47-55.1 Anti theft

[Jemezcrusher]

I installed Altman EZ latches in my 1950 3100 and understand that now I will not be able to lock the doors. I will not have a bunch of stuff in the truck other than a stereo to steal but want to keep the truck itself from getting stolen. I don’t plan to ever be too far a way from it but am taking the following measures.
I installed a keyed battery disconnect switch behind the seat that you can not see, but can still reach back and switch it on/off. I will also put a “club” on the steering wheel and plan to put a push button switch inside the ashtray that will interrupt the power to the coil. Not sure how heavy duty that switch should be and it will the fused type.

Any input on how many amps that switch should be?

[crossfire84]

Just put a battery kill switch on it then remove the switch key.

[mick53]

Originally Posted by Jemezcrusher

I installed Altman EZ latches in my 1950 3100 and understand that now I will not be able to lock the doors. I will not have a bunch of stuff in the truck other than a stereo to steal but want to keep the truck itself from getting stolen. I don’t plan to ever be too far a way from it but am taking the following measures.
I installed a keyed battery disconnect switch behind the seat that you can not see, but can still reach back and switch it on/off. I will also put a “club” on the steering wheel and plan to put a push button switch inside the ashtray that will interrupt the power to the coil. Not sure how heavy duty that switch should be and it will the fused type.

Any input on how many amps that switch should be?

Clutch pedal and foot start will probably do the trick.

[mr48chev]

Something like this would be a positive door lock. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speed...ches,2269.html

Normally guys put them on suicide doors so they won't accidentally open and they do have a knob on the inside that you could open them with. Mounted inside low on the door they would go into a hole on the inside of the door jamb.

They show an electric one here that you can probably set up with a keychain phoebe or keyed switch. http://www.carolinacustom.com/pages/..._kits_page.jsp

A guy could build his own using a linear actuator and a pin and put it either in the door or the jamb which ever is easier to mount.

This is an Ebay add for linear actuators where you get a pair, the keychain remote and the control unit and they sell them in stokes down to 2 inches. I think I would mount them inside the door post and have the rod go into a hole in the door. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Heavy-Duty-...r=413873112370
Looking at the actuator again I think you wold have to use the actuator to move a pin that slid in a tube an not use the end of the actuator as the pin. Not hard to do but more fabrication.

[rpmerf]

I would not install a coil interrupt. I think this would introduce too much of a risk of issues while running. I would do a starter interrupt instead. They only need power for 10 seconds at a time.

Either way, run it through a 30A relay. 4 connections
Input - wire to the battery with a fuse
Output - wire to the coil or starter
Signal - wire to the ignition switch. Old wire that used to go to that device.
Ground - wire to the security button. Use a momentary button for the starter, or a toggle button or switch for the coil.

[mr48chev]

Coil interrupt can be as simple as a hidden toggle switch in the feed from the switch to the coil. Electric fuel pump, same way. That is advisable for when you need to work on something with the key on but don't want the fuel pump running.

Battery shut off switch aka race car type but in the interior of the car where you can reach it and not be observed but still be out of sight.

I had a 63 GMC that I bought from my friend and couldn't keep running although it fired right up when you poured gas in the carb. It had a 35 gallon stainless tank in the bed. Sliding under the truck and tracing the fuel line quickly showed that someone had put in a manual tank selector switch at one time and the knob under the seat was turned to what amounted to "off" Turn the switch so gas flowed and it ran great. That would let a joy rider get about 100 yards at the most before it quit.

If I were inclined to have a pair of those electric exhaust cutouts on my rig for that added noise I'd leave them open when I parked at a hotel at night. If someone tries to start it it is going to make a lot of extra noise and draw a lot of attention.

Trouble is it isn't just the jump in it and hot wire it and drive off joy rider that may be the real problem now. It is the pro thieves with shopping lists at big events who may be using repo rigs to snag specific vehicles. Spot, back up, snag and go all in a few seconds. Best defense against that is park where they either can't get in park in a spot that it is extremely difficult to hook it and go.

