Safety Car Audio
Tips |
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Always use
common sense. Don't 'bump' where you live, esp. if you live in an apartment
building. If at all
possible, avoid putting any stickers on your car (be it performance or
audio) they just scream "steal me! steal me!"
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If you go to
car shows/sound offs, I suggest removing your license plate temporarily.
This will at least make it hard for people to remember your car is packing
what gear.
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Consider
getting dark limo tint and car cover. Remember - out of sight, out of mind.
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When you go to
a mall or a store, turn down your system at least 1 miles before you get
there. When a thief hears you 'bumping' down the road, he will follow you
till you park and jack your equipment when you leave. Anybody who's
desperate for money will do anything to steal something.
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Please Please
Please install an alarm. I know about 30 people who pack thousands of
dollars worth of competition-grade audio equipments in their SPL vehicles
and they don't even have a $100 car alarm, how stupid can you be.
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'Modify' your
car alarm. It might be an overkill, but I'll install additional sirens
around the car: inside the hood, underneath, in the trunk and in the cabin.
Thieves don't have enough time to cut all those wires while they're blaring
130bD.
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I bet you right
now I can guess where you all have your alarm brains, they're under the dash
right? That thing can be disabled in less than 5 seconds! Don't be a fool,
move that brain somewhere hidden. You can add mixed wire colors and false
wires all around. Not even a professional installer could unhook it.
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Modify your
kick panels to hide the hood release latch under the dash. This is extremely
important so that the thief can't disconnect your +12 source and disable
your alarm.
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I can't
emphasize enough how extremely important security screws are. These are
oddly-shaped head screws that you can get from any hardware store. Nearly
ALL thieves carry a flat screwdriver and/or Phillips screwdriver all the
time. A hex or square head screw will definitely slow them down. If your amp
is bolted to the amp rack like this, there's NO WAY they can take your
equipment.. but make sure your amp rack is bolted as well.
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Ask your
insurance provider if they can cover your equipment.
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Be careful on
who you show your system to. Remember that every person is a possible thief.
- Don't leave
anything "interesting" inside your car (cell phone, jewelry, heck even a
quarter) this will only attract passersby that can possibly lead to theft.
- If you have video monitors in your head rests, you
might want to have a head rest cover made that you can slip on over the top of
your seat to hide the monitors from passers by. This is extremely important if
your traveling into an area your unfamiliar with.
- Make sure all your fuses are good and have the
right rating. Moreover, make sure your equipments are FUSED. In worst case
scenario, after an equipment is stolen, wirings short out literally putting
the car on fire.
- For those of you with websites about your
ride, BE CAREFUL! That website can easily turn into a 'shopping catalog'
for a thief. Try not to list personal information on the site (i.e.: what city
you live in, what school you go to). If you have any pictures of your ride,
always blot out the license plate. Also, if you have your own domain name try
to use a different mailing address then the one your car is located at (i.e.:
Use a PO Box). Remember that's public information and can easily be obtained
by doing a "Who Is" report (http://www.netsol.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois).
- Manual fuel cut off switches.....they only
cost a dollar. Invest in them. Its a simple cut and splice between the fuel
pump line and will piss the hell out of anyone attempting to move your car.
- Speaking of the hood, hiding the hood pop
switch is a step in the right direction but will only stop petty kids who are
just messing' around in the game. The real vulnerability is in the line that
connects the lever to the hood pop mechanism. In most cars these are routed
through the driver side fender. Pull the plastic molding back strip the
insulation and get a pair of pliers to pull the wire inside and POP ....you
have an open hood.
Solutions? Reroute the wire somewhere else or add additional lines to confuse.
- The main point is no matter what you cannot
stop someone from getting into your car. You can SLOW them but not totally
stop them. There are big holes in the side of the car covered with glass, they
are called windows. Since it is impossible for you to stop someone from
getting in one, you should focus on slowing them down as much as possible as
well as preventing the moving/disabling of the car.
- An expensive alarm won't do much for you. They
are all the same with some added bells and whistles. All you really need is a
starter kill, and dual stage siren. An expensive alpine alarm with LCD screens
does not do anything if it can be yanked from under the dash.
- Buy a pedal lock. Thieves have thought many
hours about this and still have yet to figure a way around it. The infomercial
is correct. That pedal is made of some hard steel. And even if you could
manage to break the pedal off you'd have to sit with your ass facing either up
or out of the car for a long period of time. Not something smart to risk.
- Record time sawing through a steering
wheel....48 seconds.
- I don't know if alarm stickers (such as
"Protected by Viper", etc) is a good idea or not. Some say it's a good
deterrent, some say it makes it easy for code scanners to 'unlock' your code.
Anything can help.
- Another security feature that you can get is
Wheel Locks.
I don't know yet if
it can be defeated, but it's worth a try.
- LoJack is also a good investment. Although
they run around $600 installed, you might get something in return from your
insurance company just for having it. Also see 'peace of mind'
- In my opinion the only equipment that you
cannot protect is your subwoofers. Whether you put a grille or not, if a thief
can't pull it out, he will stab it with screwdriver. Unless their a down
firing woofer they might be subject to abuse.
Please take the time to consider some of these options.
Most only take a few minutes and very little money to do or install. Its better
to be safe than sorry.
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