Car Trackers for Tracing Stolen Cars

[John Naylor]

Another Morris stolen!
Has anybody any experience of using a car tracker? It used to be very expensive to install and maintain but there are numerous devices on Ebay from around £15 upwards which only require a Pay-As-You-Go SIM inserting. The monthly cost of the SIM would be the only maintenance cost plus around 10p for a call if your car is stolen. The devices allow all sorts of devious tricks like tracking the wife/ husband, listening in etc but let's not go there! I thought of putting a tracker inside the roof lining with a suitable charger....
I know prevention is better than a cure and really this should only supplement anti-theft devices:
secret switch for fuel pump
battery cut-out
steering wheel clamp
draining brake fluid
explosive devices
etc
Any experience/ ideas?
An example of a tracker on ebay is http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-RealTime ... 3386f0910f

[Jeroen '65 kever]

i'm busy with the restoration of my Morris at the moment. I've also bought a tracker for the Morris. I've test it and it's working pretty good. I'm going to use this tracker.....[frame][/frame]

It has two antenna's. One is for the phone signal the other one for the GPS. Furthermore it has microphone, but also a relay, because if you want to stop the engine you can send a message ''stop engine'' i believe, and afther that the fuel pump stops working. You can also set the car in ''parking mode'' when the car stands for a longer period on the same place. When the car moves 300 meters away from it's place you get a text message. it's a very nice device!!

here you can see the engine is stopt and prevent for starting

I've bought mine in China, because it's much cheaper there

[moggiethouable]

Great idea.
But make sure the tracker is well advertised in the drivers side window, better to put the scumbags off than go through the pain of losing the vehicle first.
Etch the windows with your registration with an etching kit, £25.00
Buy a steering lock, very visible and slows the little blighters down.£100.00 size 42cm for standard Morris steering wheel.
Fit cut out switches wherever it takes your fancy, emphasis on the plural, switches, not just one switch.
Fit a loud and persistent alarm,with electronic touch switch, advertise the fact its fitted, even more stickers in the window.
Get paranoid dudes.
Theyre out to get your motor.

[Jeroen '65 kever]

Great idea.
But make sure the tracker is well advertised in the drivers side window, better to put the scumbags off than go through the pain of losing the vehicle first.

Here you thinking the wrong way. The Tracker can only work when nobody knows that it's in it.....if people know that you have a tracker they use a device that disturb the signal or they search till they found it....Don't forget that stealing a Morris is not just steal a car (at least in Holland where the Morris is a real classic car). Most of the time they observe you a long time before they steal the car and prehaps they use a trailer. For an alarm it works to let people know it is installed! Not for a tracker

With the tracker i have you can have a remote control and activate the alarm. If you open the doors the horn wil sound... and if you're being handy you can use some door switches to ''lock'' the reardoors of a traveller and the bonnet.

To prevent the car from stealing by start the car i can recommend this device ''thunderlock''...It's a engine immobiliser which works with the buttons you have already in your car. You make a personal code for instance you have turn on the windshieldwhippers, then the headlights, whindshieldwhipers off, and than the heater before you can start the car.

You can also use a special reedcontact. You can't start the car till you've activate the engine immobiliser by putting a magnet against the reedcontact. This reedcontact you can hide behind the doortrims, the dashboard are inside the seat cushions

But i think this is not the information topicstarter want Think i'm being to enthusiastic

[plastic_orange]

Perhaps the use of something like smartwater and making would be thieves aware may deter. Once the stuff is on - it stays. A lot of bikes are marked with this.
https://smartwater.tv/

Pete

[MarkyB]

I've bought mine in China, because it's much cheaper there

Got a link to the site you used?

[John Naylor]

Brilliant stuff, thanks (can't wait for Roy's verdict!).

[Coalmossian]

You can also use a special reedcontact. You can't start the car till you've activate the engine immobiliser by putting a magnet against the reedcontact. This reedcontact you can hide behind the doortrims, the dashboard are inside the seat cushions

I like the sound of this "reed contact".have looked on eBay but cannot see. Can you point me in the right direction, please, anyone?

[jagnut66]

Get paranoid dudes.
Theyre out to get your motor.

Whilst I don't think getting paranoid will solve anything, I do agree that it does look like ' they're out to get your motor' is beginning to apply more and more to the Morris Minor.
I will be now fitting a second secret switch to back up my existing one and my steering lock.

Is there a link for where to buy this tracker?

I also think what Jeroen (and others on different posts on this site before him) is saying about thefts being organised is probably right on allot more occasions than we realize too.
Sorry guys, I've said it before and I'll say it again, until the latest classic price boom pops, our cars are going to continue to be desirable targets to the thieving scum that lurk around the edges of our society.

I think we'd all better start fitting trackers.............

[MrDodo]

I asked this same question a couple of weeks ago

Tracker - GPS vs VHF for stolen vehicle recovery http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=55254

GPS & GSM devices are cheaper, but apparently can be blocked more easily than VHF devices.

[tysonn]

Link to some trackers from China.Very good company but there are others including Fasttech. I have bought from them for years.Average waiting time around 2 weeks.Price is in US dollars but just multiply by .6(or 6 and move the decimal point for the mathematically challenged)to get a rough idea of the price in pounds.The price includes shipping:
http://www.dx.com/c/car-accessories-799 ... ystems-717

[tysonn]

Reed switches:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksi ... &_from=R40

[ASL642]

Members! Please remember that this is an open site for ALL to read. Don't give away the safety suggestions that may keep our cars secure! Do it via PM ?

[plastic_orange]

If your car is 'wanted' it will be gone. How long does it take to lift it on the back of a flatbed and away?

Alarms etc only deter the casual opportunist.

Pete

[drivewasher]

You can fit all the reed switches,secret switches & super dooper imobilisers etc, etc but the real fact is and all the thieves already know this, is all you will ever need to START a minor is 24inch of single core wire. I won't give the game away as I'll probably be swooped on but anyone with little knowledge of vehicle electrics under the bonnet could start one in 30 seconds.

Best way is highly visible steering lock disklok is best about £100 and a secret tracker so if car is stolen it can be quickly tracked. Then send the boys round!!

[Jeroen '65 kever]

I've bought mine in China, because it's much cheaper there

Got a link to the site you used?

Sure, this is the site i've used....They have a lot of cool stuff. Just type ''GPS Tracker'' or ''TK103'' and you will find a lot of them. I used the TK103. I've read a lot of criticism of the cineese tracker, because it can be clones, but mine works fine! And the for €30,- including shipment

*EDIT: don't order when you need something verry fast....shipment can take uo to 60 days!! But eventually it will arive. I've also bought my timing light etc. there

[GeordieDave]

I too have a tracker with backup battery lurking in the depths of my Mog. A quick text message to the tracker and it will send me a link to google maps with the car's location. So far it's been very accurate when I've tested it. Fortunately I haven't needed to use it for real. Another text message and the horn honks on and off - in case it's been hidden in a garrage or behind someone's house. Money well spent.

[les]

Sounds good Dave, any chance of model and supplier?

[John Naylor]

Sounds like just what I want too if you could advise on model.
I imagine a SIM card is going to be £6 or £7 a month on pay as you go.

[kevin s]

I agree immobolisers are so easy to by pass they are a waste of time, a motion sensing alarm with it's own battery back up, physical devices such as good pedal or steering locks, deadlocks on the doors and bonnet and in case the worst comes to the worst a tracker is where I would go.

That said none of my other clasics have any security devices, but we do live in one of the lowest risk areas, they are garaged at night and parked in a secure compound at work, if I have to park anywhere else I start puling parts off.

kevin