Do You Think Alarms Do Anything?

Do you think that alarms really stop theft of anything? besides stopping the punks from stealing your cds I mean.




Just trying to put something in this forum

put it this way, you have 2 identical cars, that are souped up and what not. but one has an alarm and the other one doesnt. which one would you steal?

touchy subject. these are minor theft deterrent systems. they should have alarms which hurt the intruders, not just scare them.
for starters... piaezo sirens, put3 or 4 of them in the interior, and when your alarm goes off each one blares somethin like 130dB sound waves.

anyways back on topic, I believe that the only good alarm is a two-way. an alarm is no use to me if it doesn't signal me that someone is about to get their ass kicked.


that's all i've got for now. I've made my contribution... :D

Originally posted by Luke5.0

anyways back on topic, I believe that the only good alarm is a two-way. an alarm is no use to me if it doesn't signal me that someone is about to get their ass kicked.




Thats how I feel too, even if I saw someone breaking into a car I'm going to keep walking, someone alarm doesnt even registar, I need two way for it to be any good.

Even then anyone that steals cars is going to take whatever one he feels like cause alarmed or not its his for the taking, its jsut if you get there to stop him cause no one else is.


Thats how I feel.

good call

ya for the most part the cheaper systems are just an anoyance to theives until you start getting into the piezo sirens etc

Alarms are a waste of $$.. you gotta think.. and see what you want to protect. IF you want to protect contents.. alarm is what you want. If you want to prevent people from stealing the car.. I'd put a flashing L.E.D where it flashes when teh car is off.. and wire up some sort of starter kill.

when you hear an alarm going off.. do you think. "shit, lemme go outside and make sure its ok"

nah.. I think "fuck, shut that thing off already"

I have an alarm.. but its only to protect anything insie the car

when i instal alarms with my dad.. we put it in so once the alarm sounds.. there is no power to the ignition.. and you have to disarm or fuck with a lot of wire to get it to start ..

they are good fgor that
Rob

If someone wants your car bad enough, alarm or no alarm, theres nothing stopping them from taking your car.

Originally posted by Mercury
when i instal alarms with my dad.. we put it in so once the alarm sounds.. there is no power to the ignition.. and you have to disarm or fuck with a lot of wire to get it to start ..

they are good fgor that
Rob
disable the ingition or dont put it on

silent pager alarms would be better with a ignition disable.. not just starter disable. cause if the bugger manages to hot wire the system without triggering the alarm at least you could kill the ignition with the panic on the remote

also with the silent pager then the thief wouldn't know he has triggered the alarm and you could or might catch him in the act, Which i for one would love to do.
especially after I watched my truck drive away and I had no ignition kill in it at the time or anyway to catch the thief:mad: :mad:

ya an ignition kill would be a good thing but unless the vehicle is actually moved it would only classify as vandalism so if you have the ignition kill after then car is moved a couple feat that would be good

Having worked for an instalation company (Quinn), I can say yes............... BUT!....... it all depends on the system you get, who makes it, and who installs it.

Spending money on useless items for your alarm is a waste of time and money because most oftem that $$$ could be better spent on another aspect of your alarm - take motion sensors for instance. Everyone thinks, "hey, I'm getting a motion sensor for my car so no one will touch it. WRONG! Why? It's wrong for 3 reasons IMO: 1.) Chances are it'll go off for no reason in the middle of the night because some friggin cat decides to walk close to it, 2.) You'll park in a parkade or something, it'll go off, annoy the hell out of some asshole, and he'll key your ride (seen this many times before), or 3.) Unless you have a convertible or MAYBE t-tops, (for the 5 millionth time) YOU'RE WASTING YOUR MONEY, and the installer's gonna laugh all the way to the bank.

Getting the right alarm also depends on what you're protecting and how much you can afford obviously. Most people buy a system because they want to protect what's inside the car (stereo, cds, etc). In reality however, only protecting just the interior of your vehicle is a waste of time. To have an effective system that covers your car from head-to-toe, you'll want hood and trunk protection as well, since with many cars and truck (the 94+ Cavaliers and Sunfires instantly come to mind) you can open the hood from the outside of the car just by getting on the ground and reaching for the latch. Sure, you may get a little dirty, but I'd take some dirt on my shirt to steal a car, wouldn't you?

