• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

anti theft device

ClockworkC5

ClockworkC5

droog
i park next to a nice looking c5. and hes got the club, and that shifter lock (automatic) and ive got nothing. im thinking i should too. what all do you use?
 
I use something similar to the "Club" in my C5, but haven't bought anything for the C6 yet.

Here's the one I use for the C5:
wheel_lock.jpg


I don't believe this will work on the C6 as the steering wheel is rim is thicker. So I will probably be going with the more traditional "Club" for that car.

the_club.jpg
 
If memory serves me right, Dateline NBC did a report about the club not too long ago and it turned out that the club is no match for a hacksaw. They showed some would be burglar cutting through it in a couple of minutes. The more stuff use, the more damage will result.
 
Well the sad truth of the matter is that NOTHING you can do will deter an experienced, knowledgeable, and determined thief with enough time to do the job. What you are trying to do is to try to tip the scales of time/effort compared to value of the merchandise to be stolen. If the time and effort to steal YOUR vehicle is greater than what it would take for a thief to steal someone else's of comparable value, then they will normally take the path of least resistance. So basically, what you are doing is just trying to make YOUR vehicle more difficult and more time consuming to steal than the other guy's next to you. Time is a thief's worst enemy. The longer they are trying to steal your property, the greater the likelihood of being caught. You just need to try to make that equation work in your favor.
 
Rich Z said:
Well the sad truth of the matter is that NOTHING you can do will deter an experienced, knowledgeable, and determined thief with enough time to do the job. What you are trying to do is to try to tip the scales of time/effort compared to value of the merchandise to be stolen. If the time and effort to steal YOUR vehicle is greater than what it would take for a thief to steal someone else's of comparable value, then they will normally take the path of least resistance. So basically, what you are doing is just trying to make YOUR vehicle more difficult and more time consuming to steal than the other guy's next to you. Time is a thief's worst enemy. The longer they are trying to steal your property, the greater the likelihood of being caught. You just need to try to make that equation work in your favor.
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All true. But aren't the Vette's built-in anti-theft features enough to deter the quick opportunists? There's a built-in alarm, and a VATS key. I think it mostly takes a flatbed to steal one, unless someone has a key for your car made (which can happen at any unscrupulous dealership). I note that some folks put a slip of paper over their VIN number to try and preclude this. I should do that. I doubt that a Club or similar makes things appreciably more difficult.

I note that there are very few reports of stolen cars on the Big Forum. Yes, it happens, but rarely, and most seem to be of the "they had a key" or "they had a truck" variety.

I thought about a Viper or similar alarm but I think the only ones really worth having are likely the GPS ones or Lojacks, and they ain't cheap. But the thing that deters me isn't the money, it's having somebody mucking around with the wiring to install it.
 
i just looked into the lojack and its 800 for our cars. my buddy has an alarm (ill get info and share) that has the remote starte, remote windows, is an alarm, but the best part is the remote works as a pager. it has 2 alarm modes. one minor bump, someone w/ exhaust driving by, etc and collision, broken glass, something major. the pager works for 10 miles. i beleive that is the route i will go. i completely agree that there is no way to protect 100% but the more things that slow people down and deter them the better. im also going to get a nice universal car cover that has the braided steel cable & lock for when im not in the garage or at work (24 hour video surveillance.) i was was originally going to get a nice corvetter car cover, but thats a dead give away. if im leaving car outside someplace id rather have a baggy, non definitive car cover. one more step.
 
I put the Viper Alarm on the 93 Vert and added the proximity sensor to it. It you stand too close to the car, it will chirp at you. That alone will deter most thief’s. :thumbsup:
 
I dunno, maybe just putting some rubber snakes on the seats might help keep people at their distance.... :hehehe:

I once saw a guy who had put the rattles from a rattlesnake onto a vibrating toothbrush. Made the hair on the back of your neck stand up when he triggered it. Not THAT would make the basis of a GREAT alarm system!
 
Ok, I probably have the most experience in this field and I prefer not to get into too many details. If a car thief really wants your car, there is this thing called a flatbed. Last time I checked, they don't make a theft deterrent/device that can fight against it.

Now, the anti-theft system in the 'vette is pretty good. However what makes it great is the design of the vehicle. The C5 and up are somewhat complicated to disassemble to steal. Not to mention it's low ride height makes it damn near impossible to do the job properly. The lo-jack is good, but the factory on-star that came standard with C6s (correct me C6 owners if I'm wrong) are the best thing since swiss cheese.

The Club is best used to prevent the airbag from being stolen. Masterlock actually makes the best steering wheel lock device and it's cheaper then the Club and since it has two claws instead of one meaning the steering wheel would have to be cut multiple times, it is more effective. The best deterrant believe it or not is to have your windows vin etched. The cost of replacing a glass is more then the flipped cost of a vehicle making it totally not worth the effort. Also since 'vettes are pretty much a "homebased" product and V8 parts are dirt cheap, they are pretty worthless in the autotheft trade.

Autotheft is a huge export business. If you check your crime stats, the vehicles stolen are older little rice junk like Toyotas and Hondas from the late '80's and early '90's. These vehicles as worthless as they are to us, are extremely valuable in South America and Mexico where the parts are more scarce and since this is the vehicle of choice due to the higher cost of gas in some countries, this is pretty much what they drive everywhere.

If you want the piece of mind, get full coverage insurance number one. Get your windows vin etched number two. Get yourself the Masterlock steering lock number three unless you want to spend the big bucks on lo-jack or on-star(better). And know that if you are one of the poor one out of like 1,000,000 that get their C5 or C6 stolen, at least you'll know they deserved it!
:twocents: :twocents:
 
You know, I have read this several times now, and guess I am going to display my ignorance in full blazing glory, but WHY the heck would someone steal the airbag? Can I sell mine? :lmao:
 
that rattle is funny stuff. it must have tacken some macguiver work to wire it into the alarm. very original. that is some good info. and actually at work they offer the vin etching service free. ill have to look into it. also where can i find this masterlock device?

air bags are very costly. often times the deciding factor in whether a car will be totalled or not. many people have saved there car from deemed "totaled" by the insurance agency by aquiring the air bags. ive told many people to go to the junk yard or one of those you pull it deals. however i suppose to get one in good condition there are alternative albeit dirt bag means of method.
 
Rich Z said:
You know, I have read this several times now, and guess I am going to display my ignorance in full blazing glory, but WHY the heck would someone steal the airbag? Can I sell mine? :lmao:
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Simple Rich, $$$$! Have you ever bothered to check what the price of replacing an airbag costs? Any airbag is easily worth about $2K. It doesn't happen as much anymore ever since "they" figured out how to rebuild airbags; which btw is illegal because once an airbag pops you can only legally replace it with a new one.

But for example say yours pops from a little fender bender would you rather file the insurance claim with no accident report and eventually have your insurance go up? Would you rather pay $1.5-2K to replace the stupid airbag on top of the bottles of touch-up paint and detailing products you're gonna spend money on? Or buy a "hot" air bag for a couple hundred bucks and an hour later you are done? Think about it!:thinkin:

I wish I could sell my airbag too!!!!:lmao:
 
ClockworkC5 said:
that rattle is funny stuff. it must have tacken some macguiver work to wire it into the alarm. very original. that is some good info. and actually at work they offer the vin etching service free. ill have to look into it. also where can i find this masterlock device?

air bags are very costly. often times the deciding factor in whether a car will be totalled or not. many people have saved there car from deemed "totaled" by the insurance agency by aquiring the air bags. ive told many people to go to the junk yard or one of those you pull it deals. however i suppose to get one in good condition there are alternative albeit dirt bag means of method.
Click to expand...

Last time I checked, junkyard airbags are legal. Good point!:thumbsup: The Masterlock steering wheel lock is available just about anywhere ie. Advance Auto, Pepboys, etc. Watch out cause they make two. One is a double-hook device that locks the steering wheel to the brake pedal. The one you are looking for looks like a Club but instead of the traditional loop that go away from the center, it has two loops, like a claw. Also the thing looks about twice as heavy as a Club.
 
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