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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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Albert ----
Too many activities in Ensenada, races etc.
They should move it all up to Rosarito Bch and that could be the designated snake-pit of Baja.
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Al G
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2647
Registered: 12-19-2004
Location: Todos Santos/Full time for now...
Member Is Offline
Mood: Wondering what is next???
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
Albert ----
Too many activities in Ensenada, races etc.
They should move it all up to Rosarito Bch and that could be the designated snake-pit of Baja. |
I would be OK with that
"JUST DON"T STOP"
Albert G
Remember, if you haven\'t got a smile on your face and laughter in your heart, then you are just a sour old fart!....
The most precious thing we have is life, yet it has absolutely no trade-in value.
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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I gota stop Im Moving to Ensenada
what is that old saying about throwing the skillet in to the fire or something like that
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Lee
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3597
Registered: 10-2-2006
Location: High in the Colorado Rockies
Member Is Offline
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Vehicle alarms Revisited....
| Quote: | Originally posted by Lee
I STRONGLY recommend that everyone have an alarm installed on their vehicle before going South. Nothing is full proof, but unless a professional is
intent on stealing your vehicle, an amateur will be scared off. |
A few days ago, I was at the local Car Toys shop in Boulder (alarms, stereos, phones) getting an alarm installed in my new/used F350. This is my
second Ford pickup and my impression of Ford's in Baja is that they are easy to hot wire, and steal. My alarm is a Clifford -- don't have the
model number -- but it has the ignition disabler. All four doors (it's a crew cab) are wired and the hood too. I told the installer I had had a
car broken into years ago that had an alarm. The thieves broke the driver window and popped the hood then cut the battery cable -- within 5-10
seconds I'm guessing, then stole the expensive stereo I had plus about 100 CDs. Boy did I learn a lesson about leaving stuff in my car. The alarm
wasn't enough. So, the installer said he could ''disguise'' the alarm cable (though it would still be connected to the battery) so it wouldn't look
conspicuous. When I came back the next day for the install, and spoke with another installler, this guy said he didn't think the thieves would
stand around looking for more cables to cut, if the alarm hadn't stopped. And he said the only ''guarantee'' was an ''additional'' alarm battery as
a backup to the truck battery. The backup battery is small and hidden inside the interior of the truck. It'll never be found. It's tied into
one of two batteries under the hood. (The truck is Super Duty and has two batteries.)
My concern is less that I have valuables in my truck and more around my truck being stolen.
For smaller Toyota pickups, even if a thief couldn't hotwire the pickup, it could be broken into, and pushed a distance to where another car could tow
it off. If it didn't have an alarm. That's got to be the amateur way but something I could see happening in Baja.
The additional battery with install cost $150. The math was almost immediate for me: how much insurance do I need to prevent my truck from being
stolen?
I once had a VW bug that was easy enough to disable. Toggle switch with two wires: one to the distributor and the other was the ground. Flip the
switch and the distributor wouldn't work. That was after I had had the VW stolen and the interior stripped -- all custom work I'd had done in TJ.
So, folks, unless someone can tell me how a vehicle can be stolen with an alarm going off -- and I'm not talking about urban alarms that everyone
ignores -- I'm talking about an alarm going off in a parking lot that attracts attention. I'm admitting that nothing is totally fool proof but then
this stuff isn't rocket science. Break a window on a vehicle, or somehow get the door open, and an alarm will make most thieves walk or run away.
Makes sense to me.
US Marines: providing enemies of America an opportunity to die for their country since 1775.
What I say before any important decision.
F*ck it.
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Al G
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2647
Registered: 12-19-2004
Location: Todos Santos/Full time for now...
Member Is Offline
Mood: Wondering what is next???
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Lee...did you ask if there was anyway that it could be defeated with a battery back-up...anyway at all? Where is the alarm horn and wire located? Can
a code tool defect it?
Albert G
Remember, if you haven\'t got a smile on your face and laughter in your heart, then you are just a sour old fart!....
The most precious thing we have is life, yet it has absolutely no trade-in value.