[bobinbc]

Originally Posted by mick53

Clutch pedal and foot start will probably do the trick.

And a 3 on the tree!

With a silent alarm that goes to your phone, they won't even see you coming....

I agree with coil interrupt switch, worked perfect in my 67 Camaro years ago! (+) to coil is a low amperage circuit, but is usually unfused from the ignition switch.

[Jemezcrusher]

Originally Posted by bobinbc

And a 3 on the tree!

With a silent alarm that goes to your phone, they won't even see you coming....

I agree with coil interrupt switch, worked perfect in my 67 Camaro years ago! (+) to coil is a low amperage circuit, but is usually unfused from the ignition switch.

Good ideas. I agree that an ignition interrupt should not be an issue. It goes from the AAW harness, through the ignition switch to the coil already, so I can’t imagine why an additional switch in the same circuit would be a problem. A 15-20 amp rocker switch in the ashtray would go un-noticed if located under the crush tab and you could not see it even if you looked in there.

The question at the start was really about the amperage of the switch, not the validity of the idea

Thanks

[_Ogre]

don't your doors lock like 55-59 trucks by turning the push button with key?

[1project2many]

I'm with Ogre. Don't the handles have locks?

Also, this might be the best security

[Jemezcrusher]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

don't your doors lock like 55-59 trucks by turning the push button with key?

Nope. Is a 1950

Lock by the interior handle on the drivers side, and a key on the passenger side

Have to use the original type latches, then risk the door flying open when going around a corner.

[mr48chev]

Been there done that on the doors flying open, I almost fell out of my truck the first week I had it in 1973 when the door popped open on a right hand turn and the only thing that saved me was that I had the window down and my arm out the window. A wide parking area next to the soft ball field and no cars or people was the other factor as it got pretty hairy for a few seconds. My wife fell out backwards in 1978 on a slow left hand turn when I was taking her to work. She still packs some scars from that. I had replaced all latches and strikers in 1973 with new oem parts from the dealer and they were already worn enough to fail in five years.

[mr48chev]

Thinking on it after reading the Altman instructions for 47/51 latches you should be able to rig a door lock solenoid to actuate the lever on the latch. You would still have to lock the left door from the inside but that would be an option and you could either put a hidden switch somewhere like on the back of the cab on the passenger side or use a remote switch on your key chain. A switch like this would work if you didn't use a remote. https://www.alliedelec.com/product/n...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Jemezcrusher

Nope. Is a 1950

Lock by the interior handle on the drivers side, and a key on the passenger side

Have to use the original type latches, then risk the door flying open when going around a corner.

same with 55-59 but i believe you can switch them or add a lockable button on the drivers door
this is a known issue with altman latches

i've never locked truk as it has no door handles to lock

as for doors flying open: that's from having worn out latches and striker plates
repop door latches solves that problem easy enough
i run the repops and have not had a door pop open in 10 years

[Jemezcrusher]

I’m sure some will get a chuckle out of this. Got the wiring all finished up. Everything worked. Lights, flashers, heater, wipers, stereo and gauges. Now the moment of truth. Key on, couple of pumps on the gas, hit the stomp starter and then nothing. Hmmm. Double checked all the connections, ignition switch is hot, no juice to the coil. Started running down the hot to the ignition and looking under the dash and saw the wires going to the dang interrupt switch I put in the ash tray. In my haste to get everything together, i put it in upside down and subsequently had wired backwards. On was off. Corrected the mistake and it the stomp starter and she fired right up. So I guess as an inti theft measure it worked. Hell, I couldn’t even figure it out for a while and I knew it was there.

[nvrdone]

ive got a momentary on push button switch wired into the starter circuit. its mounted behind the cigarette lighter. Just hold down, turn the key and it starts. never had any one try to steal the truck yet, so don't know how effective it is.
Saw a tire cover on a jeep that said" millennial anti theft device" it showed a 4spd shift pattern.

