when this first happened, i said i wasnt goinig to buy anymore accessories for my truck but now i think about it and i dnt wanna punish myself(without subs,car ride is unbearable!) i think i am going to get 5% tint all the way around so that they cannot see in, which will hopefully deter them away. as for subwoofers and an amp, i had my amp under the right hand side seat, the one which flips up. and my subwoofers well, i had a whole box back there, my seat was flipped up and the box just sat there i had no backseat. im thinking if i do this again i will buy some sort of "L" bracket and bolt the box down in my truck as wwll as the amp. hopefully between that the tints and the clifford alarm i payed all too much for, they will be dissapointed next time around!

 

Why would you leave your wallet in your truck??? My truck has been broken into twice, first time they stole my double din DVD player, they just pushed open my rear sliding window. After that I had an alarm installed and a year later someone tried it again and set off the alarm, they ended up crawling in the window and ran out the door and got nothing. On a funny note I had a foxbody mustang in the parking lot and left for the weekend, came back and went to drive it (locks never worked) and noticed the glovebox open and the bottom of the steering shaft ripped off, someone tried to steal it! Joke was on them there was absolutly nothing in the car not even a stereo and the battery was dead

 

Thieves suck! I've experienced my fair share of hassles from them but I got a little revenge once.

A few years ago I awoke to the sound of my trucks alarm going off in my driveway at 2:00 in the morning. I had the handles rigged to micro switches so no damage. The alarm was set off when the thief tried the door handle to check if it was locked. Unfortunately he did break into a few other vehicles on my street before he set off my truck's alarm.

Anyway, I have video surveillance at my house. We checked the video and immediately recognized the car parked in the street from which the guy came from then recognized the guy. It was the guy that had delivered a pizza to my house early that evening. In the video, you could also see him break into my neighbors car across the street before he tried mine. So...

I got a few friends together one night when I noticed the same vehicle at the local pizza place. We ordered a pizza to an apartment in a complex a few blocks from my house and the apartment was on the other side of the building from the parking lot. My friends and I waited in the parking lot laying low in our vehicles.

Sure enough, the same guy shows up to deliver the pizza. He gets out of his car and leaves it running while he goes around the building to deliver the pizza. He really shouldn't have left his car running ...

When he came back to where his car had been parked, I was standing at the curb. He immediately realized his car was gone and was freaking out. He asked me if I saw what happened. I simply replied, "ya know, you look a lot like a guy that tried to break into my truck a few nights ago. Too bad about your car." He swore he didn't know what I was talking about. I simply told him "I know your name, I know where you live. If anyone messes with one of my vehicles again, you'll lose a lot more than your car."

I believe the guy's car was found undamaged at the local Sheriff's office parked illegally in a handicapped spot. I heard rumors it was still full of a bunch of stolen stuff including stolen guns when the Sheriff's Department went through the car.

 

WOW, ballsy but effective. I wish I could have the cahoones to do the same, lol.

 

jajajaja that was a good one man , i wouldve loved to see the look on his face.

 

damn good story, but if i was face to face with the person who had done this to me i dont think i would have been that calm. what are micro switches, v_tach mentions them and i am interested. any input?

 

The guy never actually did any damage to my truck or stole anything from me though I know he fully intended to do so. I have a bit of a temper but this opportunity was just too good so it was easier to stay calm to pull it off.

In general, these are the types of switches I installed on the door handles. The particular switches I used were industrial and weather proof.



A bit of aluminum angle to mount the switch so its placed properly that a part of the actual door handle contacts the switch when its pulled to open the door. The switch is wired to an instant trigger wire for the alarm.

 

I like that, I always thought car alarms were equipped with these types of machine. Because I guess a stealer most of the time checks first if the cars open.

 

Some vehicles I've had in the past automatically activated the dome light when the door handles were pulled whether the doors were locked or not. Seems most vehicles don't do that today so adding the switches is required if activating the alarm in such a manner is desired.

Its usually very simple and has been a very effective deterrent based on my experience. Thieves don't like surprises.