It seems that none of you will have to prove that a car is not only a convenient means of transportation, but also an object of increased attention from criminals. The latter highly and truly value your car, dreaming of rushing off with it to the “beautiful far away” finally and forever. What can I say - there is only one way to prevent such an unpleasant outcome: equipping your vehicle with a security system. Moreover, not a simple standard one, which an experienced hijacker can hack in a matter of minutes, but a truly reliable one, with multi-level authorization and carefully disguised control units.
Unfortunately, after purchasing a new or used car, the installation of a decent anti-theft system is sometimes postponed for one reason or another: some people still don’t have enough time, others don’t have enough money, and others even believe in the modest capabilities of the above-mentioned factory security tools. The disadvantages of this approach are obvious, and therefore we decided to tell you how you can at least slightly increase the level of protection of your car yourself, without spending your last salary on it. So, what can we do to further puzzle the hijacker?
Simulation of alarm
This is the cheapest, and therefore most primitive, instrument, the operating principle of which is based on a purely psychological effect. Essentially, this is a small plastic block with an LED that simulates the operation of a security system. It costs a penny, can be purchased in many domestic or Chinese online stores, but can only mislead a novice thief. Some of them immediately reveal their fake essence upon closer inspection through the windshield, others are a little more complicated, but the essence is the same - apart from the appearance of having an “anti-theft”, they are of little use.
Guarded parking
It would seem that this is a completely worthy and reliable option for car protection, but it is not for nothing that it ended up in 9th place in our rating. The explanation for this is simple: the owners of such parking lots are not responsible for your car, but only provide a parking space for it. Therefore, cases of car theft from paid parking lots, both above-ground and underground, occur all the time - and the attackers are not embarrassed by either the old guard, or video surveillance, or even obstacles in the form of a barrier or automatic gate. Often, electronic master keys are used to overcome them, or even banal brute force is used.
Trap for an intruder
Of course, this method cannot be denied effectiveness - if the car owner has imagination and passion, the thief can remember the lesson taught for a long time! However, we would recommend using it extremely carefully due to its increased potential for injury, because you will have to bear responsibility for the damage caused. Russian legislation is designed in such a way that even if physical, material or moral harm is caused by such devices to the thief in your car, the attacker can be recognized as a victim, and you will suffer one or another punishment, including imprisonment! Among other things, once such a trap is triggered, it can only anger the attacker, who, although he will not steal your car, can very likely damage it out of anger.
We demonstrated several variants of such traps in this video, where you will also find a lawyer’s commentary regarding the possible consequences of their use (from about the 6th minute):
Airbrush
As practice and theft statistics show, airbrushing not only allows you to create a beautiful and original design for your car, but also additionally protects it from theft. This is understandable, because such a unique and noticeable vehicle is difficult to hide for the purpose of overexposure, so it is only suitable as a “donor” of parts.
True, professionally executed airbrushing sometimes costs more than the most advanced security system, so as a temporary anti-theft measure, you can create the picture yourself. To do this, use a special waterproof paint, which can be easily washed off with special solutions. The disadvantage is obvious: if the talent of an artist does not sit deep within you, the results of such creativity may not be particularly presentable. And not every respectable gentleman would agree to drive around the city in such an extravagant car. Be that as it may, even a car “tagged” with the help of airbrushing, and thus standing out from the crowd, with a standard security system remains very vulnerable, as we demonstrated in this video:
"Pugovo"
The essence of the method, again, is not in the use of technical means, but in the psychological impact on the attacker using certain tricks. These could be, for example, “thieves’” license plates or attributes of belonging to power or law enforcement agencies: a jacket with corresponding impressive regalia on a hanger inside the cabin, a uniform cap on the rear shelf of the car, and so on - it all depends only on your imagination.
Living watchman
It’s easy to guess that this role could be played by some formidable animal – usually a respectable dog. However, not every car owner will agree to have a pet to solve such problems, and the issue of cruelty to animals remains open.
Search devices
First of all, it should be noted that this method, despite its effectiveness, in no way prevents car theft, but allows, with a certain degree of probability, to eliminate its consequences. As you probably already guessed, we are talking about devices that allow you to track the location of a car using cell towers and satellites. Previously, for these purposes they used a regular cell phone with the data transfer function turned on, which was switched to silent mode and hidden somewhere in the cabin. However, since the power was supplied from the cigarette lighter, it was quite problematic to reliably disguise the entire bunch. Today everything is much simpler - there are plenty of compact GPS beacons on the market, which are much easier to hide, and which periodically transmit the coordinates of the vehicle’s location to a special mobile application. True, even modern “beacons” are not able to provide a 100% guarantee of security, because the most technically savvy hijackers can easily jam them using a GSM signal suppression system, as well as detect them using devices such as a field detector or a nonlinear translator.
How to protect your car from theft within 5 minutes.
