jon@dakota-truck.net wrote:
> DEI seems to make excellent products. I have installed their
> Viper system w/remote start on 2 of my vehicles and they have been
> excellent. In your case, I would probably be tempted to purchase the
> best DEI system that I could afford.
"What I can afford" has already gone out the window, I'm short on money
with the wedding/honeymoon in 9 days. So I'm on a budget, but I want to
feel safe.
> As far as the remote start goes,
> it sure is a nice thing to have in the winter, but with your 5 speed,
> I would be extremely surprised if you will be able to find a shop
> willing to install one.
I don't absolutely need one. I know shops will be reluctant to do the
install, and that's fine.
> A system like LoJack where they can track the vehicle would
> be very nice, but I'm not sure that is available in the alarms
> in the price range you are shopping in.
Overkill. I just need to make the other cars in the lot (except
Marci's, of course) more attractive than mine to someone looking to
break in.
> In your shoes, I would probably look up some alarm installers
> in the yellow pages, and perhaps seek some recommendations at
> local auto parts stores & body shops. Then, just visit them
> all in person, see what they sell, get brochures and prices,
> and have a look see at their operation (cleanliness,
> professionalism, etc.) Then sit down at home and do some
> comparisons.
I have at least one shop I'll be visiting tonight on the way home. I
have a friend here at work who really likes this one shop in Ithaca
(they've done probably $25K of work for him, all told), but he's not
around today so I can't pick his brain.
> This last step you may wish to ignore, depending on your
> personal level of anal-ness ;-) but you *might* want to do it
> in such a way that the install can't be personally traced to
> you without some difficulty. (Remove all items from the
> truck with any personal identification on them, don't give
> them your address or phone number (maybe pretend you are visiting
> from out of town and don't have an address or phone where you
> can be reached?), pay in cash. The registration sticker and
> license plates could be tricky... You could probably carefully
> scrape the stickers off (so that you can put them back on later)
> and swap the plates before driving it to the shop for the install,
> but that is of course, not legal. :-) And anyway, if the shop
> has any access to a DC dealer, your VIN number will give them your
> home address and phone number. (Or at least, the address you
> had when you bought the truck - I'm not sure if that is updated
> at all after the sale.) Its all just a matter of how paranoid
> you want to be and how much trouble you want to go through. :-)
> The purpose behind all the 007 stuff of course is that it isn't
> completely unheard of for the alarm installer to program an extra
> remote or leave a back door so that he can help himself to your
> vehicle later.
There's a shop in North Syracuse that I've heard of doing things like
this. Fortunately, there are no stereo shops in Seneca Falls, so I'll
probably pick one in Syracuse, drop the truck off on my way to work and
pick it up that night. 50 miles is a long way for someone to drive to
pick off a Dak w/ all factory electronics (for them to come after me at
home).
> In addition to the alarm system, you may want to think about
> adding a few homebrewed roadblocks, like hidden switches which
> interrupt power to the ignition system, fuel pump, or other
> essential circuits. They won't keep your radio in the dash, but
> might discourage joyriders.
I'm more concerned with the stereo and items in the truck at this point.
I've considered wiring a second microswitch inline w/ the one on the
clutch, so that you have to hold a (hidden) button down along with the
clutch to start the truck.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jun 01 2004 - 10:59:13 EDT