Daddio I have been around cars and bikes all my life, I hate a thief as much if not more than anyone that I know. I even helped one see the error of his ways in my driveway earlier this year. The truth is that there are some smart things that you can do to deter the opportunistic thief but you really are not going to slow the professional down. The absolute best thing you can do is take life as it comes, we used to say those are the kicks you win a few you loose a lot. Make winning count so that you can cover your losses. I personally don't walk around strapped, I don't see the need to. Life is too damned short to live it in fear.
My 2 cents....I had a 55 2 dr post for 28 years...from 74 to 2002 I drove daily in the summer, even to work. It had a trunk mounted electric fuel pump. After twice seeing or finding that someone was trying to get intro the car while parked....I fused the 12V feed to the pump through the std original fuse box under the dash with a std gl*** 15A fuse. Twice in the 12 years after that the car was stolen while parked....it got about a block down the street then abandoned....reason is it ran out of gas because the fuel pump wasn't working and since it was in traffic...causing obvious disruption...the thevies just took off. The cops would run the plate I would get called and have to go get my car...but at least I got it back....same day....a block away....and best thing was the second time (after I explaned what happened and why I did it) the cops took prints off the steering wheel and shifter....it put them on to a guy who they busted a month later finding 16 stolen cars in a storage garage. You don't need no hy-tech ****....just out think em...what would you do if you stole a car and got a block away and it quit running in the middle of an intersection? Leave it and run if you were smart
Does a metal enclosed trailer defeat the tracking devices? It could be built as a Faraday cage that radio signals can't get in or out of.
Why, ya plannin to steal a car? That was why I said posting how you are going to protect your car only makes a thief know how to keep it from being found. Big Bob, Around here not being able to steel a car only counts as vehicle tampering. It has to move something like 60 feet. One of my buddies was having a problem with folks messing sround with his stuff so he took the inside door handles off of his prized possesion and left the keys in the switch. The kids were smart they got in and rolled it down the incline away from his house then lit it off. They made it about a block without the fuel pump. My buddy was up (on puspose) dailed 911 and then stood by the car and laughed at them while he was waiting for the police to arrive. Creative policing 101 I suppose.
packing doesnt mean your afraid as a matter of fact, im not afraid of anyone, because now the playing field is level,or even better , because i have the element of surprise..they dont know im packing till they feel the blood run down their forhead..... what would you tell your wife if you couldnt do anything to stop some one from hurting her? its my job to protect my family and my ****..cant do that with a finger and stern words anymore these days..what kind of man would i be if i had to sit there and watch my family get abused or killed, and i had no way to stop it? I wouldnt be able to live with myself im too young to die, and too old to take an *** beating, and anyone who thinks the theifs arnt packing and care if you live or die.. need to wake up
Here is my list that has proved to work for me anytime someone thought they could try and steal one of my cars.. -A baseball bat, a heavy wrench, tire iron, and a pipe, keep one close to the house door, or near the garage door, something that can be grabbed while running. These are good for knees, window gl*** etc. -Make sure the doors are noisy when they are opened. -Take important cables off the engine, and or springs off carb. -Kill Switches in multiple places. -A lock on the ebrake (so it does not roll) -A good right hook when you dont have anything else heavy to swing with. My brothers use to steal VWs, they are easy. So I learned from them, that the armature thief wants it fast and doesn't plan it out. Bottom line, a real car thief will find anything possible to get it. You want something that will make it obvious they are stealing the car to others around, something that makes them work hard and takes up lots of time. When I use to work on VW Buses (pre 67), a dude came into our shop and told us that he had his Full Orig, non restored and mint VW Barndoor 23 window Bus stolen. It was lifted over a 6 foot brick wall. If your not sure what that VW is, look it up.
Your idea has some merit, as a sting op, but let's say you were to do this sting in San Antonio (if I recall that's where at least 2 hot rod/tow setups were taken)...If it's anything like it was when I lived there during my High School years then the guys stealing it are probably going to be just as packed as you. How about instead of sealing us all up with guns, beer, and pizza in the trailer to be stolen why not just have a decoy target and a different less likely to be targeted survellience rig with cameras and cell phones at hand? Also they would be less likely to hear the noises when the strippers get there.
This thread is why I brought up the subject to begin with: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=626702 And to be fair, I never mentioned alcohol in this escapade. This needs to be carefully planned, precisely executed, with all safety precautions taken for those volunteering for such an endeavor. And by safety, I'm talking bullet-proof vests and more. I'm completely with Von Rigg Fink on this. NO THIEF WOULD DO THIS UNARMED, OR THINK TWICE ABOUT DEFENDING HIMSELF BY TAKING YOUR LIFE! Maybe I've been watching too much Sons of Anarchy lately...
The guys that are stealing cars at these events are probably professionals. They already know how to defeat most of the anti-theft devices. An enclosed trailer is normal at these shows and is the best way to get it out of town. Photos or video of trailers and tow vehicles and the vehicle they are transporting would help in finding stolen vehicles.
The beer, pizza, and strippers was for comic relief...my problem with your idea still stands though. You are putting your "team" in a metal walled trap with no way out except through the bad guys, so to speak. The plans great except for where your guys are hiding. You might get the drop on them or perhaps one of them is outside the trailer when you yell "Freeze ****a!" and starts poppin caps from his blinged out chrome plated tec 9 or that glock he stole from the shop owner at his last robbery right through the wall of your trailer... I'm just trying to help you refine the plan is all. Your concealed carry license is probably recognized in Texas too BTW.
MSALAMANCA, Wow dude, you just outed your brothers hard. set-up sting could be interpreted as "mantrapping" as was p***ed down to me by a liberal lawyer friend. You can COUNT on your "victim" having a liberal lawyer. I wanted to wire a model T coil to the seat and steering wheel on my 46 Military. That would have been real easy to steal. Thats where the knowledge was imparted. Heck, my idiot daughter got inna car with my ex-wife, not her mother, and was brought across state lines without my knowledge or permission and it wasnt kidnapping. Parental interference!
heh i like the idea of the fule pump, ill do something like that and also the locking shifter.. its a neat shifter.. will be one of them rare ones down the road maybe? ( only problem is i cant have a cool shift knob. ) heh.. at any rate its built like a tank.. so, ill just go with a fuel pump hack, battery disconnect, and paddle lock on the shifter.. that will be good enough to keep a honest person honest.. as everyone knows a pro will get it if they want it. chris.
Oh I know... and it IS funny! That's a really great point. For the bad guys, the term "shooting fish in a barrel" comes to mind... As always, you have to be careful about what's written on the internet. The things you say may be used against you in a court of law!
This is EXACTLY what its going to take. Boys and girls, this isn't TV or the movies, this is America and our duty to do what's right. Keep in mind, doing what's right does NOT mean putting a bullet in someone's back while they flee!
I am in the process of patenting a locking device - hope to have it on the market by next year. I know it would help solve the problem that leads to a lot of these stories, details to come soon, just can't say to much until time is right. http://www.isitlocked.com/ and http://www.LockDownDoor.com/ .
Lock the garage door all you want...thieves just cut a hole right in the door with a battery powered recip saw or drive through it! This happened to my buddies shop in Florida......cleaned his **** out. Even took the shop vac.....
Wouldnt it be better to have the guys OUTSIDE the trailer so they can see whats going on? People attending a show could take turns 'on watch' thru the night like cowboys and soldiers do. Everyone watches for 2 hours, no one misses much sleep
They paid there dues.Taking another persons property that they worked hard for is completely wrong. Some places cut the hands or fingers off for that. Yes they are my brothers, but does not make their actions ok.