Every car owner is afraid, or at least worried, that his car may be stolen. It is for this reason that we spend a lot of money on its insurance and on various complexes of anti-theft systems. Unfortunately, even the most expensive alarm systems in the world do not provide 100% protection. So why buy an expensive security system if it is not 100% effective? Yes, you are right friends, this is really not logical.
In most cases, a regular, inexpensive electronic car alarm is suitable to protect your car from car thieves. Theoretically and in principle, it is clear that by installing an inexpensive security system on a car, you and I do not significantly reduce the safety of our car. But what to do then? How to increase the protection of the car in this case? Fortunately for us, friends, there is a simple and quite effective solution. Few motorists know about such protection, although each driver can make such an anti-theft device himself in a very short time, which will cost him very little.
So, in order to protect the car from theft, you need to install a faulty fuel pump relay on it in advance. To do this, you will have to find such a faulty fuel pump relay, for example, at a car scrapyard, or you can deliberately break the new relay, thus making it inoperative. You can also go to any car service center and ask the mechanics for this faulty relay.
If the fuel pump relay is currently not working well on your car, then this is the right time to buy a new relay, and the old one can be used to further protect your car from car thieves. The meaning of such protection is quite simple. When leaving the car in the parking lot, before leaving it, you need to remove (remove) the working fuel pump relay from the car and install in its place the faulty one, which you prepared in advance.
Thus, in the end, if attackers try to steal your car, they will face a significant problem, that is, your car simply will not start. The reason, friends, is that fuel will not flow into the car’s engine, and this is due to the fact that a broken relay will not allow the fuel pump to start. Accordingly, the spark will have nothing to ignite when starting the car (engine).
If you do not have a non-working fuel pump relay, then we will tell you and show you how you can independently make a fuel pump “anti-relay” from a working relay, which will be able to confuse attackers at least for some time.
What types of castles are there?
Now about the castles themselves. Since blockers have been on the market for several days, and the demand for them is only growing, they have managed to acquire a bunch of modifications and options. Let's briefly look at the general principle of operation of locks.
So they fall into two categories:
Mechanical locks
Mechanical locks are opened with a key and are considered the most reliable - if the car's power system is de-energized, the lock will remain closed. Non-volatile option. But such locks also have disadvantages - they are inconvenient to use, you have to use a key and lock every time - keys tend to get lost or break, and locks tend to rust or not open in the cold.
Such a lock can scare off a novice thief - in order to open it, you will have to tinker, on the other hand, an experienced thief, with one glance at the hood, has already mentally gone through and identified the tool for breaking.
Electromechanical locks
It is much more convenient to use such locks, since the hood is locked and unlocked automatically when arming and disarming the alarm. In other words, just press the button and no fuss.
An obvious plus is that it will take an attacker a lot of time to find this button. But in practice, such locks have some play, due to which a gap is formed between the hood and the iron bar, through which it is quite possible to break the lock.
In addition, electromechanical locks are usually equipped with a safety cable in case of relay failure or battery discharge.
The disadvantage of such a cable is that there are not many places where you can hide it. Kidnappers have long learned to recognize these places. Here you need to approach the installation creatively and bring the cable to a place where it is difficult for an attacker to reach it. It happens that such locks are installed without a safety cable - instead there are two wires that act as a safety mechanism. And if the additional lock does not work, you will need to connect a twelve-volt power source to these two wires. How many of us have a spare battery waiting in the trunk?
If you still decide to install the hood lock on your own (you don’t even need to decide!), Let’s get straight to the point.
First, you need to decide on the type of lock. To install a mechanical lock, we will need: a garage, tools, and only half an hour of time.
Algorithm for installing a mechanical lock
Let's prepare the tools
- Drill (with a set of drills)
- Round file
- Roulette
- crosshead screwdriver
- Key to 19
- Anti-corrosion liquid or primer
- Solid oil lubricant.
Installation of locking bolts
We mark with a marker on the iron strip above the headlights the place where the hood locking bolts will be installed so that there is an equal distance on both sides. Let's drill a hole. We tighten the bolts and apply a drop of lubricant (solid oil is fine) to their ends so that the places of the bolts are imprinted on the hood of the car. We close and open the hood again - there are now marks for the locks.
The next thing we do is drill a hole in the hood for the lock. This needs to be done very carefully, so first we drill a hole with a small drill, then use larger drills to increase the diameter, and then file the hole.
An important point - we drill only from the inside of the hood so as not to damage the paint on top.
If the hood closes well and the holes do not touch the rods, then everything is done correctly. To avoid corrosion, we treat the edges with a primer.
Using a thin drill, we make four holes for the screws, then screw the plates to the hood. Now you need to open the hood and screw the rods to the bar so that they rise above the plates for subsequent fixation of the pins in their holes. The last thing we do is screw the safety cables with self-tapping screws to the body (they are needed so that the studs do not get lost). Voila`! The castle is ready.
