Creative Security

The phone battery would always have to stay charged I meant and since they last a few days max you'd have to find it within that time. I figure you'll never plan when your truck will be stolen so you'd have to have the phone charging, hidden, and on at all times.

 

The phone could be hooked to the truck battery and remain charged at all times. Even cheap (20$) burner phones have a locator feature

 

I had mentioned that earlier but I don't think it was understood by OP. I'm assuming they'd be chopping your truck up so battery's coming out first thing...

 

I don't know how much a cell phone draws but if you could stash it maybe in the bedside, rocker panel, etc.. and hide the wires well. Could be cheap insurance. But you'd have to carry some burner plan minutes like $15/mo to keep it going.

 

I'd bury it in the dash assembly where no-one would ever find it. Insulate an area by the heater core and that should do the trick - just look up what it takes to remove a heater core and you'll see what I mean. In AZ there might be a lot of places where they'd drive it into the desert or across the border (?) but who knows? I'd just keep running with that idea and install a remote control setup ala 007's BMW 7 from Tomorrow Never Dies and take the thieves on a ride of their lives all the way to jail.

 

yeah, now you're talking. If I could access that vehicle remotely like from a game console after it was stolen and pilot a hell ride for the occupants that would be even better.

 

This always works to deter thieves.....

 

Those are too adorable to be good security

 

That's their technique. Thieves pet dogs until help arrives.

 

Those are some great looking dogs man, I bet they have some protective instincts.

 

I need something I don't have to feed as much though, maybe a venomous snake that knows me well and only requires a rat once a month.

 

Here's a little anecdote...

I was driving around to auto parts stores looking to make my truck run better. I pulled up to a downtown location and began removing all kinds of vacuum hoses from under the hood to match up with what they had. I didn't have a flashlight and it was about 9pm.

A guy in a Celica pulled up next to me while I was doing this and began doing something under his hood. He asked me if I knew how to remove the headlight bulb. I showed him how and went back to what I was doing.

I took all the hoses inside and spent awhile matching inside diameters with what they had, then bought all I needed and took them back out. I started throwing it all together and realized, I can't find where the damn hose plugs in under the throttle body. I felt around in there awhile, peered at it, groped around some more, squinted at it again - couldn't find the fucking thing. It's dark and I don't have a light.

I go back in and ask to borrow a flashlight. The clerk looks and says they don't have one and I can't use one from the shelf. I walk back out and resume searching. The Celica guy comes back out and I ask him if he's got a flashlight. He activates the light on his phone which I don't want to take from him so I'm trying to direct it under the throttle body where the connection should be while I'm feeling around under there.

As we're in this process a junky girl walks up and asks if we have something to light a cigarette. I shrug her off and continue with this awkward endeavor. I cannot for the life of me find the damn connection. The girl volunteers that she has small hands and can maybe reach in there easier. Frustrated, I accept and show her an example of what she's looking for and where it should be located.

The girl feels around in there like I've been doing for the past 10 minutes, suggests looking from behind the engine or underneath and uses Celica guy's phone. Sometime after that she reaches up under the front of the manifold and says "I think it's there" I look where she's pointing and sure as shit it's hidden behind some rubber guard thing right in the front. I let the guy with the Celica off the hook with a profuse thanks and give the girl ten bucks.

Better entertainment value than a cheap flashlight.

 

Here's another thought on the subject... Don't have anything that makes your rig look too nice or like you got money to spend on it.

I was planning to paint my truck box which is 60/40 rusty and sunburned yellow. That and the rack with its 15 year old rust patina. Then I thought, maybe I'll get a clear-coat and preserve the crappy finish. Also, I'll keep the look of any recycled metal I'm using. I'm keeping the lopsided mudflaps, maybe getting one of those foam saguaro cactus things for the radio antenna.

 

dont think ive ever seen this before but what about a chock that can be placed & locked under/behind the gas or brake pedals? maybe a lot harder to reach in to cut off than a steering wheel or shifter lock?

or if it wasnt a safety issue a quick release pedal+arm itself that you could take out of the truck with you haha? don't think even a thief would be prepared for no foot controls...

reroute the hood release cable outside of the cab somewhere hidden so it takes them longer to figure out how to access the engine compartment if you've got anti-theft something under the hood?

thats about as creative as i can get right now lol

 

That's a thought, I have a friend with access to a CNC machine. Maybe making some billet chocks with some kind of lock over the top of the pedal would work. I like the relocated/hidden hood release as well. You could make the original lever your air horn control so pulling it dumps the stored air in the tank. Better to have that control independent and not so tempting anyway... It would sure scare the shit out of anyone who got that far, and maybe alert someone.

 

or even drill a hole through a pedal so you can have a locking pin go through the pedal into the chock or something so its really tough to cut off, an interesting thought anyways!

haha yeah that'd be a good booby trap. would have to remember to disconnect it in case you ever bring the truck into a shop or something. wouldn't want to give some poor tech a heart attack or anything lol

 

Good point, I never take mine to a shop though so the hood is my domain unless there is a very unusual circumstance.

 

It could also be used to good effect with friends. "Hey pop the hood for me would'ja"

 

hahaha that would be good for a laugh

another kind of stupid thought is those annoying really loud whistle tips for the exhaust if there was someway to easily install/remove one of those without the thief being able to remove it easily themselves it would attract a ton of attention driving around. someone local to me had their really nice vw corrado stolen a few days ago and the stolen car was spotted driving around town multiple times until it was ditched in a neighbourhood and recovered this weekend. wouldn't have been as easy to get away with that if the exhaust was making noise like a train horn lol.

not very practical but you asked for creative haha