Car security

[Richnd1974]

A topic I've never been concerned about as always driven new cars with alarms, immobilisers, dead locks etc. What's everyone's minimum security they use when out and about town in their R4s? I'm not so much worried about the pro thief it's some oik deciding they will have a punt at stealing my car if left in a car park while I'm in town. Just thinking ahead. Cheers Richard

 

[Cornish4]

Hi Richard, I keep a good old fashioned Krook Lock in my car, it's a fairly good deterrent. Quick and easy to use. I've also fitted a quick release negative terminal clamp, known as a
Dis-car-nect, handy if you leave the car for an extended period, say overnight away from home. It's also useful when working on the cars electrics.

Regards Brian

 

[swampy]

Hi Richard, I keep a good old fashioned Krook Lock in my car, it's a fairly good deterrent. Quick and easy to use. I've also fitted a quick release negative terminal clamp, known as a
Dis-car-nect, handy if you leave the car for an extended period, say overnight away from home. It's also useful when working on the cars electrics.

Regards Brian

Richard I agree entirely with Cornish.
I have had a moggy & an open top 2 seater 2CV based kit car. Krooklock is a good visual deterrent for the chancer, Discarnect is again good for extended periods, and I fitted a third device. On the moggy this was re purposing the speedometer backlight off switch ( it`s hidden on the underside of the dash) to turn off the S U electric fuel pump, and on the kit car, which had a homemade wooden dash, I fitted a discreet switch which earthed part of the ignition ( I can`t remember the wiring details, it was a long time ago, but it was simple). Non of this stopped someone rattling open the quarter light on the moggy when we lived in Reading and trying to make off, but they abandoned it further down the estate. I should point out that we had not fitted the krooklock that evening for some reason, and therein lies a point: the more effort it take to do, the less likely you are to do it routinely.
swampy

 

[Richnd1974]

Thanks, I think the Krooklock will be ordered today as a minimum security measure, I like the idea of the secret isolator as well..

 

[reidalpine]

would it be poss and pref easy to fit a quick-release boss for the steering-wheel ?? -Reid.

 

[Cornish4]

Ha ha Reid, I love your quirky sence of humour. How I might ask, are you going to walk around with a steering wheel in your pocket. The device I've fitted has a plastic knob you just unscrew and place in ones pocket. Very handy

 

[Andy McGhee]

I remember getting into my car in a car park in the 80s and thinking that something wasn't quite right - I'd got into someone else's R4 instead (there were lots of them around in those days..). If you took a bag of keys on scrapyard visits, the chances were that one of them would fit door/boot locks, and even ignition switches - particularly on early TLs.
Now that R4s are getting more valuable, I've started taking out the rotor arm when leaving the van/car in isolated places. It takes only a few seconds, and means that the car can't be started. It might not deter the most determined, though - one of the very few bad experiences I've had in France happened about 30 years ago when I came back from a country walk to find two guys trying to tow my R4 away....

 

[André4Renaults]

Hi Richard, I keep a good old fashioned Krook Lock in my car, it's a fairly good deterrent. Quick and easy to use. I've also fitted a quick release negative terminal clamp, known as a
Dis-car-nect, handy if you leave the car for an extended period, say overnight away from home. It's also useful when working on the cars electrics.

Regards Brian

Yes, the dis-car-nect is a great device! I've fitted one to my Subaru, as it has a keyless ignition and starting system, and also to my classic Daf 33. I like the 25amp fuse that allows the car'e electrics to work normally, but NOT to start the car. I suppose, if you had the necessary know-how you could arrange for the central locking in a modern car to lock the car doors once this fuse "pops" and as the electric windows would also be inoperative, the would be thief would be trapped.... Wait a minute, I'm not sure if this is legal! (Sounds like a fun idea, though!)

 

[laxeian]

Has anyone ever made a sleeve that would clamp/ lock round gear-leaver , the length of sleeve effectivley locking the car in say reverse?
Owned a few classic Fords etc in the past ( and other ‘ easy to steal ‘ classics) Krooklocks are a good visual deterant, but unfortunatley the more desirable a model becomes the more it becomes the target of ‘professional’ thieves, they wont be deterred by a krooklock, but will be more so by a disc lock on steering wheel, more expensive and cumbersome, but short of lifting and towing more effective due to the effort/ noise it takes to remove a disclock over a krooklock.

 

[AdamWilkes]

When I bought mine four years ago all the locks had been forced & broken. I replaced all of them, but hardly ever use them. If a determined thief wants the car & tows it away then no locks will work anyway.