M1008 - anti theft switch?

[KAISERM715]

Just researching to see if anyone has done an install on an anti-theft toggle switch that will disable the vehicle from being started should a thief decide he wants to take your truck home with him one day.

I'm thinking something under the hood in an inconspicuous place non visible to a thief that could be an inline switch or toggle.

I am currently using a steering wheel bar lock that seems to work for the time being.

any ideas??

 

[tim292stro]

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?138638-Talking-about-security-in-the-open

Whatever you do, make sure your "kill switch" prevents power to the glow plugs. If you have someone trying to start the truck - every time they turn it off and then back on it'll fire another glow (leading to eventual burn-out). This type of thing is only going to slow down the casual thief - will mostly just annoy a pro. A piece of wire and a screwdriver is enough to get one of these running for the determined.

Also good to worry about, how much damage can be done to your truck by a determined druggie trying to get your slightly disabled truck to start before they give up? Might be safer for you to just let it get stolen and then recover it... (or not).

Lot's of threads lately about this kind of stuff...

 

[Warthog]

You can always just pull a fuse.

 

[KAISERM715]

I was reading something about putting an in-line disconnect switch to the PURPLE (?) wire on the injection pump? Will still crank but not fire. Likely fry your starter after crack head rides the starter for 20 minutes.

What at about putting an in-line power disconnect off one of the positive terminal lines somewhere down on the fender well/firewall? I also read something about maybe there being a power back feed that will fry wires .... Or maybe they were talking about something different?

looked at the main fuse panel and there is a 20A "engine control" fuse ..... I don't want to pull and test .... Would removal of this fuse do the trick?

thx

 

[tim292stro]

Yes, only pulling the IP fuel cutoff power will still allow the GP to run and the starter to crank.

Backfeed happens if you only disconnect the ground to the batteries - the upper 12V battery runs back through the 12V loads the wrong way (destroying things like GP cards, etc...). If you pull the +12V wire that feeds the stock GM fuse box, that should "dead" your truck they way you want. Try and do that is a way that doesn't look like a cut-off if possible, I won't go into details how to do that in open forums (breaks security by obscurity - basically, why bother then?).

Other people have suggested doing something the keep the parking brake locked on, and you would want to do the chain around the steering wheel the way the military did it - just think about where your truck and wheels are pointed when you lock it up. If you have it pointed in a way that it'll roll forwards or backwards into something that isn't the truck that you also care about, reposition and try again. IIRC, the shifter won't come out of park unless the service brake pedal is pushed in first - if you lock the parking brake on and the service brake off, it basically can't be moved without being towed

Other advice from the other threads linked above:

• Keep the inside of your truck empty - no tools, fuel cans, extra "toys", etc. in plain sight. Makes it less tempting for a smash and grab. For a CUCV, even taking off the tie down loops makes it that much less interesting to bad-guys...
• Keep your truck somewhere that is watched, and looked over frequently. Casual thieves don't like to get caught - and grand theft auto isn't a petty crime (and stealing from a guy who has a military truck, suggests possession of other items that go bang that they don't want to see the business end of)
  • If at all possible, place your truck in a well lit, landscape cleared, CCTV recorded place. If it does get taken you want to be able to have evidence of who did it, and it will need to be usable evidence.
• If you can, add LoJack and/or a GPS tracking box to the truck. As empty as the CUCV is, there are still plenty of places to hide this gear without affecting the appearance even to trained MV collector eyes
• Don't just let your truck sit unused for long periods of time - seals dry up and get brittle, and people will think you won't miss it if it gets taken.
  • Even the simple act of washing your truck to get dirt off, while also helping your paint last longer and making it less of a potential eye-sore for neighbors, will show that this truck is cared for and not to be messed with.

 

[KAISERM715]

Right on! I totally agree, outa sight outa mind. I might pop over to the local Napa tomorrow if time permits and see if they have an inline power disconnect switch doomahickie that I could paint up or try and conceal a bit somehow. If not I can just make my own. Anything to slow someone down a bit I think may help in the grand scheme of things.

Havent popped the hood yet, but I'll assume it's the battery closest to the firewall of the vehicle that leads to the fuse box.

thanks for the info

 

[tim292stro]

Check out the wiring diagram in the Technical Manual, then compare that diagram to your truck. Having not seen your truck I can't take anything for granted in giving advice out

In addition to not making the device obvious you will want to spend some time making the operation of that device covert too. If you had to pop the hood to turn off a switch, that would clue someone watching you into the fact that there was something going on there. Try to think of a way to disable the truck without obviously moving out of the normal operator position, this added "convenience" will also promote the ease of using the disable system making it more likely you'll remember to set it. If possible try to think of a way to make it automatically set (like immediately when you turn off the key) and very easy to unset if you know how.

 

[Recovry4x4]

I would rather not disclose what I have done to each of my trucks but it does involve the starter relay. Can folks with a key cycle my glow plugs? Sure but that's OK in the grand scheme of things. Around here in swamp buggy land, I know of a half dozen CUCVs that were stolen and later recovered sans 60F.

 

[tim292stro]

For getting the truck back fast, a LoJack and a Cellular GPS tracker is really the way to go IMHO. GPS tracker can send an SMS/email when your truck is started or moved outside of a geofence (a "line in the sand", on an electronic map). Once you confirm the truck is stolen, immediately call LEO and report it, they will file the report with the National Crime Database, when your VIN goes into that system LoJack's system will ping your vehicle's transponder and it'll beacon out to any LEO car equipped with a LoJack receiver. Even without full real-time GPS data (once every 30/60 seconds) you can give LEO a general 10-Mile area the car is in and that'll get their receivers well within range of the transponder - they'll take it from there.

If you ever use your truck out where cell towers and a good signal are rare, look into a satellite (Globalstar/Iridium) GPS tracker - costs about the same as a cellular GPS tracker per month. If you can do all three (cellular + satellite + LoJack), there won't be many places your vehicle won't be able to be found... Doing this is "a bit much", but it depends on the value of your truck to you and your lifestyle. Do something like this and you're more likely to recover the truck before significant damage or "chopping" is done to it (like pulling off axles, cutting the frame to get at the engine/tranny/transfer-case.

If you get the TrackMate GPS unit, they are putting in SMS remote control capabilities to their software - even on an older truck like a CUCV you would be able to basically roll-your-own "OnStar" type thing. You could lock/unlock doors remotely, or with a few gadgets - command the truck to come to a safe stop remotely. This would absolutely have to be coordinated with LEO - you'd be taking control of the vehicle, so you would end up being responsible for its occupants, no matter how much you might not like them at the moment you'd have to keep cool and in control.


Off topic a bit (tangent in support of the theory of this thread), I kind of wish that DoD did this to all of their trucks right out of the factory. Something like an Iridium 9602 or 9603, are much smaller than a credit card - when idle they draw less than an Allison Transmission TCU at power off, something a Solargizer should be able to compensate for. If they had it in deep sleep it would draw essentially nothing - program it to wake up every 6 hours during a day when the network is available, and listen for a "ring" burst for an hour doesn't take much power. what they could do with that is: If the truck is stolen, they send out a message to turn on the tracker (with authentication OBVIOUSLY). The Iridium network sends a ring alert telling the SBD modem there is a new message for it at the gateway, the modem goes fully active and retrieves the message which tells the tracker/transponder to go active, then it replies with its GPS position at given intervals. Then you send in the Seals, Marines, or a JDAM...

Iridium 9602 SBD Modem:


Iridium 9603 SBD Modem: