How to NOT get your Jeep Stolen?

[Razorfish]

How do you guys secure your Jeeps on the street? Especially older ones. I live in San Fransisco area and dozens of Honda Civics are stolen every day. Jeeps are not really a hot item here but seem like they would be very easy to steal. I assume taking part of the ignition system every time I park, but is there a better way? Thanks, Mike.

 

[diddy2003]

How do you guys secure your Jeeps on the street? Especially older ones. I live in San Fransisco area and dozens of Honda Civics are stolen every day. Jeeps are not really a hot item here but seem like they would be very easy to steal. I assume taking part of the ignition system every time I park, but is there a better way? Thanks, Mike.

Hood lock and battery disconnect? Seems simple enough. I actually just thought of it, haha. Lojack? I like the system but I would rather someone not steal it in the first place.

 

[Kane]

I put a switch tucked away out of view and wired the starter solenoid through it. That way when I switched it off the solenoid would not work.

 

[7D8CJ]

How do you guys secure your Jeeps on the street? Especially older ones. I live in San Fransisco area and dozens of Honda Civics are stolen every day. Jeeps are not really a hot item here but seem like they would be very easy to steal. I assume taking part of the ignition system every time I park, but is there a better way? Thanks, Mike.

A no wheel no steel security hub from Grant seems like a good idea. Quick release steering wheel. Just take it with you.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

you can run your 12v power for your coil thru a pressure switch teed off your oil pressue port . then run a bypass wire to a small switch on the floor or other conveinant place near the drivers seat. when the car is cranked with out the switch pushed you will get no power to the coil and it wont start. once its running and oil pressure has built the curcuit will be closed allowing it to run. plus if you were driving it and loss pressure the motor would cut off.

ive also seen people wire a relay to the hole side of their blinker switch going into their fuse block, this way the blinker had to be turned on to close the relay that was tied into the ignition wire.

 

[Razorfish]

All good, clever ideas. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Posi]

OD, 4 sticks will intimidate most thieves.

 

[rr41mag]

My theft deterrent

 

[3QuarterTon CJ]

Look into a RAVELCO security system. They are a slick little system, thieves can't bypass them PERIOD. Even on an old CJ.

 

[CJ007]

A good lock box so they don't want to steal anything from it, and a hidden (magnetic) kill switch as mentioned.

I don't have either or haven't explored how this works but I remember a discussion on my local site a while back and Magnetic ones are pretty popular. I just found this one, seems pretty straight forward Browser Warning I f you scroll down it walks it through pretty good.

***edit I don't know why it says browser warning but I just checked and link works.

 

[diddy2003]

My theft deterrent

Nice 1911

 

[BajaEdition]

I use a keyed battery disconnect under the passenger side of the dash, I put it on the negative side, that way noting will turn on, not even lights when the disconnect is not turned on. I also do not use the key to start the Jeep, the wire to activate the starter is on a separate switch on the dash. So if you did find the Disconnect, and figured out how ti activate it, once you turned the key the starter would not work till you started flipping switches.

Problem is nothing is fool proof, what I have done is made sure Joy riders or amateurs will not get the vehicle. The joy riders give up after it does nothing and guys who want to hot wire find they are a wire short. If someone really wanted the Jeep, and I cannot figure out why anyone would want to steal a CJ for profit, they know vehicles and how to troubleshot them fast.

 

[Manhattan]

My theft deterrent

So... you spend the night sitting on your front porch watching your CJ?

Two ways to steal the Jeep: 1. Drive it away. 2. Tow it away.

To prevent #1, I've got a simple, but hidden break in the ignition. Also looking at some Transfer Case lock... not sure how, but thinking it could be cool to lock the Transfer Case in neutral - just a loop on the floor and a pin/lock... still scratching my head on that one.

To prevent #2, Keep the wheel turned, ignition locked and insurance premiums up to date... 'cause a roll back with a greased bed and a winch doesn't care which way my tires are facing

 

[CJim7]

I turn the valve off at the propane tanks. It'll take a thief all night to figure that out

 

[Razorfish]

So... you spend the night sitting on your front porch watching your CJ?

Two ways to steal the Jeep: 1. Drive it away. 2. Tow it away.

To prevent #1, I've got a simple, but hidden break in the ignition. Also looking at some Transfer Case lock... not sure how, but thinking it could be cool to lock the Transfer Case in neutral - just a loop on the floor and a pin/lock... still scratching my head on that one.

To prevent #2, Keep the wheel turned, ignition locked and insurance premiums up to date... 'cause a roll back with a greased bed and a winch doesn't care which way my tires are facing

I was going to make a quirky comment about how to rig a pistol to automatically fire when I'm not around. I have a shotty at the ready in the house so I'm already covered in that aspect. But like you said, it doesn't work by itself.

You're right about #2. A garage is pretty much the only way to prevent that.

 

[BajaEdition]

Pit bulls work real well
tie one up in the cab at night

 

[jsherm01]

Doesn't prevent the flat-bed drag away theft but some locals want this system.

Ravelco Anti Theft Device

 

[BlueBeast]

I put a switch tucked away out of view and wired the starter solenoid through it. That way when I switched it off the solenoid would not work.

I also did this. If you go to a Marine (boat) shop they have switches like this for reasonable prices. They handle the thick wires too. Best of all, the key to engage the solenoid to the battery removes from the switch when I turn it to "OFF" and place it on my key chain.

 

[MN CJ7]

JeepHammer ideas for Circuit Interupt for anti Theift

Actually, it's pretty easy to 'Hot Wire' these old ignitions.
A single wire from the solenoid to the module 'Red' wire will make them run no matter what you do to any of the power feed wires.

Grounding the coil is hard on the coil.

Install your switch in the distributor 'Stator' or 'Mag Trigger' wires and it's virtually impossible to find,
The switch handles virtually no current so it lasts forever-- No relay required,
And a 'Hot Wire' won't do squat for making off with the vehicle.


*****
If you play with the distributor reluctor signal wires........
this is a low level signal... close to mili volts and mili amps. Signal is generated by magnetic flux lines and as the reluctor star spins is passes a small coil and generates the signal....

distributor low level signal can have major issues if run by any high voltage and/or switched wires. Spark plug wires, coil wires both switch and have higher voltages...... with ever on/off of the higher voltage wires there is build and then collaspe of magnetic flux lines...... PUT your distributor fire signal in contact, next to, or WORST run the parallel to each other and it will cause issues.... MSD users should have lots of caution with wire routs..... you are switching 600V 3-6 times per cylinder and at 2000 rpms thats pretty quick.



The signal wire from distributor has some tricks (we need to do)
-twist the two signal wires 2-3 turns per inch.... cuts down the cross talk

-run signal wires next to the fender wall and fire wall. The grounded jeep body acts like a ground plane and is a good way to cut down INDUCED NOISE from the High voltage, Switching, wires that will generate lots of magnetic flux around them. So this is one shielding trick


Was told another good trick the other day tooo... There are jacketed cables with a internal foil shield that is grounded on ONE end and the internal 2-4 wires that are already twisted to cut down cross talk and then covered with a second layer of insulation... Use a jacked shielded twisted cable with a 2-4 wires if you want to run this to the dash with a hidden magnet switch or a toggle.

I have also seen MSD wire run with the distributor wires and the jeep would not run..... Did not get the fire signal from dist.



If Using a MSD Box
If using a MSD box there is also an aux fire wire for other applications... think it was white.... If you ground this EXTRA wire to ground or body with a switch the MSD will never fire.... so another possible alarm/disable circuite.

 

[CJ jammin]

X2. It's a lot like mine.