Do you still use a crooklock.
Discussion
V8KSN said:
OLD myth that I am not sure is true......its most probably made up!
An old man was scared of all the local kids stealing cars in his area and he has a classic car which he did not want stolen so he put it in his garage with a crooklock, disclok and gearshift lock on overnight.
The next morning he awoke to hear his car was running in the garage with all the 'loks neatly piled on the passenger seat.
There was a note on the windcreen that said 'If we want it, we will take it, dont take the piss'
I heard that one many years ago too. Bit like the one about the Reliant Robin and the inspection pit, I would suspect it's Urban Legend, although the original story may have been based on the truth once.An old man was scared of all the local kids stealing cars in his area and he has a classic car which he did not want stolen so he put it in his garage with a crooklock, disclok and gearshift lock on overnight.
The next morning he awoke to hear his car was running in the garage with all the 'loks neatly piled on the passenger seat.
There was a note on the windcreen that said 'If we want it, we will take it, dont take the piss'
Zelda Pinwheel said:
I used to have a pedal lock that hooked under the brake pedal and over the steering wheel, used it on my MG Midget. Very solid stuff with a massive lock. I never had a problem with it, although probably 'cos nobody wanted to pinch the manky thing anyway.
On the Landrovers, we use these, which are great, and also mean that in theory they can't be pushed or towed, as it presses on the brake pedal as well.
http://foundry4x4.co.uk/index.php?route=product/pr...
What a great idea,especially with all the keyless thefts of Landrovers at the moment.Ive a BMW,so we have the same issue and use a disclock at all times.Takes less than five seconds to put into place and if it puts someone off,I'm happy.On the Landrovers, we use these, which are great, and also mean that in theory they can't be pushed or towed, as it presses on the brake pedal as well.
http://foundry4x4.co.uk/index.php?route=product/pr...
If I was a car thief and I saw one now I would probably just assume the owner is either very old or a mentalist, generally if you do see them they are being used to secure something nobody will nick anyway.
Basically, my late grandad had one on his Metro 1.1C he was driving until four years ago, the thieves have moved on, the guys that used to nick Metros are all in their forties now and probably no longer steal Metros and the younger ones will be all about stealing to order and nicking desirable stuff by getting the keys, if one goes now its a nostalgic scrote, suspect a lot of the skills have died out.
I had a steering wheel lock and managed to crack the window getting it off in a hurry, which confirms my theory that the anti theft devices, as a rule, alarms, locks, locking wheel bolts, immobilisers generally cause the owner more agro than they ever do to thieves.
My one attempted theft from a pub was thwarted by a 99p switch hidden out of sight that my dad fitted, the wheel was mangled, lock smashed and cowl destroyed but the randomly placed switch stopped them taking it and burning it out.
I think car theft is a much smaller problem now but tends to be higher value cars, kids cant easily nick them nowadays, think joyriding is much less prevalent, except in Aberdeen of course.
Basically, my late grandad had one on his Metro 1.1C he was driving until four years ago, the thieves have moved on, the guys that used to nick Metros are all in their forties now and probably no longer steal Metros and the younger ones will be all about stealing to order and nicking desirable stuff by getting the keys, if one goes now its a nostalgic scrote, suspect a lot of the skills have died out.
I had a steering wheel lock and managed to crack the window getting it off in a hurry, which confirms my theory that the anti theft devices, as a rule, alarms, locks, locking wheel bolts, immobilisers generally cause the owner more agro than they ever do to thieves.
My one attempted theft from a pub was thwarted by a 99p switch hidden out of sight that my dad fitted, the wheel was mangled, lock smashed and cowl destroyed but the randomly placed switch stopped them taking it and burning it out.
I think car theft is a much smaller problem now but tends to be higher value cars, kids cant easily nick them nowadays, think joyriding is much less prevalent, except in Aberdeen of course.
J4CKO said:
suspect a lot of the skills have died out.
i once opened a friends Renault 5 with the spoony end of a spoon (as opposed to the handly end) as a demonstration of how s
te his locks were. What skills in particular were you referring to, shoving a coathanger down the door to unlatch the lock, or bending the door out to do the same but from the inside. nothing too cutting edge there...I love it when I see one in some old boy's immaculate early 90's Rover 200 or similar but never use one myself anymore.
I used to use a Longarm lock on the E36, similar to this.
It came with the car but I soon stopped using it as it was annoying to have to keep it in the car and it was mostly garaged anyway. It seemed good as the two bars (on the back of the unit in this pic) fitted snugly either side of the steering wheel spoke meaning it would hopefully take bit longer to hack the wheel up to get the lock off.
I still feel for me that the chance of theft is too low to justify lugging it round and risking marking some part of the interior in the E60, but would use it if I had to park somewhere dodgy every night as I imagine it would deter the modern car thief just as much as the ones of old, if not moreso if it's true that all they carry is a laptop...