I've caught two (2) ***holes in my F100, trying to steal it. One had the ignition switch out, and was cutting wires...He came out the drivers side, I 'helped' him run headlong into the wall alongside. My wife called the cops, (the officer that came was a friend of mine, Ernie Martinez...Ernie took a LARGE butcher knife off the hot-wire engineer, and took him downtown. The guy complained that I tore him out of my truck, and Ernie told him he was lucky. "That guy likes that truck better than he does his fellow man!" Another time, a bruthu from da uhthuh side o' the hooood was sitting in the drivers seat, had all three bolts off my 3 spoke Bell! (what he was gonna use it on is beyond me!) I leaned on him like I was prejudiced. Cops came, (I didn't know this one, he was a screaming lib with a bleeding heart) He took the guy, but acted like he might let him go. I waited for a few nights for a 'rematch', but it didn't happen. Right after that, I fixed my windows and door locks. No more trouble, but I park it where I can see or hear it...
When I used to tour allot, we had to take turns watching the trailer full of music equip and merch. There has been many times that musicians trailers have been stolen. There was some cities we even had someone post up in the van.
Who's going to steal a car with a bunch of big nasty hot rodders packing heat standing in a circle around a car??? There HAS to be a better way to do this. Surveillance from nearby, organized with adequate people to watch, follow and report? It's a lot safer for those involved (not the thieves) and if the police don't respond to a call "My car has been stolen and I'm following the thief" call then the owner makes the call of how to handle it. I know what I'd do. I don't intend to be a hero, but I'm not letting my pride in joy go away without a fight.
Maybe packing doesn't mean that you are afraid. You really can't speak for the rest of them. Its the one's that are afraid that I am leary of, someone scared and armed is a very dangerous animal. Someday I am going to be too slow to get the pistol away from the other guy, when that day comes I will be checking out. But I will go with this piece of mind I won't have shot someone for reaching for their cell phone. If you wait to see a weapon you will be one of two things, dead or a William Cody SOB. BTW this is not an afront to you but you already know that. It is food for thought for those who do carry a weapon out of fear. Just so that the discussion has two sides to ponder.
Very true. You may not be too slow, but you may be 20 feet away. I'm sure you're nimble, but I'll give that race to the bullet every time. I'm thinking if you confronted an armed thief you wouldn't get even withn 20 feet without him drawing on you. Just sayin. This IS good discussion, and something that needs to be considered. If this thread gets out of control I'll just close it, but I would like to keep it on topic with ideas of how we can stop these thieving ***holes.
By the way ******, that's not directed at you personally, but at the thread going too far away from the original idea. I think you knew that.
I had a group of friends with rally cars (no windows, ignition toggles, etc..) at a waypoint in a sketchy foreign hotel, as a group decide to park their cars bumper to bumper in a chain with the support trucks on the ends or park one end of the chain against the building, jack-knife a couple OT truck and trailers at the other end.... at least it won't be easy or fast (and yes I carry everytime I leave my hometown)
Of course I did. There are a lot of theft deterents out there. Most of them have been cussed and discussed at length. Most of them work real well unless you are dealing with professionals. When I was living a****st the nations worse we usually had prospects in charge of watching our stuff. That worked because they were afraid of the consequences. There was a time that at the HAMB Drags you didn't worry about your stuff because someone was in the lot all night long. I think the sting idea was a good one because it opened discussion. I don't see it working, probably your best bet is to be mindful of your surroundings. If you are going out of town it is a good idea to post asking about the areas of the town you are going to that should be avoided. If you are asleep sleep with one eye open, listen for noise out of the ordinary like a tow truck or a winch? If you are a deep sleeper I am not sure what to say, I don't have that problem I am afraid. Long story not related to the topic. Oh I am not nimble any more but I can still clear 20 ft before you can clear leather. Last guy only said he was going to bust a cap in my dome I didn't see the cell phone until after I cut him. Guess he was bluffing?
Ok, everybody load up at the show and THEN meet at an out of the way place and swap out the cars into different trailers and have one as a decoy with the farters inside....However, if you read the theft posts most of them are where the TOW vehicle with trailer are stolen. A lojack then would be needed on the tow truck, trailer AND the hot rod.
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