Security for high-value items inside vehicle (1 Viewer)

[Tex68w]

I've had three Super Duty F-250/350's broken into, guess in which city all three of those break-ins occurred? You guessed it, San Antonio, TX lol. The cartels are thick as thieves in that city and the Ford Super Duty is their chosen vehicle to break into and steal. The 1999-2016 models with the paddle style door handles are almost jokingly easy to break into, they simply pry the handle panel out of the way and push down on the OP rod inside of the door. Don't have stickers of the companies you own stuff from all over your vehicle, don't leave things lying about the vehicle to be seen from outside, remove anything of value and try your best to park in a well lit, easily seen and somewhat trafficked area. Beyond that insurance is your best bet. Locks just keep honest people honest and once they've broken into your vehicle the majority of the damage is already done and an insurance claim initiated.

I own a visually intimidating dog breed, we have three Dobermans. They travel with us from time to time and I can assure you that they keep most people at bay on looks alone, but I don't leave them in the vehicle (beyond running into a store) as a deterrent either lol.

 

[Lester did that]

Stop talking about what your doing online. Do not post pictures/videos on any social media platform of your rig. Do not use tint. What are you hiding? Do drop the fancy pelican cases. Or wrap them in a crappy looking thin plywood box that looks like garbage. Keep the interior messy looking. Empty coffee cups, redbull cans ect, a few old jackets tossed around, old food wrappers on the dash. Do not keep the exterior clean. Get some beat up wheels and slightly used tyres. Most people that are breaking into cars are looking for a smash and grab. They will pass over a trashed looking vehicle. If they see a pelican case it could be anything valuable worth the time and your window is smashed. Besides even if you tint the windows a flashlight can see right in up close.

Hard black nice cases are a target. Let the thief take a look and move on. They are opportunists and generally lazy looking for an easy target. Polish they hell out of it, tint the windows, stack a bunch of pelican cases in. Thats a goldmine for a thief. The car alarm is not got to help you but will annoy the neighbors. The cops never catch these guys.

Common sense will tell you they are going to eye a tinted SUV in great shape before the old Buick parked behind it.

 

[NY2LA]

Could just have an armor package installed on your truck. 2” thick glass and armor plating throughout.

Realistically, I've actually been wondering whether it's possible to beef up the windows somehow. The windows seems like the weak spot for the majority of smash and grab incidents.

But beefing up the glass would seem to put occupants at risk in an accident. If you can't break the glass, how do you get out if you need to get out the window?

Been thinking on a way around this double-edge sword.

 

[TeCKis300]

Realistically, I've actually been wondering whether it's possible to beef up the windows somehow. The windows seems like the weak spot for the majority of smash and grab incidents.

But beefing up the glass would seem to put occupants at risk in an accident. If you can't break the glass, how do you get out if you need to get out the window?

Been thinking on a way around this double-edge sword.

I do wonder about the need to break glass for safety.

Interestingly, Tesla's have been particularly targeted for smash and grab in the gentrified cities, where owners are known to leave laptops, tech, high end purses. It's why the Cybertruck is coming out with armour glass. Wonder how they're going to solve the safety issue?

 

[NY2LA]

@TeCKis300 Great case example. I'm going to see if Tesla has shared more info on that.

 

[NY2LA]

I got an idea today that I think will be a good solution for gear security: flat, removable bars that vertically connect the roof rack to the sliders, locking onto both, and bending nicely over the windows and doors. These could be made strong enough that a thief would need to use loud power tools requiring either AC power or several minutes of cutting at lower power to defeat them. They would not prevent the windows from being smashed or stop small objects being taken, but they would prevent large objects, like cases, from being pulled out of the vehicle or a person from getting inside. They would also obstruct the doors from being opened. They could be designed to be stored on the roof rack when not in use. Obviously, these would be for use when the vehicle is parked somewhere and no one is inside.

Going to visit the local fabricator today to explore.

 

[NY2LA]

Another update on this. I found a shop that basically takes cars from the junkyard and builds them into fantasy racing vehicles. These guys are dream makers, not insurance profit centers. They are my kind of shop.

So we brainstormed today and came up with a way to kill multiple birds with one stone. We are going to create wide detachable ladders for each side of the vehicle. They will lock into place vertically between the sliders and the roof rack, and horizontally just between the front and rear door on each side. This will obstruct all four doors from opening and any large cases/objects from being pulled through the windows if someone smashes them. They will also prevent intrusion into the vehicle. Think window/door bars that double as ladders and give out ladder signals, not high-value-items-inside signals, to prowling thieves. The ladders will be mostly flat and will detach and stack on stop of each other for storage on the roof rack while driving. Or better yet, I may try to find a way to mount them securely to my cargo platform at the back, once that's back from being painted.

The ladders will also double as mounting points for film gear or other potential gear while camping or offroading.

Main downside is weight. But I will only be using them on certain occasions when locking up the vehicle out of sight in areas with risk of theft.

Rear windshield will have internal bars.

 

[Vestal]

Curious to see this Mad Max-looking beast when all is said and done.

 

[rlynch356]

They make stuff for this ... https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/automotive-window-solutions-us/solutions/security/
and just lock your stuff up in drawers or internal seperate lock boxes.. Tuffy Security Products - https://www.tuffyproducts.com/toyota-landcruiser-2020

 

[NY2LA]

They make stuff for this ... https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/automotive-window-solutions-us/solutions/security/
and just lock your stuff up in drawers or internal seperate lock boxes.. Tuffy Security Products - https://www.tuffyproducts.com/toyota-landcruiser-2020

That's not going to cut it in my case.

 

[NY2LA]

Curious to see this Mad Max-looking beast when all is said and done.

