That first photo - a nice cruiser parked on the street says it all. Anything you can do to place it somewhere out of sight and away from easy access?
Stolen Land Cruisers -- Common Factors
- Thread starter jaymar
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I have a driveway and a garage in back of my house, but the garage is one of those tiny things they built in the 1940s, too low for my truck. I'll be parking in the driveway from now on where I have a motion sensor light and the truck will definitely have an immobilizer to keep it from easily starting.
This is scary. So sad to see that this keeps happening in the bay area.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
^^^ At least it looks like denting is isolated to the tailgate - with luck you can find a Moonglow gate & save paint charge - I’d call Jason & see if he’s got one, I don’t think they are high demand item.
Upside, if you were ever thinking 17’s - this is primetime to make the jump.
Watch CL & Offerup - see if you see your tires on 80 wheels, meth / opioid junkies aren’t real ingenious
The cats are what make me think junkies - so maybe a cautious sweep for needles under seats would be job #1.
I’d do that 1st myself for safety before you forget.
Upside, if you were ever thinking 17’s - this is primetime to make the jump.
Watch CL & Offerup - see if you see your tires on 80 wheels, meth / opioid junkies aren’t real ingenious
The cats are what make me think junkies - so maybe a cautious sweep for needles under seats would be job #1.
I’d do that 1st myself for safety before you forget.
Sad stories here. Spending some time and money will make a vehicle pretty much unstealable. Once you do some research it becomes apparent how secure a vehicle can be made for far cheaper than a arb bumper or a set of sliders.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
Sad fact - starter immobilizer alarms are cheap, but alot of shops won’t wire the starter kill as most customers don’t take the time to learn the reset procedure (most are simple sequence pressing of the valet mode button & remote buttons), or anything over the basics.
The better ones will kick it out even if you slowly incline it like picking it up with a rollback deck truck - but again people either don’t/ won’t learn or bigger issue - you‘re f’ed if the alarm ECU craps (happens after 5-7yrs of service).
Removable steering wheel
Removable drivers seat
Brake lock - keeps the brakes on, holds pedal down etc etc
Transmission lock - external on linkage
Hidden kill switches for ignition, fuel pump, ECU etc etc
Personal car boot - just like the cities use for parking violators only it's yours
Kill switch for all external lights - missing headlights or signals gets you stopped around here in minutes
Blue strobe lights - police around here don't like imposters. Add a flashing sign that says "Cops Suck, catch me if you can" or similar....
Take something critical that makes the car move or run with you. Pull the ECU, relays, ignition coil, etc etc when you leave.
Will post more ideas later....
Removable drivers seat
Brake lock - keeps the brakes on, holds pedal down etc etc
Transmission lock - external on linkage
Hidden kill switches for ignition, fuel pump, ECU etc etc
Personal car boot - just like the cities use for parking violators only it's yours
Kill switch for all external lights - missing headlights or signals gets you stopped around here in minutes
Blue strobe lights - police around here don't like imposters. Add a flashing sign that says "Cops Suck, catch me if you can" or similar....
Take something critical that makes the car move or run with you. Pull the ECU, relays, ignition coil, etc etc when you leave.
Will post more ideas later....
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
While the spirit of your post is good, I intentionally don’t post what I know…….hate to say, but 200’s/570’s are easy to pop, have been for something near 2yrs now.
There’s a FB group that was started / invite only (I think, I neither FB or know the protocols of groups) - if you want I can put you w/ the originator, not sure how far he took it.
I like the blue strobe / “Cops suck, catch me……” -thing
Those were new
If searching for the FB group thing doesn’t net you a result, feel free to PM me & I’ll dig thru my old PM’s - I’d have been involved if I was into / had a FB account.
If they are trying to drive it away then you can just make that tougher to do.While the spirit of your post is good, I intentionally don’t post what I know…….hate to say, but 200’s/570’s are easy to pop, have been for something near 2yrs now.
There’s a FB group that was started / invite only (I think, I neither FB or know the protocols of groups) - if you want I can put you w/ the originator, not sure how far he took it.
