Hidden Safe in My Ford Maverick?!

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[Surly Old Bill]

I knew a guy who as a young man did time for theft. He said a lock in an unusual place always got his attention. My cubby has ratchet straps, bungy cords, gloves, and some old towels. Anything more valuable won't be locked in the bed cubby.

On that topic, there some old footage of a 60 Minutes or other TV show where they had convicted professional car thieves "test out" various available equipment. "The Club" took them less than 15 seconds to thwart; they just cut the steering wheel with a hacksaw and took if off. Opening the hood from inside to mess with the battery cutoff switches or other things took them less than 10 seconds, as they would simply break the window or use a jimmy to open the cab door. There were other devices that took longer, but the thing that stumped them for 30 minutes before they gave up was a hidden kill switch that cut power between the ignition and starter. Of course those of us who are old and tinker know you can "jump" an old car by using a wire between the battery POS and the starter to bypass and imitate the keyed ignition switch, but this kill switch also cut power to the coil.

More on topic: with modern vehicles I'm less concerned about theft of the car than I am breaking and entering to steal what's in it. For most modern vehicles, you need either a cloned key or a flatbed tow truck to steal the whole vehicle. But all you need to steal what's inside is a hammer and/or a cordless grinder. That's why I think an actual safe would be the best deterrent.

On the Transit and Sprinter forums, I speculated that a good way to keep your valuables safe in your campervan at the trailhead when you go off on a multiday hike is to use job site boxes as part of the "build". They make decent bed platforms, and the tall ones can be used as cabinets for the kitchen (also bear-proof). Several people used that idea. One person chimed in years later that they had theirs broken in to at a trailhead, by someone using a cordless grinder to cut a hole in it.

 

[Surly Old Bill]

I never said you couldn't make it better. I have simple $9 key latches on mine and the effort to make it better for the small return isn't worth it to me. I use a hard tonneau cover so they're out of sight and out of mind, and all a thief would get out of mine is some tie-downs anyway. I keep anything of value locked in the cab.

I treat my hard tonneau cover bed as a car trunk. I don't leave stuff of any value in it overnight unless I'm behind the gate at my house (6' chainlink). I do leave tools and materials locked in it during the day when I'm out and about and need to have tools and materials. I have yet to have anyone try to break in. I think better to be out of site in the bed than sitting in plain sight in the cab. Because of tweakers, I never leave anything that looks remotely valuable in the cab. I have never been broken in to, but neighbor's cars up and down the street have had smashed windows a few times a year.

 

[Tbone289]

I treat my hard tonneau cover bed as a car trunk. I don't leave stuff of any value in it overnight unless I'm behind the gate at my house (6' chainlink). I do leave tools and materials locked in it during the day when I'm out and about and need to have tools and materials. I have yet to have anyone try to break in. I think better to be out of site in the bed than sitting in plain sight in the cab. Because of tweakers, I never leave anything that looks remotely valuable in the cab. I have never been broken in to, but neighbor's cars up and down the street have had smashed windows a few times a year.

Yeah, me too. No valuables in sight, but I would rather hide items in the cab if I have room just for the extra security.

I had one break-in when I lived in Memphis in 1997. It was in a sports car that had no window frames on the doors like a "hardtop", so they pried the window away from the roof to get in. I assume they saw that I had a stereo with a faceplate removed and decided to break in. There was nothing of value in the car, and I had a Club on the steering wheel. They never found the faceplate so didn't bother with the stereo. The only thing that was taken was a cheap calculator from my glove box that I would use to calculate MPG. I re-adjusted the window back against the seal and was good to go.

 

[dochawk]

One of the earliest things I remember learning from my father was to never lock a convertible, as they'd just cut the roof (kind of a strange thing to learn from a man who never owned one!).

One day at the office years later, my Miata was fine, but the other Miata and the boxer had their roofs slashed because they were locked!

 

[jcofthewest]

I treat my hard tonneau cover bed as a car trunk. I don't leave stuff of any value in it overnight unless I'm behind the gate at my house (6' chainlink). I do leave tools and materials locked in it during the day when I'm out and about and need to have tools and materials. I have yet to have anyone try to break in. I think better to be out of site in the bed than sitting in plain sight in the cab. Because of tweakers, I never leave anything that looks remotely valuable in the cab. I have never been broken in to, but neighbor's cars up and down the street have had smashed windows a few times a year.

It's a different world we live in these days. Locks are to keep the honest people honest.
I think Mo Ledbetter has an answer to a lot of the problems that civilized society has today.

 

[Buggy Man]

I like the idea of making a separate piece to cover the mounting hardware.
OR
How about changing the M6 hex head screws to stainless steel M6 button head for 4mm Allen wrench? That will certainly slow them down. And the button head feature does not allow any grip to a pair of plyers.

I know our local ACE hardware has these screws or find them on the internet. Don't forget the 3/16 -inch ID fender washers.

 

[White Thunder]

@MABETT

You didn’t talk about reprogramming the lock.

 

[Surly Old Bill]

It's a different world we live in these days. Locks are to keep the honest people honest.
I think Mo Ledbetter has an answer to a lot of the problems that civilized society has today.

Yes, I think murdering people that look suspicious or try to steal a $5 tiedown is probably the right solution. We need to have a Federal "stand your ground" law that allows murdering in these and other circumstances. There was a lady who dropped orange peels on my street while she was walking, I should be allowed to murder her for littering. And that guy in the mall who parked too close to me, too. The Purge is our pathway to a better country.

 

[Rileyotta]

Got one.

Anyone else gets it, I'll buy your factory cubby off you. My Poverty Edition came with nothing but plastic cover plates where the compartment would go. Just one somewhat secure cubby ought to be enough for my uses.

You can buy the cubbies for about $70 CDN; I grabbed one for my XL to hold all my straps and bungees

 

[Halo9x]

Got one.

Anyone else gets it, I'll buy your factory cubby off you. My Poverty Edition came with nothing but plastic cover plates where the compartment would go. Just one somewhat secure cubby ought to be enough for my uses.

Try Amazon, I got one for about $50.

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