Homemade secrets
You can break the starter or carburetor circuit by connecting a toggle switch installed in some secret place to the negative wire. Lay the wires leading to the usual keys in the cabin (headlight range adjustment, heater activation). Thus, by connecting several similar toggle switches, you can gain some time.
Another option for a homemade secret is to close the exhaust pipe valve, which is controlled remotely. When you start the engine, it will stall after a while. The exhaust gases will not be able to escape anywhere, so the car will give the thief the impression that it is faulty, so the attacker will try to leave the crime scene as quickly as possible.
Try installing an additional lock to block the gearbox or steering wheel. Special magnetic latches are especially convenient and effective in this case.
In every radio parts store you can find a radio transmitter, the principle of which is that the circuit will close when you approach it. It should be connected to the wires leading to the starter or carburetor, and also carefully hidden. The main disadvantage of the system is that you will need to carry the transmitter with you.
Is it possible to make reliable anti-theft devices with your own hands?
Some car owners are sure that it is better to make anti-theft devices for cars with their own hands. This makes it easier to tailor the protection to a specific car. And the hijacker will not immediately figure out how to neutralize it. And such a device costs much less than a ready-made one.
A less advanced car owner is better off using mechanical devices. For example, you can make a metal lock on the pedal. It consists of a bracket that prevents them from moving, and stops that resist pressure from the foot. The device is secured by turning the key in the internal lock. The pedals are released from the blocker in the same way.
The production of “crabs” for car wheel rims is also available to the average car owner. Their parts must be metal and connected using bolts and nuts, as well as a padlock.
We recommend reading about when to use a rigid vehicle coupling. From the article you will learn about the features of a rigid hitch and the rules of use for cars and trucks. And here is more information about which curtains to hang instead of tinting.
Anti-theft devices are best used in combination with each other. This is especially true for homemade devices. A good addition to them are electronic immobilizers, which will not allow the car to start without a special impulse, as well as an audible alarm.
Electromechanical blockers
The electromechanical hood lock is a convenient system for the driver. The protection is activated when the alarm is activated. The rest of the time the lid is held in place by the standard hood latch and the connector is tightly closed.
You can open and close the unit with one press of a button in the cabin. It is not easy to tear an electromechanical device from its installation socket: the car alarm goes off, which often scares away thieves.
Homemade electromechanical locks can create a backlash of up to 10 mm. If you lift the hood lid, a gap appears into which you can insert a crowbar and break the lock.
Principle of operation
The operating principle of the electromechanical hood lock is based on supplying an electrical impulse to a magnet, which ensures a certain position of the lock bolt: open - closed. The signal is supplied through an electric drive.
A control button is mounted in the car interior, and an electromechanical system is installed near the hood lock. Through electrical wires connected to the battery, a signal is sent to the magnet of the locking element, which changes the position of the bolt. When the power is turned off, the bolt returns to its normal location, completely blocking access to the engine compartment.
How does a secret car work?
The owner of a security device with a manual or automatic transmission must press a special button before starting the internal combustion engine. If the anti-theft system on your car is equipped with a magnet, then you need to attach the key to it and enter the password. Depending on the type of anti-theft device installed, you may need to turn the key additionally. If a thief manages to hack the security system and the siren does not produce alarm signals, he will need time to find and disable the button.
The detailed operating principle of the secret system is discussed using the example of a simple but effective blocker:
- The car owner enters the code after stopping the engine. This allows you to lock the steering shaft.
- If a criminal tries to steal a car and start the engine, the engine will start. However, it will randomly stop after a few minutes. This option is implemented by the developers so that the hijacker cannot travel far.
- If the criminal finds the location where the security device is installed, he will try to enter the code. As a result of several unsuccessful entry attempts, all major vehicle systems will be locked.
- Perhaps after this there will be attempts to steal a car by unlocking the nodes. In this case, the mechanisms will begin to emit alarm signals, scaring off the criminal.
The Axius-Auto channel talks about the principle of operation of the device using the example of the Igla model and a Range Rover car.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages characteristic of locking mechanisms:
- Providing an additional level of vehicle protection. If the car is equipped with a security system, then installing a blocking device will become another obstacle for an attacker. Additional protection is characterized by low cost.
- Device efficiency. When trying to disable the secret mechanism, the criminal will lose precious time. As practice shows, attackers leave the car.
- Branded devices connected to the car's electrical network consume almost no electricity. Therefore, the consumer will not encounter the problem of battery discharge when the battery is partially discharged.
- Installation of secret locking mechanisms is possible on any vehicle model.
- Reliable protection. If the code is entered incorrectly, all vehicle systems are blocked, the operation of which is necessary to start and move the car. Depending on the device model, failure of the mechanisms may occur if three incorrect codes are entered incorrectly.
- There is no possibility of signal interception, as is the case with a security complex.
According to reviews, the secret lock has one drawback - it cannot guarantee the complete safety of the car. If the criminal is experienced, then he knows about possible locations for installing buttons. Some attackers probe the chairs during a break-in.
