Well, I woke up this morning to find my rear seat ripped down, the center console lid broken, my stereo face ripped off, and my subs and amp gone. From the tears in the weatherstripping, I would say that whoever did it pulled the top of the window out and reached down to unlock the door. I didn't even have the subs for a week
Now my question is, what precautions should I take for security? Should I install a security system, or use the one that is built into the stereo? Would tinting the windows help? Where would be a good place to mount an amp so people can't find it? And how would I go about making subs inconspicuous? Before they were stolen, I had the subs in a box with the amp on the back just sitting in the trunk. Any help is appreciated.
Vman

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1989 Camaro RS
2.8 V6
K&N's
700R4 tranny
Cragar Street Pro rims (old Series 30)
Pioneer DEH-P3000

1969 Camaro SC
350 HO from a Vette
Turbo 350 tranny
In the process of being restored

 

That sucks big time! I hope your insurance will cover it. There are a few things you can do. You can always go the security system route. I personally do not have a security system on my car. There are some cheaper alternatives (precautions) that will work and deter very well.

Never leave stereo equipment in view, including the face off your deck. If nothing else, hide it somewhere, just so that it looks like it is not in there. One thing you might look into is getting the pull cover for the rear hatch area. As long as your subs and amps do not sit above the top of the back seat you can use that. Check a junkyard or a dealership for one. That will prevent people from seeing your setup. There was one in my car when I bought it, and I have used it to cover my subs and amp for 3 years and never had another problem.

One other precaution that will help, is to know the area you will be parking in. For example: If you are going to a mall with a parking garage, turn your stereo down before entering so noone knows that it is in there. I'm sure there are people that would hear it and follow you to your space and after you leave, rip it off. So basically, if you will be in an area that you are unsure of, or there is a chance that someone could easily rip you off undetected, turn the music down and listen to the music of your fine machine for a minute or two. I hope that gives you some ideas to use, and hopefully everything works out for you. Good luck.

Matt

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irocet@hotmail.com

drive.to/Stang_Kilr

88 IROC-Z -- 350 L-98, 700R4, Flowmaster, K&N, MAF Sceens Gone, Airfoil, March Pullies, Comp Cams Magnum 1.6 Roller Rockers, Accel U-Groove Plugs, Accel 8.8 mm Wires, Hypertech Cap & Coil, Hypertech Chip, Hotchkis Strut Tower Brace, One Loud Stereo!

 

I know exactly how you feel dude, and it sucks. I was there a few years ago. The first thing I did was buy the best alarm I could afford, and nobody has touched my car since. I also went one step further when I built my next stereo to keep it out of sight. As long as you keep your subwoofer box a reasonable size and build it into the well, you can conceal it very easily. If you have the stock sun shade, it's even easier. I went a little nuts and in the front I bought a MASK kenwood deck and flush mounted it. I then made a fake face plate out of the stock GM radio which covers the deck. 100% stock appearance. I deviated slightly with the IROC and built custom kick panels, but I built them to look as stock as possible, and I've had many people see my car and look at me with a surprised face and say "You don't have a stereo!?". Apparently it's working. It's also very important NOT TO BOOM YOUR STEREO anywhere in your home town, and it's also wise to be careful who you show it to.

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The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

 

i know how you feel man. i have had 4 sets of subs and amps stolen and 5 decks. it really sucks to wake up in the morning and see your trunk hanging open we you leave for work. i have found out that if you don't boom in your naborhood and in parking lots people won't mess with your stuff. an alarm really won't work against a professional theif. and anyone who steals your stuff while your home is a professional. amatures only go to parking lots and **** like that. just do what you can to hide your stuff. i am making my box with handles on it so that i can pull it out of my car easily every night. it may be a hassle but i want to protect my investment.

 

Check this page he has security covers for our cars I got mine from him.
http://members.aol.com/iroczdave/pubpage4.html

 

i think the best advice here was to simply not blast your music everywhere you go, but i think there is something wrong with that statement. why would you spend all that time and money on a great sound system and not blast it. so thats out the window. I think jim hit the nail on the head when he said that if you make your system as close as you can to stock, people will not even give your car a second look. Tinting the windows helps, especially if you have your amps and box in plain sight. a security system is also a good way to go, the alarm usually scares people away.

now heres the bad news, if a theif wants your shi# bad enuf, you cant stop him/her, so if i were you, i would get a good insurance policy just in case it happenes again.

sorry for your loss man.

daniel

 

if you live in a rough neighborhood dont play your music too loud... find a way to make the amp and subs less noticable.

