
|
|
great post guys...i wanted to add..that i made a fake wall in my trunk...and carpeted it w/ automotive carpet.. to make it look as if the trunk wasnt as big as it was......at night...you truely cannot see that the trunk is any bigger...its cool....in bright light...you can tell its fake...but...hey...its one more "deterent" ...because you can never truely stop a thief....only slow/deter from doing it..
another thing is use mercury switches instead of like hood/trunk pins...they are awesome.....easier to hide....cant cut wires..etc......some places look at you like your crazy if you ask for them....others will be like heck yea...so go for it......
other than that it has all been said....dont advertise...keep low profile...dont brag...make SURE you arent being followed...if you think you are...go around the block..whats a few extra minutes...
and on insurance...for 1,000 extra in coverage...i think it was 40 bucks every 6 months...that 1000 is for everything that isnt in a factory location...meaning my cd player...and other speakers were covered by full comp coverage...
rock on guys...peace
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#478420 - 04/08/03 09:09 PM
Re: Tips on how to prevent thieves from stealing your stereo equipment
|
IamMurph
Security Guy
[ADMIN]
Registered: 30/10/01
Posts: 30219
|
|
Offline
|
|
This is a great post.
I did a little House Keeping to clean it up.
We have gotten off track a few times.
I am locking it now.
When you hit too many pages, people lose interest.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
Moderator: IamMurph, Rick7079, SnakeBite
|
81189 Members
29 Forums
182686 Topics
1261466 Posts
Max Online: 754 @ 10/03/08 07:00 PM
|
|
|