I like the blue strobe / “Cops suck, catch me……” -thing
Those were new
If searching for the FB group thing doesn’t net you a result, feel free to PM me & I’ll dig thru my old PM’s - I’d have been involved if I was into / had a FB account.
If they are coming with a tow truck or trailer you can make it harder to drag.
The rest is just tracking the vehicle after it is gone. There are even radios that you can use that operate outside of the expected bands but that can be can defeated as well.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
^^^ Sure, but the trick is making it portable and easy to work with while being reliable.
You could loop 60’ of chain around the axles & frame tied to an ecology block or 2 in your driveway, but it’s neither practical or portable.
Far easier to pull a fuse or similar (most know exactly what part I’m thinking) or pocket the rotor - smash/grab jobs are damn near impossible to defeat save garaging it 24/7 when not driving.
It’s well known I have a dog & that keeps things pretty decent here - plus if you don’t know exactly where I live, it’s not like you’ll randomly end up in my yard.
You could loop 60’ of chain around the axles & frame tied to an ecology block or 2 in your driveway, but it’s neither practical or portable.
Far easier to pull a fuse or similar (most know exactly what part I’m thinking) or pocket the rotor - smash/grab jobs are damn near impossible to defeat save garaging it 24/7 when not driving.
It’s well known I have a dog & that keeps things pretty decent here - plus if you don’t know exactly where I live, it’s not like you’ll randomly end up in my yard.
I haven't really been inside the truck yet, it's filled with the contents of 2-3 other cars' registrations, IRS papers, birthday invitations and so on. The insurance guy is coming by on Tuesday to asses the damages. Who is Jason?^^^ At least it looks like denting is isolated to the tailgate - with luck you can find a Moonglow gate & save paint charge - I’d call Jason & see if he’s got one, I don’t think they are high demand item.
Upside, if you were ever thinking 17’s - this is primetime to make the jump.
Watch CL & Offerup - see if you see your tires on 80 wheels, meth / opioid junkies aren’t real ingenious
The cats are what make me think junkies - so maybe a cautious sweep for needles under seats would be job #1.
I’d do that 1st myself for safety before you forget.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
@arcteryx - Did I goof on his name?
I haven’t ordered anything from him in a few yrs.
also, I forget the other guy but he’s down in the Gulf area - he breaks wrecked 80’s but not on the same volume IIRC.
— anybody want to chime in on the other guy?
I’m getting ‘old man brain’
—— Either will have a tailgate, but I think Jason might be bigger inventory/ have a Moonglow sitting.
HTH!
I don't post much on the forum, but I read the 80 section almost daily as I have had an 80 for the past 3 years and have meticulously gone through the entire vehicle (and did a diesel swap with help from the forum). I have been an LEO now for almost 23 years. 20 was spent in the Charleston, SC area. I have seen many trends regarding methods used to steal cars and without writing a book, the one that was trending not too long ago was theft using tow trucks and towing companies....let me explain. Some low-life vermin, usually more than one, will call one of the local tow companies and say they need THEIR car towed. Johny towtruck driver shows up and tows the vehicle to wherever it has been requested by the callers, who usually follow in another vehicle, or, amazingly, ride with the tow driver. The vehicle usually ends up in an area that looks very similar to a scene in blackhawk down, i.e a safe zone for the criminals. I know this sounds absolutely rediculous, and it is, but tow truck drivers do not have to validate the "owners" of the vehicles unless your city/state has an ordinance to that effect and most police departments simply require the tow companies to log with them the vehicles that were towed due to being illegally park (as in private lots).
Don't get me wrong, the tow drivers are most of the time doing the best they can and are just getting fast talked by a group of nearderthals upon arrival. They make a fatal flaw that sometimes even the most seasoned Cop makes and they think "surely...surely.....these idiots aren't stealing someone's vehicle." Well, welcome to 2021. Most of these vehicles I put in the category of "joy-riders." They want to ride the block and smoke weed, thump music, swing by whatever house or corner is happening at the moment, and generally just show out their latest ride. They really don't intend to have the vehicle long as they are usually chased by the police fairly quicky or they drive it until it runs out of gas. Sadly, when it is recovered it usually looks like it has aged 10 years and 100,000 miles.
