Protecting your charger... What do you do?

[MoparMotel]

Long story short I've had my 68 charger since I was 9 years old. It is very sentimental to me and if it ever got stolen I'd be pretty upset. I read on Lojacks web site how they make a classic car system for $579 to recover it if it's ever stolen... Do you guys think this system would be a good investment and also do they work as claimed?

I've never really been worried about it because the car is in my parents garage in the country which is secure and my bedroom is next to the garage so I could probably hear of anyone tried to take it ( they would have to answer to my Beretta 92FS 9mm).

The reason why I am starting to look into LoJack or some kind of kill switch is because my girl friend and I are planning on buying a house in the city and moving out soon. I'd like to take the car with me but am worried about it being secure in the garage while I am at work all day.

Any other ideas besides LoJack and a hidden kill switch?

Thanks!

[69bronzeT5]

I've had my '69 since I was 6.....and it got stolen from me July 2007. Got it back the next day though. Anyways, I have it in my locked garage at my house (there is usually always somebody home). If something does happen to it though (which I never hope happens again), it's fully insured. So is my Duster....and it's sitting in my driveway. The Charger doesn't run though so it would be harder to steal however the Duster runs and drives. Whenever I park it for a long period of time, I always remove the wire from the coil to distributor cap. The Coronet is locked up safe also where no body knows about it and all my other cars have good alarm systems.

[68X426]

Locked garage and yanked coil wire are as good as it gets.

Anything more is overkill (and yes I'm freaking paranoid too but these 2 simple steps are sufficient). 

[Fred]

Kill switch 
Locked garage
Rottweiler
And if all that fails.............my trusty 12 gauge pump!

[tan top]

Kill switch 
Locked garage
Rottweiler
And if all that fails.............my trusty 12 gauge pump!

    good security set up 

[Cooter]

I've found that the best way to try and keep a car thief from stealing your ride is not to buy one. But, aside from that, I like hidden kill switches.

These can make it much harder for thieves to simply drive off. Most times, especially in a city, if they have to push it, they will leave it.

[stripedelete]

Locked garage and yanked coil wire are as good as it gets.

Anything more is overkill (and yes I'm freaking paranoid too but these 2 simple steps are sufficient). 

+1     I like to swap it with a plug wire. 

But what about hotel/motel parking lots where they can grab it with a rollback?  Is there some kind of mercury switch alarm set-up that you can use while traveling? 

[skip68]

I have mine inside locked garage, battery disconnect, hidden kill switch to MSD and outside security cameras.   Short of sleeping in the car that as good as it gets. 

[Marck]

Locked garage, hidden startbutton, and disconnected battery.. Soon it will also be up on jackstands, and the jack will be in the house..

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Locked garage, hidden startbutton, and disconnected battery.. 

Most effective, especially compared the the bravado of saying one has a gun... Like one would even have time to use it against a professional car thief 

[elacruze]

I pull the fuel pump relay which is in the trunk with the battery. No pump, no gas, no go and even if they find the missing relay, they have to know to jump the wires, and which ones, and after 2.5 seconds the ECU turns the pump off so you can't have constant power to spark-check. I also have a 'Snitch' to track it with if it does get away.

http://www.blacklinegps.com/products/snitch/

Cost is $300-$400 and service is ~$50/year. I like it better than Lojack, because I don't want the cops to find the car, I want to find it myself...

[skip68]

A gun is only useful if you wake up.  My buddy always says that stuff and yet I have gone in his house God knows how many times to wake him up.    

I believe a gun is good for self protection and if you're lucky enough to catch a thief.    Mostly just for protection.   I would try and stop a thief to a point but the last thing I would want would be a gun fight over a car.  

[twodko]

Skip has a salient point. While we all love our mopars, in the final analysis it's just a material thing and certainly not worth a life. 

[Dino]

Stick one of these behind the garage door, it'll be the last time the crook ever breaks in again!

http://www.monstergalaxy.com/images/Lifesize-Alien-Figure-MonsterGalaxy.jpg

[six-tee-nine]

Damn dude, I would like to see the crook's face when he opens the door to find an alien behind it. I'm pretty sure he'll shit his pants.....
I would.....

[Dino]

Damn dude, I would like to see the crook's face when he opens the door to find an alien behind it. I'm pretty sure he'll shit his pants.....
I would.....

Yep, makes it a bit easier for the cops to find him as well.   

[Brass]

I use this:

http://www.amazon.com/Unknown-The-UNBREAKABLE-AutoLock-PRO/dp/B0007ZFTHW

It's easy to use (locks the brake or clutch pedal) and is much more difficult to defeat than the club; especially if they're not expecting it.  With a club, thieves just saw through the steering wheel.  

[71charger]

Kill switch 
Locked garage
Rottweiler
And if all that fails.............my trusty 12 gauge pump!

I got the same set up exept I have 2 150lb german shepherds watching my car. and a ak-47 locked and loaded to go!! hehhe

[1969chargerrtse]

Locked garage and yanked coil wire are as good as it gets.

Anything more is overkill (and yes I'm freaking paranoid too but these 2 simple steps are sufficient). 

Yep, split off the coil wire and ground it and hide a toggle switch somewhere.  Some people go real fancy with things like if the cig lighter is in it shorts or disconnects a power wire etc. 

[Back N Black]

My Charger is parked in the garage with the keys in the ignition and garage unlocked most of the time. 

[Darkman]

I had a kill switch hidden in plain view. I used a factory dash switch (for spotlights) that wasn't used and connected a capacitor to the positive side of the coil. It disrupted the power to the coil and hence no spark. The car turned over. This way the car sounds like it is going to start but doesn't. The thief will either flatten the battery trying to start it or give up. Either way the noise of the starter alone would alert you that someone is having a go

There are only a number of places you can "hide" a switch that are still within reach of the driver, and most thieves know them. .

[TK73]

Ratty primer
Cracked windshield
Don't wash the thing for a while...

[MoparMotel]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to try the kill switch/coil wire idea first before I shell out the $579 for LoJack. I have the car insured through American collectors but it's not about the money the car is just very sentimental. I plan on keeping it forever and passing it down to my kids.

[472 R/T SE]

When we go to Seattle for a show we usually go up the night before.  I park whatever car I'm driving with the steering turned all the way to the left or right.  

I don't know how many of you have ever seen a seasoned rollback or hook driver work, but they can snatch a car in less than a minute if there's minimum resistance.  If you head your car into a parking spot & the driver tries snatching it he'll notice the wheels cranked & most likely move on.  Remember, thieves pick the most opportune time/vehicle & don't like the hassle.  The want to strike & get the hell out of Dodge ASAP.

My Charger has the MSD 6al so I have the hidden kill switch.  My new alarm system is a set of baby monitors.

But more than anything else, both cars are insured with Hagerty & if they want either one bad enough I'll just have to buy another.  


We paid for the LoJack when we bought the SRT 10.  I still haven't taken it in yet to get done.

[Patronus]

Ratty primer
Cracked windshield
Don't wash the thing for a while...