Give a "tooo000OOOT!" for theft deterrence.

[Dieseljoe3]

"It was an accident, I promise!" I told my DW. I accidentally just “discovered” a possible new theft deterrent. Nothing fancy, sophisticated, expensive, nor overly difficult (I don’t think)…I just don’t know yet how to pull it off. I need your help.

I’ve combed through the threads to look for ways to lock down my 5 ton, and I found some really good advice. I have yet to come across this particular “method,” and perhaps it is fairly stupid. However, if I were a brilliant inventor, I’d be rich and hiring someone else to work on my massive (imaginary) fleet of MVs.

The HORN: OK, so I started my truck one day while it was parked on the street in our lovely suburban neighborhood, and when the air pressure began building the horn began to blare. My Dear Wife (DW) flew out of the house and across the lawn with a look of utter concern (mixed with horror) that the neighbors were going to call the cops at any moment. Turned out that the little black horn button on the steering wheel was simply depressed and I quickly tapped it off and went about my business while DW gave me “the look.” Yeah, you know the one. No, not that one...the other one! The "I wish I had a baseball bat" look.

Anyhoo, thinking about different ways to deter theft, this incident floated into my mind…what if…what if I could put a hidden rocker switch under the dash that would cause the horn to blare if not switched “off.” I can imagine that any “unauthorized” person attempting to bypass all the other deterrent systems such as battery lockoff switch, locked doors, chained steering wheel, etc. would not care for the attention of a blaring horn, even if they were able to drive off with the truck…no matter when or where. Wouldn’t this method be an easy way to add an “alarm” to your truck without investing a ton of $$? Wouldn’t you like to have the neighbors call the cops because your truck was blaring its horn due to the potential theft? (assuming you aren't home and guarding your green hulk with your 30-30)

Personally, I like the idea, but don’t really know how to do the electrical part. Any suggestions how to complete the wiring are appreciated.

One a side note, I also like the idea of a fuel lockout valve, plus a GPS tracker…someone else suggested Skylink GPS to track your kidnapped MV. “Defense in Depth” is the right word for vehicle security and theft deterrence. Any other good ideas on theft deterrence?

 

[patracy]

Your truck holds air?

 

[Dieseljoe3]

LOL, I wish. The horn started slowly blaring as the pressure was building in the tanks...took me a few seconds to figure out what was making that increasingly loud noise, lol.

 

[61sleepercab]

A barking dog works wonders to keep the riffraff at bay. Motion lights and motion sensor that reports movement to you helps the odds. A nonlethal deterrent would be a electric fence charger wired to the truck body and the truck parked on the ground. In Model T days a ignition buzz coil was powered and wired to the body would shock the sh++ out of anyone who touched the car body. Just do not forget to shut off before you try to take off!! On M series remove one battery cable? Build yourself a truck tire boot and apply to drivers front tire? As a retired county prosecutor I have seen it all, a stolen state highway department road grader and jail escapees using a dump truck as a get away vehicle. Criminals want a fast easy target to steal, make it difficult for it to walk up open the door hit the switches and drive away. Mark

 

[5tonman1971]

The horn button is just simply providing a ground for the horn solenoid to open the valve sending air to the horn. So what you could do was to tap in to the wire going to the horn solenoid and put your switch under the dash where you choose then when the switch is flipped on it will provide a ground allowing the horn to operate.


you could also pull the emergency fuel cut off knob and push it back in and that would be your best option Becuase you have to lift the hood and manually reset it. If your not familiar with trucks they would never figure that out.

 

[tim292stro]

Put a turn signal flasher connected to a relay and powered by the ignition circuit tie the relay into the horn ring. Turn the truck "on" or "start" and power runs to the the flasher, with pulses the relay and horn will HONK-pause-HONK-pause-HONK... If you use a double-pole-single-throw relay (two isolated circuits) and wire that to the master lighting switch for the headlights and clearance lights, and everything will flash at the same time. Many ways you could disable that - by using a standard flasher, you could remove the flasher to disable the alarm (who would think to remove something that looks like a turn signal flasher to stop the alarm).

Many ways to get an alarm to work like that. Of course, with a purely mechanical truck (like an older deuce or 5-ton) with no computers a real savvy thief could think of ways to run your truck with no electrical at all. No one thinks of how to build a purely mechanical alarm system, and that would be unique enough to get most thieves.

 

[Aussie Bloke]

G'day everyone,...


Whats to stop them lifting the hood and disconnecting the airline to the horn?

I do like the fuel cut off though,...


Aussie.

 

[HanksDeuce]

I have a few closed-circuit video cameras with a 24 hour feed on my truck and the rest of my house. The system has a DVR that can record on a continuous 30 day loop. I can check the feed from my iPhone or the internet from anywhere. Like others have said if the thief wants to steal your pride and joy while you are out making an honest living then they will succeed in most cases. In my case I might have enough evidence for the local authorities to go with.