Feel free to DM in a few months. I feel like it's okay to share the concept, but I won't be publicly posting pics of the security features after they're implemented on the vehicle.

 

[Bunga]

I've wanted to try the 3m commercial glass protectant on the windows. I'll try and see what they can do with maybe a combo.

 

[04UZJ100]

Sounds like personal articles insurance is a better bet. Instead of flying under the radar with your lifted highlander, you now stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[ikarus]

I don't know how much of this I can answer since it seems like you don't want to talk too much about details - but what kind of gear are you trying to secure? You mentioned film - do you have production or business insurance? I've rolled around some sketchy areas in New Orleans, Vegas and Detroit with probably close to $2M+ in gear but we don't overly worry about it, cause we have production insurance. Of course as standard procedure, anything over $30K like cameras and lenses, we take into hotel rooms with us. Granted, I get it, that would be a massive headache to have something stolen and have to replace it.

If the gear is big enough to be in a pelican case, then why don't you lock the pelican and bolt it to the floor, and put it behind a cargo cage? That should be SOP as it is - you're probably just as likely to be killed by a flying 1650 in an accident than to have a tweaker smash n grab. I remember seeing an article in the news recently about how a toddler got killed by a tablet in a crash.

Though if the stuff is small enough that it doesn't need pelicans, why don't you just take it inside with you? And if it's a bunch of electronic gizmos bolted to the car, are those ladders gonna stop a crackhead from jumping through the front window to rip them out? Those dudes are skinny and have superhuman strength, I swear

Also, even with side ladders, couldn't they smash the rear window on the trunk? or smash the front window and open the trunk? or just hop under and cut your cats out (the most likely option, you seen the price of palladium lately? wow)

Anyway, my vote would be a) buy a retired u-haul box truck and hire a PA to drive it everywhere behind you (ha, just kidding but seriously they're only like $125/day non-union) or b) (serious here) cargo cage behind the rear seat, shatter resistant film on 3 rear windows, goose gear style platform with tie downs, lock the cases, and strap them all down, lock the straps, whatever. everything forward of the cargo cage, take it inside at night.

Then you're not adding xx lbs to the rig (I assume they'll be made of steel? 50lbs at least?) I've been there, done that, and I try to avoid any excess weight these days. Nothing worse than 9mpg/200 mi range and a high center of gravity cause you listened to the IG overlanders who said GVWR is a hoax and you should absolutely make your CoG as high as possible.. Plus when you park downtown next to a hobo barrel fire they'll all be asking themselves why Max Rockatansky is locking up his car like it's a smoke shop with retractable metal gates and padlocks

Anyway, thanks for listening to my TED talk. Just an interesting scenario and now I'm kinda dying to know more

 

[NY2LA]

Sounds like personal articles insurance is a better bet. Instead of flying under the radar with your lifted highlander, you now stick out like a sore thumb

 

[NY2LA]

I'm not going to get into the gear here, or into my insurance policies (yes, we are robustly insured), but you guys have a point: maybe this is too Mad Max. I will be thinking on it some more.

 

[04UZJ100]

I

I'm not going to get into the gear here, or into my insurance policies (yes, we are robustly insured), but you guys have a point: maybe this is too Mad Max. I will be thinking on it some more.

Im sure it was mentioned, but custom lockable drawers may be your best bet. You may not be able to fit all your Gucci gear in them but you can prioritize what is most valuable and make specific spaces for those items.

 

[NY2LA]

I

Im sure it was mentioned, but custom lockable drawers may be your best bet. You may not be able to fit all your Gucci gear in them but you can prioritize what is most valuable and make specific spaces for those items.

Got drawers, custom foam liners, custom bar in the works to lock the drawers, custom bags for small parts, custom pads to protect the upholstery from the heavy cases. And did I mention the gear inside all these custom items is custom, including custom electronics manufactured over the past 2 years?

Goal here is simple: stop the big stuff from getting snatched in the vast majority of smash and grabs while I'm driving across the country and the truck is parked at the diner for an hour or I stop to use the bathroom on the highway. That's basically what this is about. Obviously, preventing lunch-hour-type smash and grabs is not the end all and be all of my security plans, and I won't be leaving the truck in the middle of Newark, NJ overnight with all the gear inside.

But there's good feedback here. I may go back to thinking about internal window bars and supplemental hasp locks for the doors. I heard about one guy too who replaced his mechanical lock switches with electronic ones that he had some special ways of operating. He had a secret mechanical release as a backup too. Might try to track him down to advise.

 

[slowride]

Get out your checkbook and drive.

Security staff not included.

 

[04UZJ100]

Got drawers, custom foam linger, custom bar in the works to lock the drawers, custom bags for small parts, custom pads to protect the upholstery from the heavy cases. And did I mention the gear inside all these custom items is custom, including custom electronics manufactured over the past 2 years?

Goal here is simple: stop the big stuff from getting snatched in the vast majority of smash and grabs while I'm driving across the country and the truck is parked at the diner for an hour or I stop to use the bathroom on the highway. That's basically what this is about. Obviously, preventing lunch-hour-type smash and grabs is not the end all and be all of my security plans, and I won't be leaving the truck in the middle of Newark, NJ overnight with all the gear inside.

But there's good feedback here. I may go back to thinking about internal window bars and supplemental hasp locks for the doors. I heard about one guy too who replaced his mechanical lock switches with electronic ones that he had some special ways of operating. He had a secret mechanical release as a backup too. Might try to track him down to advise.

5% window tint then. I’ve been in nearly 40 states with my 4Runner. Sometimes with valuable camera gear inside in Newark NJ and Gary Indiana. Never had an issue. Don’t make your non-descript Toyota stick out more than usual would be my advice. Good luck.