The second method involving tow trucks is the outright targeting and theft by someone that owns or has access to a towtruck. I've known several good very hard-working tow truck drivers, but the reality is that in larger cities this is a hustle and bustle environment and it is so easy for someone to snatch your vehicle. If caught and challenged by an owner, they often simply say it was illegally parked, was a mix-up, someone said you were blocking driveway, etc. Legit mix-ups happen ALL the time.
In my experience/opinion based purely on criminal profiling, an 80 that has heavy overland type mods will be targeted and stolen ( at least in my area) by those who have similar interests in off roading, modding, wrenching...people that know off-road vehicles and not the joy-riding type. I knew a tow truck driver that could find/get you almost anything (legitimately)...axles, complete engines...etc. I met him at a storage facility, looked at a running vehicle, came back in an hour and he loaded the engine into my truck....torch, sawzalll...engine out. These are the "dangerous" types and they KNOW what a land cruiser is.
A nice cruiser will be less likely stolen as a joy rider but rather the victim of someone that knows its value and has a plan, such as part-out or possible title swap, etc.
I can't speak to other areas of the country, but feel free to look into this (google it) and see if its coming to a town near you. These things migrate to other areas as the public/police/media call attention to it.
Did not mean to post so long and I realize that I didn't offer any advice on prevention but I wanted to provide some insight to some methods other than stealing by the old fashion ignition popping/screwdriver. Again, I cannot speak about other areas but the trends have either already been there, or are on the way.
I will add my two cents regarding prevention (or recovery) in another post. Also, the countermethods to defeat your security used by the most advanced car snatching crews that I have witnessed firsthand.
Regards,
Fred
Don't get me wrong, the tow drivers are most of the time doing the best they can and are just getting fast talked by a group of nearderthals upon arrival. They make a fatal flaw that sometimes even the most seasoned Cop makes and they think "surely...surely.....these idiots aren't stealing someone's vehicle." Well, welcome to 2021. Most of these vehicles I put in the category of "joy-riders." They want to ride the block and smoke weed, thump music, swing by whatever house or corner is happening at the moment, and generally just show out their latest ride. They really don't intend to have the vehicle long as they are usually chased by the police fairly quicky or they drive it until it runs out of gas. Sadly, when it is recovered it usually looks like it has aged 10 years and 100,000 miles.
The second method involving tow trucks is the outright targeting and theft by someone that owns or has access to a towtruck. I've known several good very hard-working tow truck drivers, but the reality is that in larger cities this is a hustle and bustle environment and it is so easy for someone to snatch your vehicle. If caught and challenged by an owner, they often simply say it was illegally parked, was a mix-up, someone said you were blocking driveway, etc. Legit mix-ups happen ALL the time.
In my experience/opinion based purely on criminal profiling, an 80 that has heavy overland type mods will be targeted and stolen ( at least in my area) by those who have similar interests in off roading, modding, wrenching...people that know off-road vehicles and not the joy-riding type. I knew a tow truck driver that could find/get you almost anything (legitimately)...axles, complete engines...etc. I met him at a storage facility, looked at a running vehicle, came back in an hour and he loaded the engine into my truck....torch, sawzalll...engine out. These are the "dangerous" types and they KNOW what a land cruiser is.
A nice cruiser will be less likely stolen as a joy rider but rather the victim of someone that knows its value and has a plan, such as part-out or possible title swap, etc.
I can't speak to other areas of the country, but feel free to look into this (google it) and see if its coming to a town near you. These things migrate to other areas as the public/police/media call attention to it.
Did not mean to post so long and I realize that I didn't offer any advice on prevention but I wanted to provide some insight to some methods other than stealing by the old fashion ignition popping/screwdriver. Again, I cannot speak about other areas but the trends have either already been there, or are on the way.
I will add my two cents regarding prevention (or recovery) in another post. Also, the countermethods to defeat your security used by the most advanced car snatching crews that I have witnessed firsthand.
Regards,
Fred
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
^^^ - Agreed.
The way valuation has gone, title washing & even going so far as swapping VINs wouldn’t surprise me.
A well sorted & updated maint rubber in a 80 brings alot of money on sites like BAT.
