My car might be a target...(security question)

[Hyperlite 10+ year member]

Decatur. About 30 minutes from Huntsville.

really? i lived in decatur for 6 years, in burningtree valley. my dad lives in hunstville now...well, new market, but close enough.

 

[IgnoreMe 5,000+ posts]

just to clarify what i meant in my last post...

imo alarms are only worth it if you got a paging one. honking and sirens wont do shit, unless your car is by your bedroom.

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

just to clarify what i meant in my last post...
imo alarms are only worth it if you got a paging one. honking and sirens wont do shit, unless your car is by your bedroom.

I like the idea of paging alarms.

Any specifics to look for when "alarm shopping"?

 

[AVSTANG02]

Can you put up a vid camera and motion activated lights?

 

[btnhfan 5,000+ posts]

I like the idea of paging alarms.
Any specifics to look for when "alarm shopping"?

I am in the same boat as you.

Im about to get either a viper 5002 or 3002. The only difference I can tell is that the 5002 has an lcd screen.

 

[focused313 10+ year member]

I'd say......firearms, alarms, and bolted down equipment. I don't condone shooting anyone if your life isn't in danger, but a few "friendly" shots in their direction might not hurt.

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

I'd say......firearms, alarms, and bolted down equipment. I don't condone shooting anyone if your life isn't in danger, but a few "friendly" shots in their direction might not hurt.

No go on a gun. "In their direction" would be through the window of another house...no matter which way I turn.

I've already got my trunk locked from the inside. The only way you can get to it is the car key. I have a friend who once locked his keys in his trunk (when he had his trunk locked from the inside) and had to go to the dealer to get a new set of keys. That's a pretty good deterrent.

 

[Orio5 10+ year member]

stake out so you can catch those bastards!!!!!....but i do like the idea of the motion detector lights.......

 

[Neptune 10+ year member]

wait outside at night and when you see them own their cheap selves. But yeah I agree better safe than sorry...

 

[crx4luke 10+ year member]

Here's my view on security systems. I do say security systems, because an alarm will just make noise, security if installed correctly can do a great job at deterring.

Make sure that you have a good, trustworthy installer doing the work for you. Get reccommendations from other people, or other installers. If you go in a place, ask who their best installer is, or if they can reccommend a good installer to work on it, and ask to speak to the installer who will actually be performing the work. Make sure they are going to be soldering all the connections and that the brain will be hidden, and that all the wiring will be stealth, ie look integrated into the factory wiring, no bright colors standing out. Make sure that the shock sensor isn't set too high, as false triggers can really be annoying. Let the other sensors, and triggers do most of the protecting.

Add ons to look for would be a couple of extra sirens, especially the Piezo "pain generator" sirens for the interior of the car. I've got three sirens under the hood of my wifes car, and two in my car and they are bouth really loud. You'll want to make sure they put a hood pin, and a trunk pin hook up to go off if either of those are opened. I'd look towards a back up battery to keep it going off if they disconnect, or cut the battery cables, and maybe a glassbreak sensor to be triggered if they shatter the window.

 

[tigerf117 10+ year member]

I'm a big fan of doing things myself, and I will be buying a car to restore, so I'll be ripping out the ENTIRE interior and sound deadening the car as well as probably putting my own alarm system. I didn't have any help installing my first system, and I'm good at figuring out how things go together and work.

Would you (as in an intaller or someone who has installed a security system) recommend someone like me doing this on their own? It can't be ridiculously difficult and I know decent amount about electrical systems, and was THIS close to getting a degree in electrical engineering. If so, could someone point me in the right direction?

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

and was THIS close to getting a degree in electrical engineering. If so, could someone point me in the right direction?

By that, do you mean you were almost going to take classes, or you were 3 credits shy of graduating with your B.S.? They are not the same.

 

[Forben70 10+ year member]

If you have a c.c. around they have a good deal on a python alarm system with installation for 199. it is an excellent alarm. Me, and all of my buddies here use it. It depends on what kind of theive it is, the top theives use code scanners and other tools and can shut off alarms. You wont find these everywhere. Most normal theives around the citys are the kids with the smash and go type. (I used to be an officer.) If your vehicle has an alarm with the blue flashing light, it is about 80% less likely not to get broken into. They also make these led lights, that spin at the front of your window, that makes it look closer to an 800.00 alarm system. It's just a light. Check into them.

 

[crx4luke 10+ year member]

I'm a big fan of doing things myself, and I will be buying a car to restore, so I'll be ripping out the ENTIRE interior and sound deadening the car as well as probably putting my own alarm system. I didn't have any help installing my first system, and I'm good at figuring out how things go together and work.
Would you (as in an intaller or someone who has installed a security system) recommend someone like me doing this on their own? It can't be ridiculously difficult and I know decent amount about electrical systems, and was THIS close to getting a degree in electrical engineering. If so, could someone point me in the right direction?

TO me installing a security system is a skill that takes a while to perfect. I'll be honest it took me about a year or so to get really good at doing the installs. If you're going to have the entire car apart, then you may be alright doing the install yourself. You'll be able to hide the brain somewhere like behind a panel in the car and run your wires to where they need to be connected. It will help with getting the wires more integrated into the vehicle wiring.

If you were just going to attempt to do one on an intact vehicle , and you had never done one, or had assistance from someone who had, then i'd say let a pro install it for you.

 

[LowLowBass 10+ year member]

mausberg and a pitbull would do you right.