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RCB Samba Member
Joined: September 05, 2005 Posts: 4143 Location: San Francisco-Bay Area
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:08 am Post subject: Thwarting Theft |
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Greetings all, It makes me kinda sick when I hear about someones Vanagon or Westy being stolen. Thoughts of capital punishment and painful death by tire iron usually rear their ugly heads but my airplane does indeed land in "Realityville" so those thoughts quickly diminish.
When I first bought "Madam Helga," my 82 Westy; I immediately bought two Auto Locks, one for the brake and one for the clutch.
In my opinion they are among the best theft detrerents out there.
At the time they cost me $35.00 each and shipping to the Bay Area was a few bucks.
I chose the Auto Lock over the Club since all one needs to do is cut through the steering wheel and...bye bye goes the vehicle.
The newer version of the Auto Lock claims that it cant be frozen and then knocked into pieces allthough I cant testify to that claim. I can say however that I sleep better knowing that I have two deterents .... (well three if you count the 9mm) against some low-life whos mindset is focused on thievery. |
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weinerwagen Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2004 Posts: 1548 Location: Monterey, CA -Laguna Seca--Coats, Kansas
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:25 am Post subject: |
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A simple minor switch hidden away somewhere that shuts off power to the coil is, and has been, a safe guard used by many in the past
2 wires |
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funagon Samba Member
Joined: March 09, 2006 Posts: 1308 Location: SLC, UT
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:43 am Post subject: |
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I will definitely have at least one theft prevention measure on my next van (or my "old" van, if I get it back). Never bothered because I always thought "nobody wants to steal a vanagon." How wrong I was! |
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j_dirge Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007 Posts: 4641 Location: Twain Harte, CA
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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A kill switch, as noted above, is fail safe.
But it doesn't stop someone from tearing your van up just to get in...
I have a small red LED that glows on the panel.. in clear view for anyone lurking around the front end.
It "looks" like an alarm.. without the expense and irritation of having an actual alarm. |
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McVanagon Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2007 Posts: 1684 Location: Northern part of the Virginia
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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I have heard that this is a pretty good theft deterrent....
[raises hand]Seriously, who still has a tape deck?[/raises hand] _________________ '69 Mike
'85 GL
'87 Wolfsburg Hardtop |
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kevinbassplayer Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2006 Posts: 1041 Location: Nor-Cal
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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Um.... I've got a tape deck in my van, never tried to ever play a tape on it though! |
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RevKevin Samba Member
Joined: April 07, 2007 Posts: 246 Location: Seattle
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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To protect his car a friend of mine ran bare copper wire connected to the coil under the driver seat cover on a switch, anyone starting the car would get zapped.
When I was working in construction a few of the electricians would use a similar rig as a running practical joke. Thank god I was never on the recieving end but I got to be an observer more than once and it looked less than comfortable. If anything the screamed profanities would at least alert you to someone trying to steal your car.
Thankfully I live in an area where you don't have to worry about thievery so much, but still hearing these stories it makes me wonder if I should drop $150 at Car Toys on a car alarm, or at least a couple bucks at radio shack on a blinking red LED as a dummy alarm. |
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scobax Samba Member
Joined: July 27, 2007 Posts: 236 Location: Bend, Oregon
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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A buddy of mine recomended the "Autolock" anti theft device. He was a paramedic in NYC and swears that these are the only ones that cannot be removed. I picked one up so that I could rest assured that at the very least, my van would be there when I got back from backpacking or biking. They cost around $70. Cheap insurance. They mount around the brake pedal, not the steering wheel so they are near impossible to remove short of explosives. There are alot of trailhead break-ins in the NW so I also use an inexpensive alarm system to thwart the amateurs. _________________ 87 Syncro Westy w/ Suby 2.5
RIP: 2.1 WBX. You were a good dog 'ol feller
“The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong, that's when adventure starts” -Yvon Chouinard
"It's not expensive, its priceless" -Unknown |
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weinerwagen Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2004 Posts: 1548 Location: Monterey, CA -Laguna Seca--Coats, Kansas
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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j_dirge wrote: |
A kill switch, as noted above, is fail safe.
But it doesn't stop someone from tearing your van up just to get in...
I have a small red LED that glows on the panel.. in clear view for anyone lurking around the front end.