Other options:
1) Park in a fenced area and get a bunch of dogs
2) Run a thin wire to the deuce and connect it as one of the inputs to the alarm on your house. Some people do this to boats too. Wire breaks alarm goes off. Then I get a call.
3) Fuel shut off / Hidden keyed ignition

 

[DanDan]

Most thieves take very little time in the actual 'commission of the offense' so something that will hold them off for a few minutes will usually (not always) send them on their way. Unless you are specifically targeted most crimes are crimes of opportunity. Having said that MV's could be specific targets for some reason but given the dollar value of a slow old truck (my M35A2 is worth millions in emotional dollars) any true organized criminal will move on to a more valuable and practical vehicle like a semi full of goods.

A stolen semi can be repainted and replated very quickly and put to use for a huge profit but an MV is a hard vehicle to hide. BUT yes it does happen and protecting our property is of the utmost importance.

I recommend photos of everything on the vehicle, be careful with online posts, watch where you park, and lock whatever you can. Battery kill switches and a hidden fuel valve that only you know about are probably the cheapest and most effective deterrents for the average vehicle. Alarms and GPS systems are highly effective but add costs so you will have to see what works for you.


I'm somewhat shocked however, that vehicles are still stolen. With technology what it is today the chances of getting caught are quite high.


On a final note I have asked my mother-in-law to live in my truck to prevent anyone approaching. It seems to be working fine!

 

[MyothersanM1]

lock whatever you can. Battery kill switches and a hidden fuel valve that only you know about are probably the cheapest and most effective deterrents for the average vehicle.

Negative ground battery cut-off and a locking ball valve on the fuel supply. Locking door handles and padlocks on everything. Nothing is foolproof, but give the would-be-thieves more hurdles to overcome and your property becomes less enticing.

 

[tim292stro]

Lojack for "Construction/Commercial".

No monthly charge, just an installation/purchase charge. This version does not use the vehicle's electrical system - even if they start your truck with no power and completely disable the electrical system, it'll still work. Just report your truck stolen, when the police enter it into the NCIC, Lojack's system matches your VIN with the transponder, and sends out a ping to activate it. Many Police departments have a few cars with a Lojack radio direction finding receiver. It'll pick up the signal form the vehicle's transmitter, and the LEO can home in on your ridiculously large and difficult to hide truck.

You need to pay for an inspection after 5-years (make sure the battery is still good, can receive and transmit okay) - there may be a parts cost for this. Also if your vehicle is stolen they want to do a pay-to-inspect check on the unit to ensure it wasn't damaged during the theft.

Unless your truck is in a monitored facility, there is no true security. I'd focus on a few simple principals:

1. Make your truck less of a vandalism and break-in target
   • Don't leave useful or expensive stuff out where people walking by can see it. This will increase the interest of smash-and-grab crooks - now you have to replace a window and whatever they took.
   • Deterrent alarm stickers on the windows - even if you don't have an alarm on the truck a sticker telling someone that you have one will keep the more honest of the dishonest in line.
2. Make your truck harder to take
   • You may think it's funny that the military uses a chain and padlock to secure trucks, but think about it - it's cheap, as effective or more than consumer steering wheel locks (much better than the club), and you can see it before you break into the truck, so it is also a visual deterrent.
   • Doing some of the tricky stuff to keep people from taking your truck (i.e. some secret sequence), may result in vandalism of your truck rather than theft - if they start tearing your wiring harness apart to hot-wire it because they don't know about your secret battery disconnect switch, you still have to fix the wring harness.
   • Put an alarm on it - many of the less honest will move on after the alarm goes off to avoid getting caught ("flight" in fight or flight). The kind that interrupts the ignition circuit if you don't push a button on the remote will make those with a simple switch harder to take - if you make it escalate the alarm if someone tries to start the vehicle without the key-fob and while the alarm is going off, they'll know you're more serious (i.e. ambulance "air-horn" siren in the cab).
   • Replace your simple ignition switch with a keyed switch - sure, it can still be hot-wired...
3. Make your truck easier to recover
   • This was the ye-olde recommendation of marking your VIN an every part
   • Stencil your name and zip-code into the truck somewhere - it'll make it easier for LEO to find the local PD where your truck was stolen, and match it to a registered owner. Stencil your license plate number behind where your license plate mounts - they take it off to "blend-in" with other military trucks on the road, it'll still have your tag number right where it was.
   • Lojack

Remember that the four cornerstones of security design are:

1. Detection - Need to detect an abnormal condition
2. Delay - Need to give yourself time to do something about it
3. Classification - Need to react (or not) in accordance with the condition
4. Response - Need to execute your reaction

Note that unmonitored home alarms stop dead at #2... not very effective.

 

[rosco]

I put a battery disconnect switch, in between the battery cable end, & the starter (hidden of course). I still allows the accessory switch to be turned on, & to sound OK, with the low air warning buzzer to work, but the starter button is non-functional. It just won't be too easy for the crook.

 

[Ragnarok]

I think a fuel cut-off would be the best way to protect a ride, if you have an electric pump would be the same basic wiring to use a hidden switch to simply disable the pump, so unless they take the time to attach a 5-gallon to the roof and gravity-feed a hose into the intake, well even then they would only make it one mile before needing to refill.