I am about 90% sure I'm buying a 7.3 excursion on Tuesday. I want to do somethings to fix it up. One major thing is anti theft. My 6.0 F250 was stolen last July in a matter of minutes and I do not want that to happen to this one.
I'm also not interested in something jerry rigged that my wife can't figure out in my absence. So, no booby trapped electrical chairs or swinging paint cans.
I heard viper is a good brand but from there I know nothing.
What are y'all using?
I used lock plates and a punch plug for the doors. A simple hidden ignition switch or fuse work fine and are cheap. Trucks at work all have gps, video, and audio which work really well, but that's not cheap and there is a monthly cost for the cell data.
I was going to say a simple kill switch or two hidden work well.
In reply to Ojala:
How much is not cheap?
How new is the truck? Does it have lots of codes and settings that need a constant power source to maintain?
If not then a simple battery shut-off switch situated in a lockable glove compartment will do just fine. Also seems that a clutch pedal goes a long way towards thwarting thieves these days.
Year 2000
Hidden switch in line with clutch safety switch or neutral safety switch is super cheap and easy as well.
I always liked the idea of running the starter through the cigarette lighter. If it isn't pushed in, the truck won't start.
Great ideas for something only I'd drive but the woman would forget all that extra E36 M3. And if we're out of town or I'm deployed I might need it moved for whatever reasond. I'm hoping not to add steps to starting the car.
I'm thinking something with a key fob that also lets me know when the door, window, hatch is opened and a gps notification if it moves without my keys. I don't mind spending actual money, I'm not a cheap-o.
Knurled wrote: I always liked the idea of running the starter through the cigarette lighter. If it isn't pushed in, the truck won't start.
You can easily lose those cleaning out your car.
In reply to yupididit:
About $2000 upfront along with $100/month per truck. But those trucks are designed to be stolen. There are cheaper tracking options in the <$100 range plus prepaid cell without real time audio, video, and tracking. The hardware for the cheap trackers is all pretty similar so I would pick based on the tracking website that you like best.
Of course, if the truck is that new and you want it to be "wife friendly" just go on down to your local sound system installation shop and ask for the best anti-theft device that they recommend. Put up the cash to have it put in the truck and done. Over with, simple, easy, warranted, works every time, you never get yelled at for screwing things up, and you get the remote activation fob and the t-shirt to prove it.
That's what I'd do, especially if I already got word from my wife not to screw things up or jury rig the system.
In reply to Two_Tools_In_a_Tent:
Well, thats what I'm trying to do. But, I want to know what in particular that you've used with success? Asking for the best don't always get you the best. That's why I like tales of first hand experience. Which I'm asking here.
Maybe try Google-ing the highest rated car alarms. This is what I found.
In reply to yupididit:
BSM trackers work well and are reliable, but are dependent on windows xp and there is no support.
Supercircuit has overheating problems and they don't have dedicated servers so reliability is spotty.
Orion might be the best but each system is eight times more expensive than any other vendor so that's out
CovertTrack is what I use currently and it is probably the best mix of usability, reliability, and features along with reasonable cost.
I used to use aesthetics as my theft deterrent. Parking next to a nicer-looking vehicle was the easy button for many of my previous vehicles.
Many of the alarms are made by a company called DEI. Viper is one of them and it's more or less industry standard quality I'd say. They come with 2 way remotes but limited range. There are also alarms that use satellite to contact you anywhere but I haven't used one. Some people don't like aftermarket alarms at all and I've seen some horrible installations. Find a shop and person competent is hands down the #1 most important thing. Extra options adding security, I don't know. You can add sensors to detect opening of the back or hood if your vehicle doesn't already have those sensors installed factory. You can also add glass break sensor, interior sound sensor, cigarette pack battery in case battery is disconnected. It's mostly a deterrent I think. Same as steering wheel locks etc.
I've always felt making a vehicle more of a PITA to steal than the next car is the way to go.
I had a steering wheel lock and would hide the coil wire. I know there's ways to defeat these but made it not worth the trouble (in a YJ Wrangler).
I put one of these -> Clicky Link in my F250 after it was stolen and recovered. The key fob replaces the factory one. Lock the doors with the clicker and its armed with the starter disabled. Unlock with the clicker and its disarmed and ready to go.
This is relevant to my interests. I'm looking for a system or a deterrent for my Miata. It will soon have to sleep in the driveway. This looks interesting CARLOCK - Advanced Real Time Car Tracker & Alert System. But mine's an OBD1 car
In reply to LuxInterior:
Needs to be in the OBD port all the time? Couldn't you just reach down and unplug?
yupididit wrote: My 6.0 F250 was stolen last July in a matter of minutes
You must live in a terrible area. In a ford the 6.0 powerstroke is the antitheft device. 
Congrats on the 7.3 EX. Ours is also a 2000, we have had it for 10 years now, and I drove it to work just this morning.
Mine has some sort of K-9 Mundial alarm thingy, we mainly use it just for the key fob remote. Not sure that company is even around any more - by the looks of it is has been on the car since it was new.
Anyhow, all PSD's are DBW, maybe you could figure out which wire carries the throttle signal and wire in a hidden switch. Would be pretty funny to see someone get in the truck, start it up and then not be able to drive it away as it sits and idles perfectly.
Cant click any of these links at work for some reason. 
gearheadmb wrote:yupididit wrote: My 6.0 F250 was stolen last July in a matter of minutesYou must live in a terrible area. In a ford the 6.0 powerstroke is the antitheft device.
It got stolen out of a mall parking lot in a really nice area. It's never been messed with whenever I've parked it in the "hood" 
You'll need to log in to post.
