Thief proofing defender?

[sparg]

hello,

new to the forum, have recently purchased defender 90 td5 (2001). Have heard rumours that theft of them is rife. Best prevention measures: suggestions?

regards

sparg

[headhunter]

hello,

new to the forum, have recently purchased defender 90 td5 (2001). Have heard rumours that theft of them is rife. Best prevention measures: suggestions?

regards

sparg

We tend not to publicize our protection measures too widely, you never know who is looking!

Not wanting to give any tips to would be thieves.

I am sure someone will be along later with a few common sense tips.

John

[hoss1720]

Get yourself a rocking chair and a shotgun.You can sit admiring your pride and joy safe in the knowledge that shotgun pellets generally travel faster than the thieves feet can carry them.

only joking of course!

a crossbow is far quieter!

[keithjh]

hello,

new to the forum, have recently purchased defender 90 td5 (2001). Have heard rumours that theft of them is rife. Best prevention measures: suggestions?

regards

sparg

Pair of dogs that always make a racket when people around and then a .243 with moderator

Keith

[headhunter]

So much for common sense

[western]

alarm/immobiliser [already fitted on most Td5's]

mechlok that locks the brakes or clutch pedal

steering wheel full steel cover

pedal steel cover box.

just a few suggestions

[mudmad]

plug mine on to the mains , its a pain in the morning though if you forget to turn it off !!!!!

[western]

plug mine on to the mains , its a pain in the morning though if you forget to turn it off !!!!!

sure to wake you up though

[freeagent]

I've got a disc-lok that covers the whole steering wheel... its a good visible deterant to the oportunist, but won't scare off a pro....

[RichardAllen]

I've got a disc-lok that covers the whole steering wheel... its a good visible deterant to the oportunist, but won't scare off a pro....

I think this is the point, who are you trying to prevent knicking it. If it is the average joy-riding kid, then a standard Halfords steering lock approach might do. If you want to prevent a more determined villain trying to nick your truck to order or for export, more sophisticated means will have to put in place. These latter will almost certainly be largely to your own design.

For a modern vehicle like a TD5, theft prevention measures are usually multi-layered (door lock, steering lock, immobiliser key switch etc). So much so that the favoured means of theft these days seems to be to break into a house and nick the keys. So don't keep the Halfords steering lock key in the same place, on the same ring as you other truck keys !

If you want to put in something in addition and if you start with the point that the thief you are trying to foil is not going to hoist your truck on to the back of a flatbed, but needs to drive it away, then you have to stop him:

physically accessing the controls, (door locks, steering lock, handbrake lock, pedal box locks),

and/or starting the truck -(preventing electricty betting to the starter motor and/or starter motor solenoid),

and/or stop him providing fuel air and electricity to the engine.

In doing this you need to understand what the TD5 already has in place so that your additions supplement Land Rover's theft prevention devices, which in turn means knowing how these devices work. Clearly this information is not easily available.

My thoughts are that, trusting you are not a villain fishing, in asking this question this way you are not likely to want to start messign about with the TD5's electrics etc, so my advice would be get a Halfords style lock which fits the truck well, and keep the truck and lock keys separate at home.

[pete3000]

quick release, removable hub steering wheel. makes carrying round the shops on your keyring a chore though

if all else fails get a decent gps/gsm tracker fitted, it wont stop your landy getting nicked but the police like playing hide and seek, and have good recovery rates. Will probably save a bob or two on insurance.

Pete

[SteveG]

if all else fails get a decent gps/gsm tracker fitted, it wont stop your landy getting nicked but the police like playing hide and seek, and have good recovery rates. Will probably save a bob or two on insurance.

Waste of time and money fitting these to a Defender.

Another vote for Mecklock. And as Ralph says, all TD5's ship with alarm ECU. So if yours doesn't have this visit your local independent Land Rover garage and order two fobs and it will take them 10 mins to activate alarm/immobiliser. Then use bolts instead of existing self tappers on nearside light surround.

Cheers

Steve

[Porny]

If it was my Td5....

Fit a lock to the lid under the drivers seat - thus preventing access to the ECU

Move the horn for the alarm (or the battery back up siren) - at the moment it is situated behind the passenger headlamp, move it backwards or prevent access to it - the favorite method of access is through the wheel arch spat, or the more long winded method of removing the headlamp.

But if it's not where it's supposed to be, then harder for the people to disconnect.

A mechlock from Mud Stuff - http://www.mudstuff.co.uk/Meck_Lock.html

Not cheap, but very effective.

A Disk Lock wheel lock - a geniune one, not a cheap copy.

Ian

[disco_al]

Move the horn for the alarm (or the battery back up siren)

similar idea, but get an auto electrical specialist to put a rather loud siren inside the cab

concrete a large spike with chunky forged ring on the end into your drive then each night fasten a big chain to it that is looped round a nice chunky (and visible) section of the truck? (stops the thieving scum from lifting it)

multiple immobilisers will stop it being driven away, but hiab's are a pro's friend these days, takes them minutes to lift it and drive off. a tilt switch used to be fitted in some alarm systems, although this would require it to be parked on level ground.

best bet is to try and make it as hard as possible to get at in the first place, gravel drives are useful as they make a noise when walked on.

[FridgeFreezer]

A mechlock from Mud Stuff - http://www.mudstuff.co.uk/Meck_Lock.html

Not cheap, but very effective.