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Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Lee
So, folks, unless someone can tell me how a vehicle can be stolen with an alarm going off -- and I'm not talking about urban alarms that everyone
ignores -- I'm talking about an alarm going off in a parking lot that attracts attention. |
Are you kidding?
No one pays any attention to a car alarm...especially in a parking lot. Only if the sound becomes annoying. Usually it's a gringo that finally
complains... Mexicans just turn up the music. 
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toneart
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4901
Registered: 7-23-2006
Member Is Offline
Mood: Skeptical
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Since this thread was started, the tragic story of a truck with four Golden Retrievers was stolen in Rosarito Beach appeared here in another thread.
It wasn't clear if the dogs were actually in the truck or a camper.
I always travel with my big dog who has a penthouse suite in the super crew cab. Now I really worry about him. I am usually making the trip alone
(with the dog) so there is no one to stay in the truck while I make a stop. The point is, I think most Mexicans are afraid of dogs, but if someone
really wants your truck, the dog may not be much of a deterrent. It does seem logical to me that the thief would let the dog out right there before
driving off. (It is very puzzling that the four dogs referred to above have not been sighted).
Often I am towing a trailer. I should probably put a lock on the hitch. It seems to me that, even if they hotwired the truck, they would not want to
tow a trailer too, and would look for a different opportunity. Not only would the trailer be more difficult to maneuver, it would also be conspicuous.
Of course, break-ins are still quite possible, but that is where a dog may be a deterrent.
I would not have an alarm. They are only annoying to the people who are not interested in stealing, which is just about everybody. Alarms are so
sensitive that they go off with any vibration or loud noise. Because of that, there are so many false alarms that nobody pays any attention to them.
Can anyone shoot holes in my logic?....Please?
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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I also take my dog everywhere I go but, she wouldn't be a deterrent. From now on, I'll pay the parking lot guards [ I guess that's what they are
] to stand by my truck while I'm in the store. I don't care what it will cost, two or three bucks I figure. I couldn't stand to go through what
that Rosarito couple is going through now.
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Mango
Senior Nomad
Posts: 685
Registered: 4-11-2006
Location: Alta California &/or Mexicali
Member Is Offline
Mood: Bajatastic
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I vote for the steering wheel lock from Pepboys. I have one that locks around the steering column and covers the front of the steering wheel. You
would have to defeat the lock on the device (most likely, or saw off the whole steering wheel at the base to get it off)
Many steering wheel locks, i.e. the club, can be defeated in seconds with a hacksaw, since they lock to the outside part of steering wheel (which they
just saw through and remove the club) and not the column.
It's not foolproof. Nothing is. But, it makes it harder than the next car.
Nobody cares about car alarms, except the owners of cars within 100ft that have alarms that sound like the one going off.
Here is the link to the one I have, click on the "Column" tab. They have some boat locks too, so some people might find them interesting.
http://www.unbreakable.com/Unbreakable_Auto_CL.htm
BTW - I never pay the parking attendants more than 5 pesos. Not that I'm being cheap.. but most people only pay them 2 or 3 pesos, and when in
Rome... I get my car washed for $3 USD
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
Member Is Offline
Mood: wait and see
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| Quote: | Originally posted by oxxo
I drive a beater in Mexico. Nobody wants it. I wish someone would steal it so the spouse would let me get a new one.  |
I did that for a long time, called it "Pizza Insurance" as in driving a pizza chit. Still have the 82 Chevy but also an 04 Taco now which uses half
the gas of the Chevy. I want to take the Toyo next trip down but all the stuff I keep reading does concern me.
No catalytic converter on the Chevy (I live in AZ- nobody cares)
I do have an alarm on the Toy and also a "club" thing for the steering wheel. But, I noticed on the club packaging it said its "guarantee" only
applied to cars. What diff would it make on a truck?? I also have a large, antisocial, somewhat psychotic Chow/Lab mix but can't always take him
everywhere.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
Member Is Offline
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If they want it they're gonna get it. Would think it would be more important to spend the money trying to locate the vehicle...quickly.
