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Defender Security - Removable Steering wheel?


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Hi guys,

Seeing as Ive had such a wealth of help and advice in my first post (Thanks again guys!) I thought Id see if you can help me on this subject..

Im toying with the idea of looking into upgrading the Steering wheel, the standard wheel I have now is great and I really think its apart of the character....However, it is a little on the large side and I think if it was of smaller diameter it would be perfect.

If I can get my hands on a aftermarket wheel (Preferably one that doesn't look like it should be in a tuned mazda or some kind of prop from need for speed films) I will get one.

More importantly if I get a removable wheel and took it off instead of fitting my steering lock would it be any more of deterrent to a thief if he was faced with the flat boss where the steering wheel should be?

Cheers Guys

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Unfortunately as a security device its nothing that a pair of mole grips wont overcome but as a deterrent it *may* make your neighbours defender more attractive.

One advantage of the disklock type deterrents is they are brightly coloured and quite obvious before the thief does damage as he effects an entry. That's one reason my pedal lock thingy is painted the brightest orange I could find.

A removable wheel has advantages when you need to maintain bits of a Defender dash as it improves access.

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It'll deter an opportunist, but if anyone is specifically targeting your 110 will take it regardless. Any security is better than none, the steering lock will slow them down but I'm not so sure being faced with a blank boss would hinder them much. Saying that I've looked into them too, some bosses are quite deep due to their locking mechanism and I've read that they can get loose and wobble through time which given the load on a defender steering wheel (even with PAS) won't be ideal. I remember a kit from back in the day that had a security boss that you could lock the wheel onto in the boot to save you from carrying the wheel about with you, no idea if such a kit still exists.

Any clever thief may bring their own wheel....

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Do landrover make a 14" wheel for defenders? Maybe the puma one is a tad smaller

Removable boss' are usually quite long so you would also end up with the wheel in your face.a Disklock is also a PITA to get off when you have the key so I would have thought it's a fairly sizeable deterrent when you don't.

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Thanks Guys....

Ultimately I think you might be right, the wheel lock, big and clunky and an arse to fit/remove as it is, probably does more visually than having a removable wheel when it comes to deterring a would be scumbag...

I think ill get a floor post fitted on my driveway anyhow......

And I'm also looking at these http://foundry4x4.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_72_1779&product_id=141

Does anyone have any experience with these? They appear to be a great device to deter a thief and more so, very quick and easy to deploy and remove!!

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Does anyone have any experience with these? They appear to be a great device to deter a thief and more so, very quick and easy to deploy and remove!!

yes thats the one I have on mine, they are fairly easy to fit and very convenient to use as there is no great lump of a thing to store when not in use.

IMO they need to be painted brightly so they can be seen.

they fit very close to the brake pedal when deployed, in fact mine moves the pedal enough to apply the brakes a bit and make the brake lights come on, if you stick a carpet to the back ( pedal side) it stops the lock fully deploying without a good shove.. that, I only discovered *after* I glued a ......

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for a while I ran with a length of 40mm 4mm wall box and some arms welded to it, a good padlock to hold it, filled with battery sounder and tilt switch - I suspect it would have been quite hard to get off without lots of damage and significant noise - but like all things it was only a deterrent.

At work we had a massive issue with earth conductors and rf cables being stolen from sites, we deployed smart water and theft dropped to nil overnight. Now there can be lots of reasons for that but whatever.

My house and LR's are drenched in it

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I had a removable boss on my series - I don't think anyone makes a LR specific removable boss, so you will probably end up with a LR boss to standard 6 bolt fitting, then the removable boss stacked on that. It worked OK, but the wheel was a shade close to you, and the indicator stalks a bit of a reach.

If it's any help, I have a 36 spline defender wheel boss that doesn't fit my new 110 in the shed somewhere...

For steering wheels, mk1 MX5's have quite nice MOMO leather rimmed wheels as standard - if you take the centre trim off they are 3 spoke metal MOMO wheels underneath, and they can be had very cheaply!

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Theres a chap selling small steering wheels on ebay for a shed load of tokens , these are 48 spline Mini wheels , was nearly tempted but bought a Mini one instead , stuck a Landy oval on it and Roberts yer mothers doins , small enough to make a difference to the belly problem ( if you have one that is ) but chunky enough to get a hold of

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