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[Kev-Lar]

Hi all, anyone have any thoughts on the best security device to keep my lovely Landy in my hands and not in someone else’s greasy mitts? Looked at several options and don’t know what’s best?

[andyjb]

Hello
This has been covered a number of times. If they want it they will take it. Opinion is whats best to slow them down. Make security visible and invisible. From steering wheel covers to pedal covers trackers to isolation switches. Get into the habit of using it every single time. Just like you put your seatbelt on every single time(if your land rover has them)
Andy

[Wittsend]

What's is good is all of them ... and even then 

If they want it, they will crane it over your house whilst you are asleep inside 

What I/we can recommend is that you use Smartwater and paint it all over your vehicle.

Vehicles do get recovered, scrap yards do get raided and the Police do repatriate parts.

The other thing is to make sure your vehicle is properly insured - have an agreed value policy.
Then keep records/copies of the sale of similar vehicles, keep updated records and pictures of your vehicle, inside & out and engine so you can argue the toss with your insurers.

Assume it's going to go ...

Finally - don't tell us on an open forum what measures you employ 


 

[Kev-Lar]

Thanks guys, I’ve no intentions to broadcast anything that would jeopardise security but just after any thoughts on the best way to slow down any would be thief.

[Tom]

Remove the rotor arm?
Remove a wheel if it’s going to be parked up for a period?
Remove steering wheel?
Switch somewhere in line with the coil feed to dizzy?
Tracker?
Clutch claw?
Pedal lock? Chain from pedal to steering wheel?
Disklok?

[nathanglasgow]

On two of mine I've got twin fuel tanks. One tank is usually empty unless we're going on a long trip so I just set the change over lever to the empty tank when parked . Might get half a mile or so before it conks out. Then there is the hidden switch on the coil supply side. Both are methods are very quick and easy. Then there is the old standard of leaving transfer box and overdrive in neutral to confuse the opportunists.

[g6anz]

You could fit one of these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorbike-Compact-System-Remote-Control/dp/B00L5P4GAO/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1Z6PKPYIKR400&dchild=1&keywords=motorbike+alarm&qid=1593764072&sprefix=MOTORBIKE+ALARM%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNFNNNkxMNk1KRURMJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjk4MDU2MVROR1lOVUlUQkFaUyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDgzMDkxMVVGUjNKSllYS0RIMiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
They work on movement ,so no need for complex door switches etc.

[Lord Unstone]

stout chain and padlock around the clutch and brake pedals, a 'red key' battery isolater (hidden away) and a simple steering wheel crooklock. When I first got the stout chain, it was locked around the front bumper, the other end drilled into a wall. Unfortunately, one day I forgot to unlock it, and ripped the chain out of the wall!

[Fluffle-Valve]

I have a battery cut-Out switch key. No Key, No battery Power.
I also have a steering lock and a pedal to steering wheel lock.
You can get in the door with a small screwdriver, so I never keep anything of value in it.

All this won't stop the thieves if they want it, but it may slow them down a bit while they make a noise and hopefully someone will hear.
However, it could be silently lifted onto a truck and gone in minutes and never to be seen again.

I have thought about fitting a tracker. That way, you may get some sort of idea as to where it has gone, but the thieves will be looking for something like that if they nick it.

[Richard]

I use an "elephant" I think it is called, a lock from steering wheel to brake pedal. Modern electronic distributors have anti-theft options with unlocking codes via your mobile phone (this one https://is.gd/GC8tvF). No mobile, no ignition – and empty mobile battery, no ignition ;-)
Richard

Hi all, anyone have any thoughts on the best security device to keep my lovely Landy in my hands and not in someone else’s greasy mitts? Looked at several options and don’t know what’s best?

[agg221]

Security is a question of layers.

1. Access - making reaching the vehicle more difficult, ideally not visible so they may not know it's there. Probably not worth considering access in the context of getting in to the vehicle - rather too difficult to achieve that kind of security so assume they will enter if they see it/get to it. I have a rolling restoration project in a shed with the doors shut and to the best of my knowledge it hasn't been spotted.
2. Visible deterrents - things that have to be cut through/dismantled to get it moving. Things which have to be moved out of the way to get it out. These are all deterrents which also slow you down when you want to use it. Things fixed to the vehicle such as steering locks, pedal locks, wheel clamps are in the same category. The thief knows what has to be done, but then has to make an assessment of how long it will take them to get past them and whether it's worth it vs. getting spotted. Said project above has a 3-ton lump of timber in front of the shed doors which would slow most people down a bit.
3. Removing things. Missing parts make driving it away unlikely unless you happen to be carrying the right parts. I once had a car stolen and pushed down the street trying to bump start it but the lack of distributor and plug leads was enough for them to not get anywhere so it was abandoned. Putting them back on was quick enough. Wheels have the same effect but most other components are more fiddly to take on and off and get set up right again afterwards.
4. Hidden switches - these are quick for you to reset but difficult for someone else to work out, unless they can be bypassed. Can be electrical or mechanical.
5. Trackers - all the above make it difficult to extract and stop it going somewhere under its own power but if dragged/craned out and loaded up it has gone anyway. Trackers give some chance of then knowing where it is if you are lucky and quick enough off the mark. It looks like many can be jammed though.
6. Smartwater - not much consolation to the individual as a few parts back maybe is of limited value, but as a collective exercise it does have the potential to reduce overall effectiveness of stealing vehicles if you increase the odds of people ultimately getting caught and taken out of circulation for a few months in prison. However, if you have ever bought parts through this forum or on Ebay, have you ever scanned them for Smartwater traces...?

Alec

[Formerlyjeremy]

Ok there may still be a few thieves around who know how to hotwire a Land Rover - so there's not much you can do about them.  Its also difficult to conceal much in a Land Rover - and however clever a device is - if it can be found it can probably be removed quickly.

So - think about what are the most annoying faults - like the intermittent ones - or those that happen after the thing has sprung into life. So what about a fuel valve that lets air into the diesel so that the thing ceases to draw fuel and when the valve is found and shut it will need bleeding.  Could have the same on a petrol - lets air in and the engine stops after the fuel in the float chamber has been used.  Where to vent it - back into the tank  so there's no risk of leakage - it just draws air from the top of the tank.

[Wittsend]

.... and out of spite and frustration they will just torch your vehicle

[Formerlyjeremy]

And if they torch it then that's it - you know what's happened - and they don't make any profit from it.

[Sunny Jim]

Stamp or engrave all the components of the vehicle whilst you rebuild/repair is making the parts/vehicle much harder to sell, and make sure some are obvious like etched windows. Whilst these can be changed, it is an effort to do so, and makes the vehicle identifiable if driven away with false plates, or taken on a towtruck with none.

Sunny Jim