They are rigs that the $55K price in the mid-90’s are starting to show why they were at that price ~15yrs back.
It’s not like if you bought a Yugo back then, these are becoming classics the general public is starting to get a grip on the pricepoint of.
The way valuation has gone, title washing & even going so far as swapping VINs wouldn’t surprise me.
A well sorted & updated maint rubber in a 80 brings alot of money on sites like BAT.
They are rigs that the $55K price in the mid-90’s are starting to show why they were at that price ~15yrs back.
It’s not like if you bought a Yugo back then, these are becoming classics the general public is starting to get a grip on the pricepoint of.
Woofythewolf
SILVER Star
My 80 was stolen a few years ago, not sure if I made a post here.
They just used a shaved key. No broken glass, didn't damage the locks or ignition that I could notice. I had removed my factory alarm because it had failed via an internal short, but that wouldn't have had an effect on a shaved key AFAIK (since it's not a chipkey).
It was parked on an obscure side street deep in a pretty private neighborhood a 3 hour security guard drive through interval, but one that also had a few other burglaries because this neighborhood was often targeted. (maybe 250 homes, with a major incident like a burglary once every 3 years I think. For vehicle theft in the area, I have no idea, I only heard about the more significant things).
It was completely bone stock on 12 year old rubber and sagged nearly to the bumpstops. Pretty sad looking overall, peeling paint, all the rubber sealing cracked on the side that got the sun at my mom's work parking spot, running board dented where it had been used as a rock slider, etc. They took it mudding (which killed the fan clutch when it tried to fling mud all throughout the engine bay) and then stripped it of a lot of the interior parts: stereo, door bezels, attempted the overhead lights (they were just hot glued LED strip so they just cut the wires to inconvenience me I guess), steering column cover, etc.
They tried to take the seats but I had used red Loctite after repairing the gearboxes... they only got a couple of the bolts out before they gave up.
They did take the spare tire, the toolkit+jack, my brother's wallet (they drained his debit card of $51 at a 99 cent only store), and the sheepskin seat covers that turned out to be the most valuable thing lost at over $1600 replacement cost. (they were medical grade machine washable skins - my mom got a steal on them back in the 90s at Costco, they are NOT cheap anymore).
Police weren't able to get the security footage/ID from the 99 cent only store because the manager had gone on vacation and the data would be overwritten by the time he got back. About a week after it was stolen someone called in an abandoned vehicle at a mobile home lot 40 minutes away, police checked it out, found it in the stolen vehicle database and my dad and I were able to run over and pick it up before it got impounded. It was left in drivable condition, but much of the contents of the car were strewn out across the parking lot.
Among the things I'm sad were lost:
20+ years of maintenance receipts
The original sales brochure/pamphlet from when my mom bought the car from Toyota
the seat covers
the interior (It just looks so much junkier now with all the mismatched grey/brown plastic and missing pieces)
radio brackets (I found another Landcruiser radio for free, the display is burnt out but I just use the save buttons. Sadly it's just floating there).
The I've had a Tile in mine for the last few years, but the airTags are better simply because the network is so much larger. Unfortunately, they will also apparently tell the thief if they're being tracked and allow them to disable it (on both iPhone and Android), because that's how they stop people from using them to stalk/track people.
both the Tile and Airtags are nice in that the batteries are user-replaceable., and if they don't have bluetooth on they'll never know they're being tracked by other people on the road (for the airtag anyways). For Tile there's so few users you're probably not being tracked.
I also looked into making an Arduino system with a GSM card using a 2G network data card, but that network is being phased out and 3G is also probably ending soon as well. My idea was that I'd be able to text it "start" and it would start messaging me its location at regular intervals, with the coordinates being plugged into a google maps URL so I could just click the link it texts me and go to the google map view of its location.
They just used a shaved key. No broken glass, didn't damage the locks or ignition that I could notice. I had removed my factory alarm because it had failed via an internal short, but that wouldn't have had an effect on a shaved key AFAIK (since it's not a chipkey).
It was parked on an obscure side street deep in a pretty private neighborhood a 3 hour security guard drive through interval, but one that also had a few other burglaries because this neighborhood was often targeted. (maybe 250 homes, with a major incident like a burglary once every 3 years I think. For vehicle theft in the area, I have no idea, I only heard about the more significant things).
