1988 Toyota Pickup - Stolen

Hey man, I'm sorry to hear all this happened to you and HOPE it isn't in rough condition. I'd hate the world if my truck were stolen. Hope everything turns out ok!

 

glad to hear youre getting it back, hopefully its not in too bad of shape

 

Yeah whatever the condition is, it will be nice to have it back regardless. And most definitely it will get several 'security' upgrades.

Thanks guys

 

Great to hear it's been recovered and hopefully isn't in too bad of shape. It's a beautiful truck that you obviously took great care of

 

I'm so glad to hear you're getting it back!

I hope its in decent condition but I'd say its worth rebuilding even if it's pretty messed up.

This may have convinced me to look into some kind of security system for my truck.

 

Glad they found your ride. Curious to see the condition.

 

Great to hear that it has been recovered. It ticks me off that on top of stealing your ride they mistreat her. If I ever had to steal or commandeer a car/truck, I would definitely return it with a full tank of gas.

 

Damn that's awesome they found it. Curious to see what it looks like now.

 

Awesome news!

 

Great news man! Hey, if you want some help installing a kill switch, I have an idea for a kill switch that no one will ever figure out, guaranteed it will never be compromised.

 

Congrats on finding the truck.

though, time to install a cell phone GPS.

 

If it's in Oakland it's at A&B towing, When I worked for OPD they were a complete pain in the ass to deal with... It's not that they can't tell you about it, The bitches there are just too lazy to check for themselves. The report probably just says "damaged" and only know what someone there has told them about it... Make a note that as it's sitting there, it's getting $50+ more expensive daily to get her out...

 

That's what I was thinking... Fuel pump or ignition interrupt switch. I have done that on all my older cars that werent worth alarms/gps/etc. You get one toggle switch, hide it somewhere easy only you know about, and it's at least not driving away. Someone would have to steal it with a towtruck, which is much less common. Usually they just use a shaved key.

 

I came up with an idea for a magnetic switch under the coin tray, the wire interrupts the starter solenoid on an automatic. You have to drop a magnet into the coin tray or the truck will not start. The only way to get the truck to start would be to get under it and find where it's interrupted and bypass it. More than most thieves are willing to do. Anyone thinking there is a kill switch would be looking for a switch, you wouldn't think to tear apart the center console if you're looking for a switch.

 

If it were me, I'd make it so that if they start the truck w/o disabling the security feature, the fuel pump will turn off after 73 seconds.

 

You need to be careful with stuff that disables the vehicle when it is in motion. In other words, you could be held liable if the perp was injured or killed because of your handy work Better to just disable.

 

I'm glad you found your truck man. Definitely interested to see the condition it's in. I hope those low life scum bags get what's coming to them. I hate thieves.

 

Starter solenoid disable would be perfect for that

 

Well, mission success today. Overall it couldnt be much better. Damage wise, the truck is in very similar shape to where I had it before. Seems like they just stole it for the wheels/toolbox/stereo and maybe a few other bits. Ran it till it was out of gas and dropped it? I have no idea but seems like they put about 1 tank/gas worth of miles on the odometer. It was full when they stole it.

Over all I am a bit surprised that they were not very destructive. The dash is still in ok shape from the stereo getting ripped out. My right tail light cover was actually removed properly, not the entire light just the cover. they even put the screws back in it? Front right wheel lock is missing as well. Some stuff in the cab like a little tool kit and a pair of my shorts?!

It started up once we get a jump on the battery, as it was dead dead dead. Sounds like its running ok, thought i cant drive it with no plates and flat/bad tires that they kindly gave me in exchange for my originals. I did find it interesting that they put a temp license in the rear window, maybe stolen from something else, but it was valid from some chevy. Even the ignition is fine, my key worked, looks like they jumped it with some wires under the dash.

I'm just glad its back and somehow still in 1 piece. Not sure what I want to do with it just yet. Time will tell. Don't really have spare cash set aside for this stuff at the moment. Getting it out of the impound was $670, sucks but cheaper than buying someone else truck I wouldn't really care about as much.

Definitely going to be doing some security features once I get it on the road again.

Thanks for all the support guys, really appreciate it.

 

That's a miracle. Right on.