 

Personally a great way to hide the amp I have found is the t-top back and good tint. My stereo is tucked in there so basically only the amp and about 2 inches up sub are showing. If I throw my t-top back over the amp the system basically disappears. I figure that if a theif doesn't already know it is there they'll take a look in the rear, see a t-top bag and move to the next car.

The not blasting the stereo does work... that is how I got my amp ripped off. I was dumb and came into a parking lot with the music blasting and the two 12s thumping... came out and they had ripped my amp off. I wasn't gone more then a few minutes. The amp was also underneath the t-tops, so they couldn't of just looked in and saw it. I knew I had been used... it sucked bad...

 

Besides what was mentioned before, one other thing you can do is bolt everything down. A box sitting in the back is an easy pull, but if it's bolted down in several spots with different size bolts, its alot harder to pull and run. Most thieves don't want to be hanging around trying to find out what size socket to use.

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-Justin-
T-Top '86 5.0L LG4 700R4 WS6
T-Top '92 5.0L TBI 700R4
My '86 Firebird Homepage
The F-body Model Kit Pictoral Archive (updated 5/30/01)

There can be only one!!

 

sorry to hear that, i just got ripped off for the second time 3 weeks ago. another thing you may want to consider is the lock in your hatch. the first time i got robbed, they just broke my driver side window and hit the hatch button. i since then made that button nonfunctional. but this last time, my t-tops were mess with, one was like half off so i don't know if they got in that way or not, but i had a huge box that held 2 15's and my lock was also punched in so i know there was no way to get that box over the back seat. i never expected that comming. i figured the only way they could get to my box is to break the window, and it still wouldn't fit that way. guess i was wrong. i'm just gonna seal that lock on both my cars to try to prevent that way next time. good luck.

 

get a car alarm. it happened to me when i forgot to arm mine. home owner's insurance should cover the damage though, so good luck.

 

Not true. My friend had some people that were definitely amateurs try to steal his 89 RS on Christmas Eve 2 years ago. They failed, but managed to trash the interior and cause about $1500 worth of damage on top of the cd player they stole from him.

 

The bad news is that if he is a professional thief, and he did it in front of your crib, you might not want to put anything back in until you move. He knows most cars are insured, and he knows that you will probably get a big fat check, and go get brand new shiny gear he can steal.

Here is some free advice:
1. Don't work on it outside in the open. Asking for trouble. Do it in the garage with the door closed, or at a buddies house.

2. Bolt everything down. I would rather have them break it than be able to steal it.

3. No stickers. Why not put a big neon sign on your car that says "I have cool audio equipment, come take it while I'm asleep, at the movies, etc."

4. Get a big motion sensing light and put it in your drive way. If a cat farts near your car, it will turn on. Combine it with an alarm, and an alarm with interior pain generators (a mini siren). Finally, a use for those dash speaker openings).

5. Get an alarm. Don't put it under the steering column. Put it behind the radio, on top of the dash, etc.

6. Don't leave anything of value in the car. No CDs. Nothing.

7. Don't tell anyone about your stereo. If they ask, tell them stuff. If a friend tells a friend of his you don't know about the "800 buck woofers driven off a $1000 amp" he will be intrigued about it. Might even want to steal it. So if the question arrises, its "something I picked up at the swapmeet". Leave it at that.

8. Turn it down. No different than having a banner that says "Alpine" across the hatch window. It is asking for trouble.

9. Car cover? Jumpy dog? Hell, lock a rotwieler into the back of your car. That might do it.


Juan


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1987 Pontiac Trans Am
1994 Nissan Sentra E
1999 Daewoo Leganza

 

Two weeks ago. . . first day back at college for the year. Broke into my Trans Am exactly how they got into your car. Only in my case, they didn't only take the amp, sub,stereo, and 6x9's, they stole the whole car. Luckily I got it back. Anyways, alarm and kill switch are next on my list of things to do.