Ignition Kill is nice to have if you've got a manual tranny car, since you can obviously push-start them. Getting them in an automatic is another complete waste of time and money.
(My ignition kill if I ever wanted to use it - you can totally do this if your car's got a distributor too - just open up the distributor and take out the gear inside.... that suckers going nowhere unless they decide to push it home :D)

To fully complete a system, look into a glass sensor and possibly even a 2-way paging system.

Ever seen what a spark plug (or just a piece of porcelin) does to glass? It makes no more than the sound of a quarter hitting the window (just tap your computer monitor with a $0.25 right now.... that's it), there's no harsh impact, and your window will shatter instantly. However, having a glass sensor with your alarm will set off the siren. The way it works is, the installer connects a small microphone (no more than the size of a pencil eraser) somewhere in your car, and if someone comes around testing your car's glass for an alarm (again, a quarter is all they need to test this) or breaks it with a spark plug, your car's gonna start screaming!

The ultimate in toys though, is the 2-way paging units. Many argue that it's not neccisary to get these things, and ok, ya, they cost more, but with a good one, you'll have a 1/4 mile range (how often are you further than that from your car?), and provided you're within that 1/4 mile radius, you'll know the condition of your car at all times, if the alarm's going off, and even how it was set off (shock sensor, glass break, trunk open, door open, etc). This toy's great for those of you who're like me, and just want to catch someone in the act, so you can take your hockey stick to their ass.

Like I say, a good one is a 1/4 mile radius, and even indoors, at WEM, you can usually get from the Silver City parking lot to Burbon Street before losing a signal.

So ya, to recap:
- Main system (most come with shock/vibration sensor included, but some don't)
- hood protection (open the hood, alarm goes off)
- trunk protection (open trunk, alarm goes off)
- glass protection (window breaks or is tested, alarm goes off)
- ignition kill/bypass (ONLY on manual tranny vehicles)
- motion sensor (ONLY NEEDED IF YOU HAVE A CONVERTIBLE, or MAYBE t-tops, otherwise it's a waste of $$$)
- 2-way Paging (A neat toy (hehe... it's all about the little screen and the buttons :D), but very usefull and a great way to round off a top notch alarm)

Let me put it this way, at Quinn, we told people that if you had an alarm, shock sensor, hood protection, trunk protection, and glass protection you're pretty much good to go, and I can 95% guarantee you that no one's getting into that car without it making a shitload of noise. Add ignition kill and motion sensor ONLY if needed, and I can 98% guarantee you that your car's gonna be there in the morning. Add 2-way paging for your piece of mind, and you're looking at around a 99% chance that thing's going nowhere since you know if somethings happening (providing you're within distance).

Also, adding a custom flashing LED setup to your car (in the A-pillars, B-pillars, or wherever) - and I'm not talking about those retarded scanner shit things, I can almost 100% guarantee you that no one's gonna think twice about going after that car.

Ignition Kill is nice to have if you've got a manual tranny car, since you can obviously push-start them. Getting them in an automatic is another complete waste of time and money.
(My ignition kill if I ever wanted to use it - you can totally do this if your car's got a distributor too - just open up the distributor and take out the gear inside.... that suckers going nowhere unless they decide to push it home :D)


I have a auto.. and you can start the car with a screwdriver if you new how..
and im not talking about ramming it in the lock cylinder. The ignition kill i have designed cuts the power when the car is armed and this is thus prevented. ... with that said.. they may be usles on new cars with autos... but not old ones.

Rob

I have a auto.. and you can start the car with a screwdriver if you new how..
and im not talking about ramming it in the lock cylinder. The ignition kill i have designed cuts the power when the car is armed and this is thus prevented. ... with that said.. they may be usles on new cars with autos... but not old ones.

Rob

Why would they be useless on the new autos?