It "looks" like an alarm.. without the expense and irritation of having an actual alarm. |
you can wire in a blinking LED, with a on and off switch, hit the butt, the light blinks til hell freezes over
then hit the kill switch as you exit the van.... |
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j_dirge Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007 Posts: 4641 Location: Twain Harte, CA
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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weinerwagen wrote: |
then hit the kill switch as you exit the van.... |
remember to point your wad of keys at the van say "beep beep" as you walk away.. just in case anyone is watching. |
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weinerwagen Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2004 Posts: 1548 Location: Monterey, CA -Laguna Seca--Coats, Kansas
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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j_dirge wrote: |
weinerwagen wrote: |
then hit the kill switch as you exit the van.... |
remember to point your wad of keys at the van say "beep beep" as you walk away.. just in case anyone is watching. |
thats like passing gas? |
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70coupyel Samba Member
Joined: September 06, 2006 Posts: 1657 Location: So.Cal
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:05 pm Post subject: |
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I raise my hand!!! _________________
TheAndante wrote: |
Saying that specs are different than dimensions doesn't make sense. Porsche specs/VW specs/engineering specs are nothing but a series of dimensions,sizes,percentages,measurements, etc. |
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=338946&highlight=
70 KG Coup
83 Westy Waterboxer |
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McVanagon Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2007 Posts: 1684 Location: Northern part of the Virginia
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:48 am Post subject: |
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kevinbassplayer wrote: |
Um.... I've got a tape deck in my van, never tried to ever play a tape on it though! |
Not lately for me either.......
Even though I still use the cassette-based Tascam 488, I no longer need to dump my final mixes to cassette..... Still have the same HU from those days. Hooray Analog!
_________________ '69 Mike
'85 GL
'87 Wolfsburg Hardtop |
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Wellington Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2004 Posts: 1884 Location: Montreal
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:57 am Post subject: |
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I live in car rip of capitol , we have more cars stollen than any city in Canada, they don't care about kill switches, alarms or and deterent. They show up with a tow truck and are able to take your ride away and then deal with it on their turf. Boomerangs are not even considered a deterent to the professionals now because they have become so widely used, that the theives even know where it is installed on different models.
Do what you can, but if they want your ride, they are going to get it! |
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?Waldo? Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2006 Posts: 9752 Location: Where?
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:17 am Post subject: |
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Robocop. |
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RCB Samba Member
Joined: September 05, 2005 Posts: 4143 Location: San Francisco-Bay Area
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:38 am Post subject: |
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Greetings scobax, Thats the "Auto Lock" Im talking about..thankx for posting the picture..
I attached one to the brake pedal and another to the clutch pedal, maybe a bit of an overkill, but thats OK with me .
Shopping online may yield a lower price for those so inclined.
Happy and safe trails to all |
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ChesterKV Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2005 Posts: 1725 Location: El Cerrito, CA
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:58 am Post subject: |
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A hidden GPS system won't prevent the vehicle from being stolen but would make it easy to track down the van/car and potentially put the thieves in jail. That's assuming, of course, it's able to communicate and isn't hidden in some rural area or behind concrete walls.
Hmmmmmmmm....
I'm sensing a project.... _________________ 1984 Wolfsburg 7-passenger stock sunroof
1992 Subaru Legacy EJ22 boxer motor installed.... van is now sold.... currently playing with a 1987 Toyota MR2 with 1.6 liter twin-cam motor. Better than the Subaru boxers....... I'm impressed. Well, okay, in an "apples and oranges" kind of way. |
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levi Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2005 Posts: 5522 Location: Las Vegas
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:20 pm Post subject: |
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That's it.
I've got a "whereafone" in mine.
Pretty cheap, and if it's gone all it takes is a phone call to locate. _________________ One of these days I'm gonna settle down,
but till I do I won't be hangin round.
Going down that long lonesome highway,
gonna see life my way
https://youtu.be/cSrL0BXsO40 |
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wolfej1 Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2005 Posts: 679 Location: North Royalton, Ohio
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:06 am Post subject: |
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McVanagon wrote: |
I have heard that this is a pretty good theft deterrent....
[raises hand]Seriously, who still has a tape deck?[/raises hand] |
I have tape decks in all of my vehicles and use them daily |
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Lanval Samba Member
Joined: June 09, 2007 Posts: 905
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:47 am Post subject: |
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Don't forget to use the redneck kill switch - fuse removal. Judicious removal of fuses makes the car unstartable ~ and most thieves are not going to take the time to track down the problem, search for fuses, etc.
Also, given the location, putting a quick release on the negative battery post would work well also.
Best,
Lanval |
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