[mr48chev]

There are some relatively inexpensive linear actuators that are 12 V and small with a short stroke that might work well to serve as a dead bolt lock on the doors that can be mounted in the jambs. https://www.amazon.com/Linear-Motion...node=350654011

Key fob control would be reasonably simple to install or there might be a two way key switch that could be hidden pretty well out of sight on the back of the cab

[jbarron]

I just put a door lock identical to the passenger side in the drivers side door. The altman latches are the same on both sides and accept the lock.

[MiraclePieCo]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Trouble is it isn't just the jump in it and hot wire it and drive off joy rider that may be the real problem now. It is the pro thieves with shopping lists at big events who may be using repo rigs to snag specific vehicles. Spot, back up, snag and go all in a few seconds.

A friend of mine had his car stolen by a guy with a slide-back tow truck.

[mr48chev]

We are pretty sure that my sisters 84 Monte Carlo SS was stolen out of a Park and Ride lot by a repo rig a few years ago. No one walking or driving though the lot would probably question a repo rig driver pulling up to a car in the lot getting out with a piece of paper in his hand, look at the plate, walk up and pretend to check the vin and hook on to it and away he goes.

Most guys on here know that I think that :"laying frame" is one of the silliest fads ever forced on car folk but if your truck is bagged and lays frame and you are say at a motel for the night you can air it out, blow the tank and pull the fuse for the compressor and probably feel pretty safe. Only a well prepared pro thief would even attempt to make off with it and then only if they had a shopping list.

In some areas of the country rig with a specific engine stands a bigger chance of being stolen because the local Ricky Racers tend to blow up a lot of that particular engine. With so many rigs being stolen at national events I'd say that those thefts are either by individuals who are building a similar rig at home or by pro thieves who are working off a very specific shopping list and selling either the complete vehicle or specific parts to unscrupulous shops who greatly increase their bottom line by either stealing or buying stolen parts.

We have had so many stolen cars in this area that the state patrol inspector who checks the local scrap yard is demanding that all body sheet metal off cars and trucks comes with the The vin from the rig. I hauled in a rusted and roached out roof off a 51 Chevy car that my buddy had cut off the car years ago and had to come up with a vin for what little bit I hauled in. Meanwhile the sheriff's dept is finding piles of scrap body parts out in the sage brush because shops are tired of dealing with it.

[fisherman420]

Trique manufacturing makes a bracket kit to go with the altman latches. Then buy any universal remote door lock kit and mount it in. cost me about $150 all in. I also added a battery kill switch.

[Bimus]

The chain and pad lock till something else is installed .

[Scott2]

I used Altman latches on my ‘51 with ‘49 doors. I swapped for ‘51 and newer pushbutton door handles and added the keyed locks. Locks right up now. I am thinking of adding an alarm but would like to figure out power locks to go with it. Just haven’t spent any time thinking on it yet.

[jwhotrod]

shave the outside door handles, problem solved. just remember in all of this, make sure you have a mechanical way to get out of the truck. I have a friend who bought a 54 F100 that was all electric inside and out. a short and electrical fire in the door wiring almost killed him, smoke filled the truck and he couldnt get out.

[mr48chev]

I know that my suicide doors and no regular latches inside have kept a number of people from opening the doors of the truck.

Still very little will keep a real "pro" thief from taking a rig if he wants it bad enough usually meaning that it is on his "shopping list". It will keep the joy riders and local yahoos who might decide to snag it for a ride or to pilfer parts off from making off with it though.

If you have those exhaust cut outs to run open exhaust. I'd open them when I parked it. Especially if you are at an event at a motel. Someone fires it off with open exhaust in the middle of the night and you are going to see a motel full of mad guys emptying out of their rooms. That would cause most joy riders to bail out and start running as they have no idea who's truck it is.

As I mentioned before, a truck I had years ago had one of those mechanical tank selector valves mounted under the floor. Turn the handle in a different direction and you shut off the fuel and it won't run for long and if it is FI it won't run at all.