I used to use a Longarm lock on the E36, similar to this.
It came with the car but I soon stopped using it as it was annoying to have to keep it in the car and it was mostly garaged anyway. It seemed good as the two bars (on the back of the unit in this pic) fitted snugly either side of the steering wheel spoke meaning it would hopefully take bit longer to hack the wheel up to get the lock off.
I still feel for me that the chance of theft is too low to justify lugging it round and risking marking some part of the interior in the E60, but would use it if I had to park somewhere dodgy every night as I imagine it would deter the modern car thief just as much as the ones of old, if not moreso if it's true that all they carry is a laptop...
Edited by jones325i on Wednesday 22 January 12:29
storminnorman said:
I have one because you can steal an 80's Ford with a chocolate screwdriver. If you want to.
This is the reason I kept them, so then if I buy another classic I have one ready. I expected them to stop selling them, but they are still available.Always preferred the steering wheel ones as they are very visible - I always lived in the belief that they would look for an easier target.
I had a Barrier Deadlock fitted to a Cavalier in the 90s, locked the car in reverse and imobilised so could not start in reverse. It was welded to the transmission tunel so any force applied just broke the gear lever.
To take the car would have needed to chuck it on a transporter or trailer.
Would use one today except can seem to find anyone that fits them anymore
To take the car would have needed to chuck it on a transporter or trailer.
Would use one today except can seem to find anyone that fits them anymore
steve_bmw said:
if they want it, they will nick it. I just couldn't be bothered fitting/refitting a disc lock every time I got in the car, and what do you do with that big lump of metal?
I do still see them fitted but usually to some by gone performance car that nobody wants to steal anymore.
You either put it on your back seat, or in your boot that is what I do with mine when not in use no hardship. I do still see them fitted but usually to some by gone performance car that nobody wants to steal anymore.
Either way everybody, has a choice on their car Security.
As for me why make it easy!!!!!
Edited by SEE YA on Wednesday 22 January 12:41
I still use them as I've got two cars from an era when car security was a non coded key and Volkswagen's had their key number on the inside of the door handle...
Disklok, Stoplock Pro and the Halfords own brand one are Thatcham Cat 3 approved. I know they can't be removed in a minute by someone determined to steal a car but I do believe they're a good deterrent.
Disklok, Stoplock Pro and the Halfords own brand one are Thatcham Cat 3 approved. I know they can't be removed in a minute by someone determined to steal a car but I do believe they're a good deterrent.
kambites said:
My car spends the vast majority of its time either on a CCTV covered private car park at work
Whoever took my Suzuki from an identical setup was entirely unbothered by this.Re the steering locks, I have one on my Defender, along with other security, because these are so widely stolen. At least it may slow them down, or put the non-professional off a little.
Greg_D said:
J4CKO said:
suspect a lot of the skills have died out.
i once opened a friends Renault 5 with the spoony end of a spoon (as opposed to the handly end) as a demonstration of how ste his locks were. What skills in particular were you referring to, shoving a coathanger down the door to unlatch the lock, or bending the door out to do the same but from the inside. nothing too cutting edge there...Those people are now in their thirties and forties/dead and 15 year olds now will root your Iphone, set you up on Spotify and #Hashtag you on Facetweeter but give them a Astra 1.2 Merit to spirit away they may struggle, firstly with the necessary technique and muscle memory, finding one in the first place and having the motivation as their peers generally dont steal cars any more, if they do, they nick BMWs, Audis and Mercs and sell them to blokes who put them in containers.
I am not saying it never happens and is impossible, just that it isnt anywhere like as common.
SEE YA said:
You either put it on your back seat or in your boot when not in use no hardship.
Either way everybody, has a choice on their car Security.
As for me why make it easy!!!!!
Last thing i need is a big lump of metal flying around in the back of my car when drifting at excessive leptonage.Either way everybody, has a choice on their car Security.
As for me why make it easy!!!!!
Us powerfully built directors are not fans haha
It's all different now isn't it, with the rappers, hanging around outside the supermarkets, and even those aren't like they used to be, back when it was the Safeway and the Kwik Save, because now it's the Netto and the Sainsburys isn't it, and I tell you what, it's not like it was before it changed, no, because you could go down to the shops in your Vauxhall Nova and the worst that would happen when you left it is it would be burnt down to the ground by a yobbo, fair and square it was, you knew where you stood, but oh no not anymore now it's all on the Twitter, because they won't bother with that any more will they, they'll remap the throttle response using OBD-II over Bluetooth won't they, the N-Dubz, and it's all like that now, and you can't even throw a toaster into a gay man's bath any more because of the Muslims.
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