Wheel lock theft prevention.

bnelsonod · #1 (**permalink**) 01-12-2012, 10:09 AM

Has anyone tried or considered a wheel lock for their Cobra when forced to leave car unattended? I found this one at www.alphalock.com. I was just curious if anyone had any experience with this product or a similar one?

bobcowan · #2 (**permalink**) 01-12-2012, 11:58 AM

I have a thick cable lock that I bought for my Harley. I run that through the wheel and around a suspension component. So far, so good. Same thing with my trailer.

Zaphod B · #3 (**permalink**) 01-12-2012, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnelsonod

Has anyone tried or considered a wheel lock for their Cobra when forced to leave car unattended? I found this one at www.alphalock.com. I was just curious if anyone had any experience with this product or a similar one?

Here are my thoughts:
1. If someone hotwires your car, doesn't see the wheel lock and starts to drive away hard, they are going to really tear something up on your car. (You can fix this problem by putting a great big fluorescent orange sign on both the hood and trunk with a warning: CAUTION: MOVING THIS CAR WILL CAUSE DAMAGE.

2. Given the time and opportunity, a thief with half a brain will scope out your car, get the wheel stud pattern, and swap wheels.

The security guards at my (large) place of business use them but the're a lot more heavy-duty (and cover the center of the wheel) than the ones you're linking to. And they do put the big orange sign on the driver's window when they use 'em.

patrickt · #4 (**permalink**) 01-12-2012, 02:25 PM

Run this through the wheel and around a phone pole if you'd like. Then use your quick release hub to take your steering wheel with you.

Dimis · #5 (**permalink**) 01-12-2012, 02:37 PM

If they want to take it... they'll take it!!

Best you can do is make it difficult for them or slow them down enough that they bail or go to the next car. But then if they want YOUR car, they'll take YOUR car.

Removing the ignition lead may piss them off enough to move on. Particularly if they are trying to hotwire it to drive it away. Especially so, if you leave a battery isolation switch in plain view, turned to the "off" position. They'll spend a good few minutes thinking it's the iso-switch.

But this wont stop them from towing it away!

patrickt · #6 (**permalink**) 01-12-2012, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimis

If they want to take it... they'll take it!!

Best you can do is make it difficult for them or slow them down enough ...

Yep, if they're anything other than kids/opportunists looking for a quick score, the goal is to slow them down, or make them use tools that make a lot of noise and attract attention. The depleted uranium cutting wheel I used in this thread So, Should I Replace This Part or Not? would cut through my cable in less than a minute. I do not believe you could drive my cobra with vise grips on the steering hub instead of the steering wheel.

bnelsonod · #7 (**permalink**) 01-13-2012, 09:49 AM

My thought process was to use this with a few other theft prevention aids to make it less desirable to a thief. It would only be used when I couldn't keep it locked in my garage, such as a hotel or even in my parents driveway overnight. I know that any car can be stolen, the idea is to just make it more difficult. I thought this would make towing it away more difficult. Yes it could severely damage the car if they still tried but if they get away with the car it is a total loss anyway.

patrickt · #8 (**permalink**) 01-13-2012, 09:53 AM

If you're at a hotel or your parents, I would also pull the rotor out of the distributor and then put the cap back on. That's about a 30 second task, and car thieves do not carry rotors with them... at least not the thieves that are pals of mine.

patrickt · #9 (**permalink**) 01-13-2012, 10:02 AM

BTW, when I do lock the wheels, I put this on as well...