Before I open myself up to a load of "have you never heard of the search function" I have searched and not really found what I am after...... I need to protect my bus and want to know what is best to install on the bus to try as much as possible to keep her safe. I am toying with buying an old I-phone and covertly installing it in the bus permanently powered so I can track it using the "find my phone app" on the Ipad....easy vehicle tracking or what. But then need some "hey look I am protected devices too" what are you using? or what would recommend?
if it's any help, i've got a battery isolator switch, steering wheel lock & a wheel clamp for when i'm out & about in mine. sounds like overkill, but i'd be devastated if my bus got pinched. most of the time it's kept in a hanger on a secure army camp though. so i'd like to think it's pretty safe.
dont do any thing that relys on signal , if it looses signal or power you have no avantage of putting it in if someone takes it , but if you think its good go with it , you do have to be very very unlucky or very very stupid to get a bus stolen. We all fear it but it could happen to any vehicle its fate really im afraid.
Most thieves look for a scanner, buses are stolen to order generally as your average Joy rider isn't impressed with a 0-60 time measured in minutes. Physical deterrents are good, I have a pedal lock which works well. My best advice would be hide it! Seriously the lowloader crews don't care, they're not going to drive it. Put something in the way, your car, a bollard or best of all a secure garage door!
Pedal lock here too as a deterrent for when I'm out and about....secured in a lock up when not being used.
A proper tracker with a subscription is the best way of getting it back if stolen, the find my phone type ones can be blocked without much hassle Electric based measures Alarms/immobilizers etc are to easy to bypass only way is mechanical means Locked garage Modern car parked in front Wheel locks Steering locks Pedal locks Remove wheels but if they want it they will just lift it and tow it
Our wore out shifter will stop any thief! if they can't find reverse then they can't steal it!(HELL I can't find it most mornings) not a lot of stolen buses here in the States, I still can't figure out why theres so many stolen buses over there?
Sorry - but this is absolute fallacy - there have been approximately 3 buses stolen in 4 months reported on here and facebook. If they were stolen to order by professional thieves that number would be far higher. 18 classic mini's stolen in 3 months last year solely in the West Mids - that is stolen to order. They may well be stolen by the people that cut and shut them, or break them for parts - but the notion that there are professional car thief gangs nicking them is simply not true- personally I suspect that some are nicked as an insurance scam: My 'mint' bus turns out to be a shed, that needs 1000's spent on it on top of the purchase price that will lead me to owe for greater than I would ever recoup? Hmmmm, agreed value insurance and whoooops - gone in the night when no one was looking - must have been a professional gang watching my every movement as I kept the bus hidden and employed the same tactics the armed forces used in NI to thwart the IRA. My 'mint' bus has massively crashed it's MOT - I can't afford to fix it - hmmmm, agreed value insurance and whooops they must have come in the dead of night with a low loader and no one heard a thing, they compromised my garage lock and alarm and somehow managed to fool the dog too. It's *****. If these were stolen to professionally break someone somewhere would have got caught by now with a pile of parts and spurious missing chassis plates. I'm not saying they never ever get nicked - but this 'looming menace' is simply not true when you look at the crime stats and the circumstances of many of the thefts.
Incidentally - most tracking systems designed to do just that - track a vehicle - are cheaper than an iPhone.
With all due respect what is reported on here and on Facebook is hardly representative of the UK and whilst you may have access to the 'reported' side, I have had dealings with those 'in the scene' actually doing the deed. Bugs and buses stolen, ringed, often painted and moved on, many also broken for spares and flogged on ebay. Usually found through 'For Sale' ads. If these were stolen to professionally break someone somewhere would have got caught by now with a pile of parts and spurious missing chassis plates. They have and the group have all been nicked (except Ian who buggered off to Spain) but they operated throughout England. I can't however believe that they were/are the only ones doing this. I agree wholeheartedly with your thoughts regarding 'insurance scams' and again, personally know that it goes on, probably more than any of us think as well, after all you wouldn't shout about it would you? Whilst I don't have access to official insurance figures, I'll lay a week's wages that the proportion of buses stolen and then recovered is MUCH lower than the national average for all vehicles, indicating that they are stolen for a reason. Ultimately if someone wants it enough, they'll have it. Hence my 1st post of hide it, if they don't know it exists they cant steal it.
I like the idea of the ground anchor, wonder if the Senior Service have a spare one going, Arc Royal must be ready for scrapping!!!!!
To stop your bus being driven away...take the rotor out of the dizzy...fit a fuel cut off solenoid...cut the gearstick down leaving about 2 inches, thread it, thread the other end and use a threaded coupling...pedal clamp, wheel clamp, removeable steering wheel, etc. To stop it being low-loadered away....any physical means....ground anchor, security bollard on the driveway...pager alarm, floodlight, etc. To stop it being broken into and vandalised...alarm, secure parking, uprated door locks, tinted windows, draw the curtains, To stop your paintwork being trashed...rust
3 houses have been burgled in my road in the last month... first one next door but 1 they nicked his skoda!!!! so ill never be sleeping again!. I have some measures in place and hopefully hide it over the winter in a secure location
