Stolen Land Cruisers -- Common Factors

[leonard_nemoy]

Have you had any luck with what brand you're going with?

I'm also looking into gps tracking..

I don't know, I haven't decided yet. Any suggestions?

 

[jaymar]

@jaymar
This may be to raw of a topic for me to respond to right now. But if you drive around in an “attention” getter like my 80 is you attract attention. And there are many LandCriusers out there that garner the same or more attention than mine. I also live in a 4x4 centric area and the truck you drive can define you, if you want it to. Lots of folks can only have that definition by cheating and not earning it. Thus the thief. How many times have I (you) been approached by someone in awe of your LandCruisers, often. Same with any of us who drive a proud rig.
I think I may have been targeted. I live in an off the busy area in no thoroughfare type neighborhood. But then there was the roofers, or was I stalked. Was there someone who watched and waited til I loaded up all of my camping gear. Was it a random criminal sweep of my hood and someone got lucky? Was it a Methican American? Who knows? But, they got in my truck and drove off! Were all of my doors locked after I hit the auto lock button? Sometimes on this old 80 some doors don’t completely lock. I didn’t check, it was in my driveway? The crime happened between 11pm and 0600am.
Not sure what I would have done differently, I’ve done it this way for decades. What I’m thinking about for my old Cruisers at this point are kill switches and that big bar that locks to the steering wheel as a remedy?
The cops are going to follow up as they do to find a needle in a haystack. The insurance company will follow their procedures.
What I wish is that I had less gas in it and that my tags were to expire sooner than August!


This hurts my head,





devo

"The Club." From what I've read, they just hacksaw through the steering wheel and remove the Club.

 

[jaymar]

Roof rack, bumpers, sliders, winch, expensive lights, drawer systems, lockers, suspension, gears...thousands of dollars sitting on full display and easily removed/sold. Part of the reason I always kept mine in the garage and part of the reason I sold it. I roll pretty low key now with my GX and a set of KO2s. Fully built 80 series (or any series) is a major score for car thieves.

I dunno that these are considered particularly desirable by car thieves in general--yet. Or am I behind the curve on that?

 

[jaymar]

I'm not about to leave my 40 out on the driveway so it's in the garage and the 80 is outside. Might be able to get creative and fit both inside

I've taken tires off of vehicles before as a deterrent lol
It really only takes less than 10 minutes to put it back on

BOLO for those BYOT thieves!

 

[sogafarm]

I had a GPS tracker for one of my dogs that used to wonder off. It was less than $100 for the small 1" square device that went on the dog coller. It cost $10 a month and an app to view in real time where little Oscar had scurried off too. I'll have to check the company name and dig it out of the attic but I always thought that it could easily be slipped into a vehicle and could be tracked to the meter. I'm sure they make several for cars but this one could be used to track anything and no wiring involved.

 

[enox]

Or am I behind the curve on that?

You know how we are.....trying to get ahead of the curve!

 

[enox]

https://www.autoguide.com/top-10-best-gps-trackers-for-cars

 

[jaymar]

https://www.autoguide.com/top-10-best-gps-trackers-for-cars

Thanks for this. Call me picky (or cynical), but I have a few issues with all of them: they're subscription-based, and they send your whereabouts to some third-party company--and who knows where the data goes from there? Someone in another thread suggested using an old cell phone with a new SIM; recharge as MB/GB used. It's not like your phone company doesn't already have tracking info on you...

 

[enox]

Thanks for this. Call me picky (or cynical), but I have a few issues with all of them: they're subscription-based, and they send your whereabouts to some third-party company--and who knows where the data goes from there? Someone in another thread suggested using an old cell phone with a new SIM; recharge as MB/GB used. It's not like your phone company doesn't already have tracking info on you...

yeah for sure, its actually difficult to find like a good review on these products. honestly i dont mind subscription if it was worth it...not an off brand company. i too have heard about the old cell phone trick but someone well equipped could scan for one of those. id think gps would be the most discreet.

all were trying to do here is add another layer of protection... id also get super annoyed if every time i jumped in to drive, i received a notification...so still gotta research some mo.

 

[jaymar]

yeah for sure, its actually difficult to find like a good review on these products. honestly i dont mind subscription if it was worth it...not an off brand company. i too have heard about the old cell phone trick but someone well equipped could scan for one of those. id think gps would be the most discreet.

all were trying to do here is add another layer of protection... id also get super annoyed if every time i jumped in to drive, i received a notification...so still gotta research some mo.

If they try to jam cell signals, they'll have the whole neighborhood out in the street. Now, if they're REALLY sophisticated, they'll just winch the truck into a Faraday cage on wheels, and that's that.

 

[desmocruiser]

Some of the gps systems alert you when the car moves, you might catch them before they get it loaded!

We should find the Dodge Challenger/Charger forum and see what they are doing, apparently they are getting stolen frequently!

 

[jaymar]

Some of the gps systems alert you when the car moves, you might catch them before they get it loaded!

We should find the Dodge Challenger/Charger forum and see what they are doing, apparently they are getting stolen frequently!

IF we can assume someone is inside before the truck is moved (and they COULD slide-bed without that, though the result could be messy, and the diesel or slide-bed itself might wake you), then for driveway use all we really need to do is put a screamer on the door switches--which will go off before the vehicle is ready to be moved. Something REALLY loud, with (if we want to be thorough) an independent power source in case the battery is disconnected.

 

[Grandlooser]

Leave your key in the ignition after you wire in a hidden switch that when flipped triggers the airbag rather than the starter when the key is turned, and locks the doors, and sounds the horn, and sprays high pressure pepper spray towards the driver seat, and turns on a high frequency- high power strobe light, and turns the radio on full blast plating something like Rick Astley or teletubbies music.

 

[Jason hansen]

An alarm that slowly leaks co2 out of a power tank. What can I say I’m evil.

 

[jaymar]

Can't say I'm a fan of pepper-spraying the interior, or getting a new airbag. Sure, he/she (let's not be sexist) gets a snootful--but you're sniffing pepper spray for the next five years. Also, the airbag thing could seriously injure someone, particularly if they're not in a properly-seated position when it goes off. And if that doesn't bother you, think about the legal fees, the prison time, what party time on C-Block might be like--and who's going to take care of your Cruiser while you're away...

 

[jaymar]

An alarm that slowly leaks co2 out of a power tank. What can I say I’m evil.

Slowly--so they wreck your Cruiser when they pass out down the road? Tsk-tsk... Make for an interesting court case, though.

 

[Jason hansen]

What was I thinking, a fast dump of co2 would be much better.

 

[jaymar]

What was I thinking, a fast dump of co2 would be much better.

At least that solves the crash-and-collateral damage issue.

 

[DARKNESS]

Toyota designed them to constantly leak a little oil so you can just follow the trail if its ever stolen.

 

[jaymar]

Toyota designed them to constantly leak a little oil so you can just follow the trail if its ever stolen.

And to be slow off the mark, so we can run them down on foot for the first half-mile or so...