Why would they be useless on the new autos?

because you said "Getting them in an automatic is another complete waste of time and money."

and you cant start a new car with a screw driver...


on a side note........... its a hela bitch to get the gear off the distributer...
i think you ment roter... not gear

true, true. most cars now-a-days have those chipped keys, so it makes stealing it harder than before. However, in the case of Dodge, every chip is the same to begin with, and you can program that chip just by inserting it into the vehicle's ignition and doing a code sequence.

With Ford and Chev on the other hand, you have to order in because each car is unique and you can't program them like Dodges (safer yes.... convenient, no), so I guess it's give and take when it comes to those situations.

Now, the thing is, once you know how to by-pass those chips (as I do :D - this is how you get a remote starter to work on these newer vehicles), you'll laugh your ass off (but you still need a chipped key to do it).

Ok.... back to ign. kills............
It's harder to hotwire a car now-a-days than it used to be (I'd hope that's common knowledge at this point). However, once you have an ign. kill installed with your alarm, and once that alarm's activated, that car will not start.

Alarms are ok for contents of vehicle, for car thiefs I prefer to use ignition toggle switch, or just do it the old way take out your rotor, coil wire etc.

Alarms are ok for contents of vehicle, for car thiefs I prefer to use ignition toggle switch, or just do it the old way take out your rotor, coil wire etc.

:2up:

Alarm systems are effective deterant
1. if they are set up properly so they are not to sensitive that they go off all the time
2. they cut off the ignition system so the person cannot steal the car
3. you don't leave any cameras or electonics visible inside the car thats what the trunk is for
4. you have to make your car and its components look like it is notthing special, ie hiding speakers and amps ect so they are not visible, there for your car will not be a target. performance stickers can make your car a target.
5. and rememeber if you injure or piss off the theives to baddy they will jsut vandilize your car
6.

just have the doors lock on him and flood the cab with halon gas :D

I've always wanted too get about a 6 farad capacitor put nice metal plates under the door locks (or like on my 74 ford, the hood can be popped open from outside). I would like to have those all charged enough to knock them right off there feet cold.

But then... I would goto jail.

Really I would just make sure to have an the alarm kill the power to the ECU (EFI) have a manual switch for the ignition somewhere hidden that you know about, and then I would relocate the battery (doing it anyways) and have a positive disconect located somewhere between the battery and the engine (if you weld it in the floor you can make a trap door with a key). But those are extreme steps.

I find that if your car is nice enough to have professionals steal, they will know right away if its been modified for theft. They will then just get a flat bed truck and have your car towed. Then they have all the time in the world to fix whatever kill starts you have put in.

So rule of thumb, the anti-theft system will deter or stop joy rider thieves, it will at least slow down a pro (this again if you have the right anti-theft setup). DONT leave your car anywhere for a long period of time where no one can see it. And dont leave it in a spot where you can get a tow truck at it. You just have to put the tow truck to the front of the car or back and throw on the dollies... its gone.

You will never stop a desperate person from braking the windows and stealing your change that you left on the center console or you cd pack you left on the passenger seat.

Course... you leave that stuff in the open, you may aswell leave your doors unlocked for them, then at least you dont need to get a window fixed. Be smart and dont ask for it.

And that goes for your stereo, if you like to blast it like and idiot everywhere and you dont think about it, then someones gonna follow you home and next week. Its gone. Again you asked for it. I know somone with a 6000$ stereo system in his car and he has never had it stolen or car damaged trying to get it. On the other hand, my other friend spends 500$ and the xpress cargo place and has his car broken into at least once a year.

Thats my opinions, and really, if you got a nice car, make sure you have a garage and its locked right. Big locks on the outside may not look nice, but they no a non-cuttable lock when they see one :)

just have the doors lock on him and flood the cab with halon gas :D

I set my own alarm off way to often for that :D

I set my own alarm off way to often for that :D

That would be a great way too get hard too find cars. Should sell it for rare cars only and then sell an insurance plan with it (too undercut the price of the car, pay it out and take the car lol)