Does anyone use a steering lock

[Noodle1982]

A guy I work with uses one to protect his airbag after a friend of his told him that there had been a spate of airbag thefts in the area.

[S11Steve]

Bennet said:

Are you absolutely sure that's true? Specifically in the case of the Disklok?
It seems impossible that the strongest and best reviewed steering lock money can buy would be removable using a pen, and mankind is apparently incapable of coming up with anything more secure.

How can that possibly be the case?

It's been a few years since I had my hands on one, but the lock was the same tubular lock as is found on the Stoplock and Kensington laptop security devices. They can be opened very easily - https://youtu.be/9Eky9yZfZFQ?t=46s

Are the locks different on the more recent devices? Either way, the lock is nearly always the soft spot in any mechanical security device.



Edit

It does look like the keys have changed since I last saw one, this is shown on their website as an example.

Edited by S11Steve on Wednesday 22 February 14:21

[Tuvra]

CABC said:

Tuvra said:

I keep the keys in a faraday pouch,

what does the pouch do? presumably you have to remove key when opening the car which is when thieves capture the signal?

Correct.

However, from what I can gather, the thieves use range extenders that are able to pull the code from your key through walls etc, so essentially the key could be in your living room and they could be pulling the code from the street outside. The majority of these cars are being taken from outside houses so for the thieves it's simply a case of situating themselves close to the property at 2am or what ever, scanning for the frequency, replicating and then simply unlocking the car.

They then access the OBD port to make a replica fob/transmitter to start the car.

A Focus RS was recently taken using this method locally, literally 2m away from the chaps front door

With a Faraday pouch they at least have to be close to me for the 5/10 seconds or so I take to put it in my pouch. If I didn't have it they could follow me round and extract it at any time.

[Dave Hedgehog]

dieseluser07 said:

dieseluser07 said:

Like this

Does anyone think this could take a bit of beating as its hard to cut the wheel given the limited space? Click on it to zoom it its clearer

20-30 seconds to get that off

[CABC]

Tuvra said:

Correct.

However, from what I can gather, the thieves use range extenders that are able to pull the code from your key through walls etc, .

oh, i was behind the times on this issue!
that specific issue should be issue for manufacturers to fix though.... if they cared.

[Tuvra]

CABC said:

oh, i was behind the times on this issue!
that specific issue should be issue for manufacturers to fix though.... if they cared.

Believe me, so was I

It took me a lot of research to find out how they were being taken. The tossers on the RS forums are about as useful as a chocolate fire guard, every public thread you read they state "can't discuss in public, join the members section, lots of information there" as soon as it gets technical, as if someone who has the intent of stealing a £35k motor wouldn't pay £10 to join a bd owners forum

As mentioned, I brought this up with Ford and they advised a Dislok, its a 2017 £35k car and they tell me to use 1980's technology to protect it, laughable really

[liner33]

Voldemort said:

Not strictly true. I used to have one of these for my mini (30 odd years ago) and it came with a collar that you are supposed to fit to the stick (by removing and refitting the knob) which is then anchored to the stick with a grub screw. I was unable to remove it but that wouldn't stop someone cutting the gear stick below the collar...
At the end of the day there is nothing you can do to prevent theft, you can only make it more difficult and hopefully not worth the effort/risk to the thief.

You just wrench the handbrake off and they pop off allowing you to drive the car albeit with the lock hanging off the gear lever

I can get past the old stoplocks with the round keys in seconds , the newer ones are better but the disklock is the only thing that will be a real detterent and they dont take much to get around

[alangla]

Tuvra said:

I keep the keys in a faraday pouch

Don't suppose you could post up an Ebay/Amazon/Manufacturer's website link to the one you've got? Having read the later discussion I think I now want one.

[Janesy B]

S11Steve said:

Diskloks are very tough, but sadly the weak spot is again the tubular lock mechanism. 15-20 secs with a pen is all it takes.

It's not a tubular lock any more.

[Mammasaid]

alangla said:

Tuvra said:

I keep the keys in a faraday pouch

Don't suppose you could post up an Ebay/Amazon/Manufacturer's website link to the one you've got? Having read the later discussion I think I now want one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Protective-Anti-Radiation...

often bought with this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CafePress-Baseball-Adjust...

Edited by Mammasaid on Wednesday 22 February 16:52

[MJK 24]

Vaguely thinking of a Fiesta ST. Am I better going for an ST1 which I believe is the only model with a conventional ignition key and therefore harder to pinch?