A Disk Lock wheel lock - a geniune one, not a cheap copy.

Sorry but I don't see either of those being that effective - you can drive a vehicle without using the clutch, and steering locks have been proven to take longer to remove with the key than without it.

As has been said, the Hiab is the weapon of choice for today's cheeky chaps of the road, and there's only so much you can do about that.

[Guest diesel_jim]

Sorry but I don't see either of those being that effective - you can drive a vehicle without using the clutch,

Ah... with the meck lock, when you press the clutch pedal, there's a one way valve in it, so the pedal, in effect, stays down, rendering the vehicle immobile (but i'd get myself an armoured clutch pipe as well to stop someone getting under it with a knife and cutting the rubber pipe)

same with the dual mecklock, you press the brake pedal and it stays pressurised, so the brakes stay on

[Andrew Chua]

Waste of time and money fitting these to a Defender.

Another vote for Mecklock. And as Ralph says, all TD5's ship with alarm ECU. So if yours doesn't have this visit your local independent Land Rover garage and order two fobs and it will take them 10 mins to activate alarm/immobiliser. Then use bolts instead of existing self tappers on nearside light surround.

Cheers

Steve

This has got me thinking. how do i actually do this on my own. I'm using some aftermarket car alarm. but does not do the imobiliser bit. how to i get this working?

[Three Blades]

Do ALL Td5s ship with alarm/immobiliser ECU ?

I have a 1999 Td5 (one of the first) without any ABS/central locking etc.

This does not appear to have an immobiliser.

Is it really as easy as popping down to LR to get it activated ?

Sounds far too simple to me.

Thanks

[SteveG]

Yes all TD5's ship with the 10AS alarm unit. It's behind the dash bolted to the bulkhead.

You buy two standard LR Defender fobs (cost about 60 pounds). Then with Testbook, Autologic, Rovacom, nanocom etc. the alarm/Immobiliser can be activated and the fobs can be then synced to it.

Personally I wouldn't have an LR dealer to do it as they'll probably book 30mins to an hour to the job, where as an independent LR garage will charge 10-15 pounds.

Cheers

Steve

[Three Blades]

Thanks Steve,

Makes you wonder why they are not activated from new.

Do they have a central door locking output so that I can interface with an aftermarket lock too ?

[pete3000]

Waste of time and money fitting these to a Defender.

Steve

How so? If it can't be fitted due to lack of hiding places fair enough, but if you can fit it to basic plant equipment I would say this has already been well thought out.

A GSM/pocsag tracker does not need a view of the sky like gps systems as it sleeps until given a wakeup code at which point a radio beacon signal is switched on which lets the police direction find it. So remains active with a backup battery even if vehicle is dead electrically.

Has anyone ever seen a tracker unit it could look like any various automotive item (wiper motor, relay, box, door lock, fluffy dice )

Besides if you shop around the various manufacturers, Tracker, Securicor, etc they promote schemes through various big insurers to reduce your theft excess to £0. So not a waste of money either IMHO. Some offer to pay you £1000 on top of your insurance payout if the vehicle is not seen again.

So if a HIAB truck has been used and your vehicle is found in the yard with it then a lot more than just your vehicle will be recovered/seized.

Pete

[FridgeFreezer]

A GSM/pocsag tracker does not need a view of the sky like gps systems as it sleeps until given a wakeup code at which point a radio beacon signal is switched on which lets the police direction find it. So remains active with a backup battery even if vehicle is dead electrically.

Which works fine until someone loads it into a steel container or a metal-clad workshop. This happens with luxury cars, they get loaded into a container and are down the docks awaiting export before anyone knows where it is.

[pete3000]

Which works fine until someone loads it into a steel container or a metal-clad workshop. This happens with luxury cars, they get loaded into a container and are down the docks awaiting export before anyone knows where it is.

s'pose so. Tracker seem to think they can pick up the signal if it is hidden like this. I have my doubts though, if the police unit trying to find it is any distance away. The garage or container would act like a large faraday cage.

I remember watching cops, cameras, and yobs or similar. where they found a mini digger in a lorry park, inside a lorry. but the lorry had a clear plasticy roof thingy.

And another 4x4 in a lock up where it was mainly metal clad but had wooden sections.

The only hope is then you would notice it had gone and report it asap. before it could be squirrelled away/broken/set fire to.

Pete

[SteveG]

How so?

On a Defender they can be found and disabled in minutes/seconds, especially ones with GSM tracking as there are limited places to install aerial.

I have personally had tracker and trackstar units fitted on cars (had to for M5 etc) and I also had a trackstar re-fitted to first Defender. It's from this experience that I know how easy it is to find one on a Defender and with a single cut disable it.

As for money off insurance, I never found that they made any difference and certainly didn't bring excess down to zero. Also as soon as you have a modified Defender you can forget getting most large insurance company to insure it.

It's for these reasons I say they are a waste of time and money on a Defender.

Cheers

Steve

[SteveG]

Thanks Steve,

Makes you wonder why they are not activated from new.

Do they have a central door locking output so that I can interface with an aftermarket lock too ?

It seems to depend on vehicle spec. I tried to activate my 10AS for CDL and still couldn't get a pulse signal out of the correct pins on unit, some have successfully done this though.

Steve