What's the cheapest GPS tracking system? What about chips for pets?
Who's gonna know it's not rover but a range rover?
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Lee
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3597
Registered: 10-2-2006
Location: High in the Colorado Rockies
Member Is Offline
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Logic prevails
| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
I also take my dog everywhere I go but, she wouldn't be a deterrent. From now on, I'll pay the parking lot guards [ I guess that's what they are
] to stand by my truck while I'm in the store. I don't care what it will cost, two or three bucks I figure. I couldn't stand to go through what
that Rosarito couple is going through now. |
Well I agree with Dennis. Track down the parking guard and have him stand by your vehicle.
Short of that, a neurotic dog works. Wish mine were even a little neurotic but she'd not.
I like the steering wheel lock. The Club? That will slow down an amateur.
I did end of with a silent alarm on the car I had broken into. My installer brought it up too -- he had a customer who wanted to catch the crime in
progress. My pager/transmitter only worked line of sight -- probably not in the back of CCC.
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Packoderm
Super Nomad
Posts: 2116
Registered: 11-7-2002
Member Is Offline
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Just put in a baby car seat, roll up a bunch of diapers smeared with mud, spread them out on the seat and floor in plain view, and shut the windows
and lock the door. That should keep them out.
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
Member Is Offline
Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Simple solution
Loud and messy, but it works.
Remove horn pad or airbag from center of steering wheel. Replace with a small custom made Claymore mine, wire through electrical system to a small
toggle switch under dash.
When crook starts car....end of problem...take car to carwash and hose out interior............just remember to flip switch to off position when you
get in!!!!!!!!!!!
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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BG.....
I like it. I've seen what a Claymore can do.
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Packoderm
Super Nomad
Posts: 2116
Registered: 11-7-2002
Member Is Offline
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We're dealing with some real bad people here. I don't know what they would fear more - antipersonnel land mines or stinky, soiled diapers?
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
Member Is Offline
Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Choice
I could fill the Claymore with several stinky diapers!!!!!!!
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Lee
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3597
Registered: 10-2-2006
Location: High in the Colorado Rockies
Member Is Offline
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Last plug for alarms
I guess it's regional. Alarms aren't always ignored. I can hear my alarm far away.
When I stayed in Todos recently, it would have been easy enough to break into my car while I was sleeping 30 feet away in my casita. The alarm would
have scared someone off. In that case, I wouldn't have ignored the alarm. On a busy street in Ensenada, maybe yes.
At an isolated beach out of view of my truck, the alarm will let me know the truck has been tampered with if I am close enough to hear it.
So, if anyone is dead set against alarm's working, don't be set against doing something so that your vehicle isn't driven off. That's the important
thing. Remove a wire, or coil, or something! It's better to have a window busted out, or things inside stolen, but not the whole vehicle!
P.S. I've stayed in enough hotels in Baja that were not secure and my alarm would have alerted me. FYI. That's all I really want. And I'll
start using parking lot security at CCC in the future too. No problem with that.
And, people, tip big. Don't rate your generousity on some bogus scale of what charity is worth to others. And tip whether your window get's cleaned
or not. Think of the ''indulgences'' you're racking up with God.
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Mexray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1016
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: California Delta
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja Time
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Here's another angle to think about...
,,,we Ford owners are plagued with an easy to pry open outside door handle - a quick pry with a screw driver, and a thief is inside your truck!
Check out this site for a cure, or at least a chance to slow down those screw driver wielding scum bags! It's a backing plate mounted inside the door
latch to resist access to the door lock/unlock rods. I see they make em' for Chevy's also...
http://www.jimmijammer.com/
They also sell locking stuff for tailgates and tail light assemblies, also.
I've ordered mine...
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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805gregg
Super Nomad
Posts: 1344
Registered: 5-21-2006
Location: Ojai, Ca
Member Is Offline
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Check out my post on page 2. I recently had a Rvelco anti theft device installed on my Liberty. They claim 3.5 million installed and no thefts, $ 400
cheap insurance.
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