Recommended Anti Theft Device

[CZaugg]

If you read the "Ford Authority" forum, you will learn Ford trucks and Broncos are being stolen left and right, even from the Ford parking lots. With the high demand and LONG wait for the Mavericks, any suggestions for quick and easy anti theft devices? I'm leaning towards "The Club 3000 Twin Hooks Steering Wheel Lock" on Amazon. Your thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

Sponsored

 

[Rockingchair]

Nothing shy of keeping it out of sight will help much. In the Phoenix area thieves are using a tow truck and just hooking up and driving off. If the brakes are set they don't care, just move the car and re-attach, disable the tracking by cutting bat cables and move on.

 

[Oggy]

A garage without windows helps…

The ford pass app will also show you the location of your vehicle, however this is more reactive.

 

[New2AZ]

Nothing shy of keeping it out of sight will help much. In the Phoenix area thieves are using a tow truck and just hooking up and driving off. If the brakes are set they don't care, just move the car and re-attach, disable the tracking by cutting bat cables and move on.

Yeah I saw a on the news the other day a guy's new GMC truck get hauled off right from his driveway. Ring cam caught the whole thing! Thankful I've got a garage.

 

[Deleted member 6544]

My Corvette has an anti-theft device. It's call a manual transmission

 

[MostlySafeBear]

A garage without windows helps…

The ford pass app will also show you the location of your vehicle, however this is more reactive.

As another poster said, that's assuming that they don't cut or remove the battery cables.

 

[MostlySafeBear]

My Corvette has an anti-theft device. It's call a manual transmission

That in no way stops them from hauling it off with a tow truck, which is a common method being discussed here, no matter if the parking brake is set or what gear it's in. They don't seem to care about the damage they cause.

 

[Maverick2022XL]

As another poster said, that's assuming that they don't cut or remove the battery cables.

That assumes the TCU and GPS module don't have a builtin coin cell or similar battery that is tied into an on switch that is in sleep mode until the cops or whoever sends the activation signal to it. Alternately you could put your own equivalent tracker somewhere on the truck and track it down yourself while you are calling the cops to report it stolen and also give them the coordinates of where the truck is. Being able to locate the vehicle before the thieves can do too much damage is more feasible than stopping a determined thief outright. Insurance can always pay for the repairs to what is broken afterwards.

 

[MostlySafeBear]

That assumes the TCU and GPS module don't have a builtin coin cell or similar battery that is tied into an on switch that is in sleep mode until the cops or whoever sends the activation signal to it.

That theory can be checked with a teardown of the modules in question, but since it's not an advertised feature, and it would add costs to what is supposed to be a cheap truck, I can't just assume that they engineered something like that in.

Alternately you could put your own equivalent tracker somewhere on the truck and track it down yourself while you are calling the cops to report it stolen and also give them the coordinates of where the truck is. Being able to locate the vehicle before the thieves can do too much damage is more feasible than stopping a determined thief outright. Insurance can always pay for the repairs to what is broken afterwards.

That's always an option on any vehicle.

 

[Deleted member 6544]

That in no way stops them from hauling it off with a tow truck, which is a common method being discussed here, no matter if the parking brake is set or what gear it's in. They don't seem to care about the damage they cause.

I'll bet you're a hoot at parties

 

[MostlySafeBear]

I'll bet you're a hoot at parties

It's real funny that you should mention that.

A couple months ago I was at a party where I had Ubered over, and some other people drove. One of the drivers had a manual, I think it was a Civic. It ended up getting towed along with everyone else that had driven. I don't recall the details of how they justified the tows, but I do know that the manual car was damaged as part of the tow. I can only hope that he recovered the cost of the damages for that.

 

[Maverick2022XL]

That theory can be checked with a teardown of the modules in question, but since it's not an advertised feature, and it would add costs to what is supposed to be a cheap truck, I can't just assume that they engineered something like that in.



That's always an option on any vehicle.

Well the TCU can turn itself on and send out a 911 call with your GPS coordinates when you get into accident. So yeah I think it is an advertised feature just not application.

 

[93nighthawk]

Trunk Monkey all the way!

 

[Deleted member 6544]

It's real funny that you should mention that.

A couple months ago I was at a party where I had Ubered over, and some other people drove. One of the drivers had a manual, I think it was a Civic. It ended up getting towed along with everyone else that had driven. I don't recall the details of how they justified the tows, but I do know that the manual car was damaged as part of the tow. I can only hope that he recovered the cost of the damages for that.

Well that stinks.

 

[Tailender]

Trunk Monkey all the way!

I got to get me one of those!

Sponsored