It was completely bone stock on 12 year old rubber and sagged nearly to the bumpstops. Pretty sad looking overall, peeling paint, all the rubber sealing cracked on the side that got the sun at my mom's work parking spot, running board dented where it had been used as a rock slider, etc. They took it mudding (which killed the fan clutch when it tried to fling mud all throughout the engine bay) and then stripped it of a lot of the interior parts: stereo, door bezels, attempted the overhead lights (they were just hot glued LED strip so they just cut the wires to inconvenience me I guess), steering column cover, etc.
They tried to take the seats but I had used red Loctite after repairing the gearboxes... they only got a couple of the bolts out before they gave up.
They did take the spare tire, the toolkit+jack, my brother's wallet (they drained his debit card of $51 at a 99 cent only store), and the sheepskin seat covers that turned out to be the most valuable thing lost at over $1600 replacement cost. (they were medical grade machine washable skins - my mom got a steal on them back in the 90s at Costco, they are NOT cheap anymore).
Police weren't able to get the security footage/ID from the 99 cent only store because the manager had gone on vacation and the data would be overwritten by the time he got back. About a week after it was stolen someone called in an abandoned vehicle at a mobile home lot 40 minutes away, police checked it out, found it in the stolen vehicle database and my dad and I were able to run over and pick it up before it got impounded. It was left in drivable condition, but much of the contents of the car were strewn out across the parking lot.
Among the things I'm sad were lost:
20+ years of maintenance receipts
The original sales brochure/pamphlet from when my mom bought the car from Toyota
the seat covers
the interior (It just looks so much junkier now with all the mismatched grey/brown plastic and missing pieces)
radio brackets (I found another Landcruiser radio for free, the display is burnt out but I just use the save buttons. Sadly it's just floating there).
The I've had a Tile in mine for the last few years, but the airTags are better simply because the network is so much larger. Unfortunately, they will also apparently tell the thief if they're being tracked and allow them to disable it (on both iPhone and Android), because that's how they stop people from using them to stalk/track people.
both the Tile and Airtags are nice in that the batteries are user-replaceable., and if they don't have bluetooth on they'll never know they're being tracked by other people on the road (for the airtag anyways). For Tile there's so few users you're probably not being tracked.
I also looked into making an Arduino system with a GSM card using a 2G network data card, but that network is being phased out and 3G is also probably ending soon as well. My idea was that I'd be able to text it "start" and it would start messaging me its location at regular intervals, with the coordinates being plugged into a google maps URL so I could just click the link it texts me and go to the google map view of its location.
It’s true that the AirTag has the anti stalking feature but I tested it and I think it will still work well without alerting the thief. Here’s why: As you walk around the currently existing AirTags you’ve probably never gotten an alert. It’s possible you’ve been on a plane, train or in a uber where someone has a tag with them yet you don’t get alerted. Your iPhone will not alert you until you get home and the tag is still near you. At your home is where the necessary condition is met for an alert: you are at home and a tag not registered to you has been following you around and is still with you. Otherwise you would be alerted every time you walked by a tag at the store or any other public place.
When I tested the tag by putting it in my wife’s car it tracked her silently until she got back home then it showed her a map of everywhere she had been tracked and the tag emitted a few beeps. So if the car thief drives the stolen car home he will be alerted to the tag if he has an iPhone. If they don’t drive the car home they will not get an alert. After some period of time away from the owner the tag will beep but the speaker can be easily disabled before placing it in the car. I think most car thieves will park the car somewhere away from their home and the owner will have some number of hours to locate the car before it’s taken apart. Nothing is foolproof and these tags are not intended for tracking stolen cars but I think they are a pretty good last resort.
I can't fit my LC200 in my garage here, so it parks out on the driveway apron in full view of the passing traffic...which has me nervous. I had forgotten that these vehicles don't have an active "find me" feature...I've become used to it with BMW and M-B. I have a new AirTag sitting here in front of me - how do I disable the speaker before I put it in the LC? Also, can I really bury the AirTag in the interior, or does it need to be somewhere close to the driver's seat?
