For vehicle _theft_ the casual thief isn’t going to have access to tools necessary to boost a late Model Raptor with the fancy electronic key fobs. Now, the well funded; aka, cartel backed thief will, but we’ll come back to that.
The real issue is how easy the F series trucks from about ’10 - ’22 are to break into. Literally, pull the driver’s door handle, twist the lock cylinder with a pair of channel locks, and you’re in. It takes literally less than 5 seconds if you don’t know what you’re doing. Under 2 if you’re practiced. There are a few prevention measures you can employ to prevent this stuff
- disconnect the lock cylinder
- shield the lock cylinder
- block the mechanism with shields.
all of these have some sort of drawback. There’s no benefit to busting the glass on an F series because they’re so easy to bust into via the door handle. But, you can get security coating instead of tint that adds some very challenging film to overcome with the typical glass breaker. They can still drill through and try to boost with a wire, but that’s a bit more time consuming.
Nobody pays attention to alarms, but, with a good set of rear facing lights - we’re talking squadron pros - something that will really **** off drivers behind them, you can up fitter wire them and leave the up fitter on when you leave the truck. Most thieves won’t look.
Alarm and tracker. bonus with remote disable.
Anywhere Austin and southward is at risk of a cartel bounty. You’re only a few hours from Mexico and Urban TX police departments do only this for stolen vehicles:
1) what’s your vehicle info
2) here’s your case number, call your insurance.
that’s it. Sure the VIN is now in the stolen database, but they’ve got tags to use to get them past casual observers.
Now, if you want this kind of shít to slow down some, the next time you catch a cop running stationary radar, film them. Post it to the web and then hit up some local news sites. “How many vehicles were stolen while this clown is making the world safe for terrorists”? Because that’s exactly what they’re doing. About a year ago a buddy of mine got his car broken into, and luggage stolen right in front of 3 or 4 SAPD sitting on their áss outside a bar. Couldn’t have been ... 25 yards from the crime, with direct view. He had literally just returned from overseas, hadn’t even been home yet, they busted his window, popped the lock and grabbed his bags. SAPD has just given up. If it’s stolen, too bad, so sad. I’ve seen other urban PD’s around S/A do similar and THIS is why you’re paying 25% more on insurance. There is literally no disincentive.
So long as there is a bounty on trucks and the urban PD’s aren’t actually doing a thing about it, this trend will get worse.
Start being vocal about insurance, and vehicle theft to your local .gov. Regularly.