My only prerequisites are DAB and AC which I believe to be standard on the base model anyway.

[alangla]

Mammasaid said:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Protective-Anti-Radiation...

often bought with this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CafePress-Baseball-Adjust...

Edited by Mammasaid on Wednesday 22 February 16:52

ha sodding ha. Did you read this bit?

tuvra said:

However, from what I can gather, the thieves use range extenders that are able to pull the code from your key through walls etc, so essentially the key could be in your living room and they could be pulling the code from the street outside. The majority of these cars are being taken from outside houses so for the thieves it's simply a case of situating themselves close to the property at 2am or what ever, scanning for the frequency, replicating and then simply unlocking the car.

They then access the OBD port to make a replica fob/transmitter to start the car.

A Focus RS was recently taken using this method locally, literally 2m away from the chaps front door frown

With a Faraday pouch they at least have to be close to me for the 5/10 seconds or so I take to put it in my pouch. If I didn't have it they could follow me round and extract it at any time

This fits with the way cars seem to have been disappearing. I've had my front door tried already by thieves, police thought they were probably looking to steal my keys. Why should I make it easy for someone to just walk onto my drive, unlock the car & start it, especially if it's at minimal cost.

[Tuvra]

Mammasaid said:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Protective-Anti-Radiation...

often bought with this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CafePress-Baseball-Adjust...

Yes, hilarious, I'll pass the joke on to the chap who had his RS nicked

I bought these ones, pack of 3. One for the spare key in the safe, one on me all time and a spare.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00QIEX04K/ref...

They work a treat.

MJK 24 said:

Vaguely thinking of a Fiesta ST. Am I better going for an ST1 which I believe is the only model with a conventional ignition key and therefore harder to pinch?

My only prerequisites are DAB and AC which I believe to be standard on the base model anyway.

I am not 100% familiar with the FST set up, but I know not having keyless entry removes the access issue on the RS.

I should imagine the system is identical as I believe its how ST's are accessed (during theft) too. Personally, I wish I knew about the issue prior to ordering the car as I would have specced it without keyless entry

[dieseluser07]

MJK 24 said:

Vaguely thinking of a Fiesta ST. Am I better going for an ST1 which I believe is the only model with a conventional ignition key and therefore harder to pinch?

My only prerequisites are DAB and AC which I believe to be standard on the base model anyway.

I think the st1 is fine yes as long as its not specced with push button start or keyless entry

[TC7]

Also a Focus ST owner with keyless, When i had the car mapped by Revo i had them set up their SPS dongle at the same time to combat the obd problem.
This means i can lock the ecu into an antitheft map (car just stalls, wont idle) it locks the obd out as well. So even if the keys were to be stolen without the SPS to put the car out of anti theft mode the car won't go anywhere. Its specific to the car as well so even if said theif had a revo SPS it won't unlock my cars ecu. peace of mind for £99.

I can recall a year or so ago dislock were even giving a £10 discount to rs and st owners for their products as so many cars were stolen within a 2 week period!!

[Jimmy Recard]

I spotted this Porsche Panamera the other day

[giger]

I use a stoplock pro if I have to leave my car in a public car park or on the drive overnight. You may be able to cut the wheel etc, but most thieves don't want the hassle.

[anonymous-user]

dieseluser07 said:

Does anyone think this could take a bit of beating as its hard to cut the wheel given the limited space? Click on it to zoom it its clearer

I've owned mine since 2006/7. Used it on 4 cars in that time. 3 of the 4 were desirable for theft/ragging around an estate. Not once has anyone tried to nick the cars. And 1 of those cars was a mk1 golf gti in a not so high class area of Bristol.

They definitely work.

[M4cruiser]

The Stoplock Pro has two curvy bits that go round the wheel, and you are supposed to put one each side of a steering wheel spoke, that makes it harder to remove by just cutting the wheel.

The old Stoplock (i.e. the non-Pro) did not have this, and it was possible to make just one cut and slide the thing off. It also had a spring-loaded snap lock which I'm told is easier to break than the pro non-sprung one.

I think (my opinion) that the Stoplock Pro is a good one for the money and the ease with which it can be fitted.

[DKS]

2x Mk2 Astras and a Nova? Yes of course! Once you get into the habit you don't even notice you're fitting it...
Got to be better than nothing.
Noticed they won't fit a later Astra or our Corsa C as the wheel is too thick. Would have thought that would be the case with most newer cars?