How to NOT get your Jeep Stolen?

[PaRenegade]

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.

Move! A stolen Jeep is the least of your problems!

Some good advice given above. Think like a criminal to stay a step ahead of them.

 

[Incommando]

The unfortunate truth is that if a thief wants your particular vehicle bad enough they will probably get it. The key is to discourage the casual thief and send them to the next vehicle down the line. For that anything that costs them time or makes them create more noise to steal your is a plus...unless you live in a crappy area were such things are just ignored.

The aids to keep the vehicle from firing up are great but not all thefts occur that way. Even if its isn't a tow away theft they will often roll a vehicle away from your home before firing it up. If the vehicle is going to be parked at home and/or for a length of time you can create a home-made "boot" with a piece of chain that will fit through your wheels and can be run through the wheels from side to side in the front, back, or both and then secured. This deters tow-away & roll-off thefts but doesn't stop them. I have also seen a piece of angle iron slid through the rims with high security locks on each end to make it much harder to roll the vehicle without making a lot of noise and taking time. These are better ideas for vehicles that aren't really DD-ers especially if you consider that our occasional use toys with a lot of mods are usually parked out of the way and are targeted by our fellow "enthusiasts" who want our parts.

 

[TeamRush]

There are three basic ways to keep your Jeep from being stolen,
But NOTHING is bulletproof, and if they show up with a roll back or hook truck, it's gone no matter what you do...

1. Engine Disable.
The easiest way to disable an ignition is to splice into the 'Green' wire from coil to module and ground that wire with a switch.
When the coil is grounded, the ignition WILL NOT fire.

The engine will crank if they break the steering column,
Or if they hot wire the ignition, it still won't start.

2. STEERING DISABLE.
A cable from brake pedal or in my case, seat bracket on the floor board with a heavy cable or chain around the HUB of the steering wheel, and a good pad lock.

'Padded' steering wheels are flexible, the older 'Candy' or 'Plastic' steering wheels are not.

The Padded steering wheels are VERY easy to cut through with a hacksaw, takes about 20 seconds or less if you are young and fast...
That means if you cable/chain off to the rim of the wheel, the guy can simply saw though the wheel to get the cable/chain off.

Since the padded wheels are soft (Safety Wheel, collapses in an accident),
You can yank on most wheels hard enough to pop 'The Club' off and throw it out the window.
One thief on TV actually looked for the 'The Club' since once he yanked the wheel and got 'The Club' off, it was the perfect size for busing the column housing to get at the rod that activates the ignition switch.
'The Club' usually means you don't have any other type of security...
So once that's defeated, he's free to take your vehicle.

Chain/Cable though the hub/spokes and it's MUCH more difficult to get the steering lock off.
A cable/chain through a steering wheel is a big RED FLAG to 'Joy Riders', but it's not going to stop a professional thief by it's self, so combining it with #1 will make your vehicle safer.

3. Lock The Transmission .
Transmission and Transfer Case locked onto gear with a hefty pad lock will often do the trick.
It's not hard to make a bracket that stands between the Transmission shifter and Transfer Case shifter, and a 'Bicycle' lock will fit around both shifters and keep them from moving.

I use that very same 'Lock' to keep my Transfer Case out of gear when towing, and the bicycle lock was an evolution from having that bracket handy.

The end result is a vehicle that won't start, can't be steered and won't shift even if they do figure out how to get it started...

Keeping Transmission and Transfer Case locked in gear means it can't be rolled away in Neutral either...