Overall Car Audio Security

solacedagony · Post by **solacedagony** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 7:36 am

Ok guys, I think I've under estimated the importance of the security of the stuff in my vehicle. I live in a pretty decent neighborhood and whatnot. A friend of my told me yesterday that his gf's cheap HU was stolen from her car, multiple other peope had reported their cars being broken into, and another guy he knew had their BMW stolen. This all in about 2 weeks.
Then another post on a seperate forum prompted the guy to completely leave car audio.

All this admittedly worried me a little bit, so I've been thinking how I can secure the equipment in my vehicle.

I'm going to give some specific concerns I have and post my ideas. Please comment on them by number if you want to respond, just for clarity's sake (I'm gonna post a bit :) )

1) Headunit: Right now, my headunit sits in the plastic trim piece and then the trim piece pushes into the dash. I didn't even replace the screws for the trim after I installed the HU, so it pulls right out. Big no-no right there. I'm thinking that I could get a piece of flat aluminum and cut a line down the center so that that it'll only pull out so far until you remove the security screw that I'll stick in there somewhere. I also want to more permanently attach my trim piece to the HU. Finally, attaching the trim piece to the dash, I have security screws, but I'm not sure if they'll fit or not. If not, I was thinking I might be able to tac weld nuts right onto a piece of metal or something in the dash that the trim piece could get security screwed onto.

2) Amp Rack: The amp rack is secured by velcro to the back wall of the truck. It works well for holding it in place, but not if someone tried to steal it. The only other thing stopping them is the wire, which I did quite a good job getting it in there, so you wouldn't be able to just rip it out. In any case, that's clearly not going to be good enough. My idea for that one was to insert hurricane nuts into the back wall and using the security screws on those. Four of those tightened and I don't think it would go anywhere. If the hurricane nuts wouldn't work, I could tac weld nuts back there that the security screws could bolt right onto.

3) Sub Enclosure: Because of it's size, it can't go anywhere without the passenger seat being moved all the way forward. It also can't be removed without moving the passenger seat all the way forward, the driver seat all the way back and taken out the driver's side door. It's just too big to make it around the passenger seat out the passenger door. I have absolutely no clue how I could secure that outside of bending a piece of aluminum and just screwing the box to the back wall. But that wouldn't look very pretty.

4) Alarm: I have no alarm and I know very little about alarms. If I could install one myself, that'd be preferable (I can get pretty creative). I know I'd want one of those 2-way pager systems so I would know if it got set off. Other than that, I'm not sure what they have that I'd need, so any kind of direction here would be wonderful.

I'm planning on doing some form of 1 and 2 this weekend, or at least getting an idea of how I can get them done. 2 should be relatively simple. 1 I'll just have to pull everything out and see what I have to work with under the dash, or if you guys have any ideas on securing the HU. 3 and 4 I have no clue. I'll do some alarm research this weekend so I'm not an idiot on that topic.

Sorry for the long *ss post, but I am slightly worried about this! Thanks for you read through my rant and even more thanks if you post on it!

Scarrell · Post by **Scarrell** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 8:00 am

so.. what if someone broke into your car and cut them little plastic pieces that are secured to your dash? and pull your hu right out?

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 8:16 am

best thing you can do overall is going to be to secure your equipmetn, i would do anything real extravagant to the dash because head units are cheaper than dashboards, they will pull to get the fucker out or use a crowbar if they have it.....just mount it solidly...same with the rest of it. mount it solidly and the most important thing is to use common sense....get an alarm and park wisely.......

Darthness · Post by **Darthness** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 8:19 am

eh, if they're not you're average junkie trying to steal a radio to get you rnext hit, professionals i guess, chances are most of that stuff isn't giogn to work if they really want in.. I've seen someone have a theif cut a hole in their bumper, cut the battery cables and such, and then have free access from there. they proceeded to tear the dash apart to egt the radio out, and ripped all his a/v stuff..

but yeah, i would start with an alarm if possible.. 2-way pager, etc. Thats my plan for my next vehicle.. giong to do tint and a nice alarm before anything. Chances are if they try to get in and they hear piezo's go off or something, they'll probably run off before they get away with anything.

this works well too:

lancer1978 · Post by **lancer1978** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 8:20 am

Alarms are actually very simple Devices, I Can guide you more or less through it online!! Yes it is that simple, even a 2 way alarm! And a starter, well that is alot more complex, but alarms are not as bad as eveyrone pputs them out to be!! I have installed MANY alarms, even took a course on it! Pm me if you wish and I can hook you up

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:15 am

that whole kill the battery thing can be got around too darth...all it takes is a small 12 volt back up battery and a relay and i can make your alarm go apeshit if the main battery is disconnected....difference is that now it wont stop until the backup battery dies or the siren gets smashed all to shit but ive also put piezo button type buzzers in the interior and it gets really bad in there....

Darthness · Post by **Darthness** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:19 am

yeah thats my plan.. i want to piezo's in the interior.

solacedagony · Post by **solacedagony** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:26 am

Well, the idea is that if the person takes MORE time to get the equipment, the more chance that they'll be caught. Plus, it'll take a hell of a lot more effort to get the equipment out, so less chance they'll actually get it. I'm thinking optimistically here.

They aren't getting those security screws out unless they have the correct bit or a drill. And those aren't easy to drill. I had one go in crooked and it took me like 10 minutes to get that drilled out. (Plus a broken bit

)

Anyway, in regards to the alarm, what packages should I be looking at and what kinds of prices will I be looking at?

solacedagony · Post by **solacedagony** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:29 am

Scarrell wrote:so.. what if someone broke into your car and cut them little plastic pieces that are secured to your dash? and pull your hu right out?

That's why I'm going to security screw a piece of aluminum to the back of the HU and then the other side into the dash somewhere.

But I need an alarm to let me know that someone has broken into my car for that to truly be effective.

lancer1978 · Post by **lancer1978** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:48 am

WEll things I like to look for, Mainly are 2 way paging, And hood and trunk pins, as apposed to the internal lights setup!! Another good feature is RAnge, with a 2 way I know mine only is good for 50' or so, but this is good enoguh for me cause my car is parked right by my window of my bed