Steal this truck!

[Road Dog]

3G Dodge RAMs seem to make the top 10 list of stolen vehicles every year. I was under the impression that factory immobilizers were secure and standard equipment these days. Am I deluding mysef? BTW, it's the only late model vehicle on the list.



Do the pros have a way to bypass the immobilizer? Or do most RAMs not have an immobilizer? How many people here have had their trucks stolen and how were they secured. The best way to secure our trucks is to understand how they wander away in the first place.

 

[Bob4x4]

I have not seen one verified case of an imobilizer truck driven away. It is an option. There are many flatbed tow trucks that are being used to steal vehicles,it is quick and will not matter what type of theft alarm or interupt you have.



Bob

 

[BMH95]

It's very easy to steal them, and Bob is right about tow trucks. You could grab mine by the back wheels and drive right off my dirveway with it. They don't even strap them down until they are a ways away from the "pick up".

 

[seafish]

So other then curbing the wheels and parking in ways that make the front AND back of the truck inaccessible to another vehicle, are there any other good and inobtrusive ways to prevent this kind of theft??

 

[Blu-meanie]

I use the 12 gauge method

 

[JBallou]

In a very secure parking garage in your home.

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

Get it back with Lojack

 

[kruisecontrol]

my friend & neighbor 05 ctd truck got stolen at night , he had lojack but he didnt noticed the truck was gone until 7 am so when he called the cops they already had found it in a dirt road, no engine/trans no front clip.



in my experience the best protection will be a 2 way paging aftermarket alarm (ask the installer to hide the antenna) , and a rfid or similar passive Fuel cut off ,shut down sol etc,manual kill switches only work if you remember to use it. i have one passive fuel cut off in my escalade ,its fool proof all i have to do is slide this square little plastic thru a hidden reciever and i got 30 secs to start the truck or it will crank and stall , it has been broken in 4 times all 4 before i had an alarm , but they always destroyed the switch but gave up because it woulnt start.

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

Vehicle theft has been a problem for many years. I like the hidden switch idea and a motion sensing alarm. If you are alerted and they do get the vehicle moving, If equipped with Lojack and police are notified right away the bad guys stand a good chance of getting apprehended. The longer they are in Jail the fewer vehicles they can steal. I bought my 98 in 98 and there has been no apparent attempt to steal it. They may have shined a light through the drivers window and seen the apparatus on the brake pedal which would prevent them from driving it and decided it was not worth the trouble. At this point in time they may not be interested in a 10 year old Ram, I don't really know. I did install Jimmy Jammers for when I am in a parking lot and don't want to bother with the brake pedal device but maybe I should. We need Judges that will put these thieves away for an appropriate length of time. When they start doing that it will send a message and theft will diminish. Don't hold your breath.

 

[Kry226]

We still have not had one confirmation that a gray-keyed truck has been driven away by a thief. Anyone know of one?

 

[BMH95]

No, but that isn't the point at all. The point is . . . that MODERN theives ( the kind you DON'T catch, not the crack addicts looking for a ride and a stereo ) don't drive your truck away. That's a kid/thug style theft. The professionals use their "repossession" trucks to snatch and run. They don't need a key, they don't drive them, etc. They back up with the hooks down, and grab it by the back wheels. They raise the rear off the ground, and drive away. They also know how to pop the truck into neutral to roll it onto a flat bed - although this isn't they way they do it in a driveway. Repo companies are popping up everywhere because of the credit problems, and they are like tow truck drivers - UNTRUSTWORTHY, for the most part.

 

[Kry226]

Actually, I think it is a very valid point. And while there is no doubt that your MODERN thieves are out there conducting business, I believe they are in a minority versus the break-in and drive away thief. Tow trucks leave a big signature, you know.



Of course should anyone have some verifiable statistics about tow-truck thievery, I would be very interested to see them.

 

[BMH95]

It's out of control near Chicago. You can pretty much ask for the car you want if you need parts.

 

[Matt400]

Consider this scenerio-



On a 3G truck with factory Sentry. . when you hit the fob to lock the truck you also get a red flashing led on the instrument cluster.

On a non Sentry truck this dash led will not flash so... all a theif needs to do is look at the dash of a 3g truck-

• LED flashing = vehicle locked, alarmed with Sentry (gray chipped key)
  
• LED not flashing= vehicle unlocked, alarm not set OR vehicle locked "without" Sentry (black no chip key)
  

I think the ones being stolen are non Sentry, have yet to read otherwise.

 

[Road Dog]

My grey key (or key/remote combo) control an immobilizer and there's no flashing light on the dash. No alarm either.

59% of stolen vehicles are recovered.

The top 10 for 2006 is:

1. 1995 Honda Civic

2. 1991 Honda Accord

3. 1989 Toyota Camry

4. 1997 Ford F-150 Series Pickup

5. 2005 Dodge Ram Pickup

6. 1994 Chevrolet C/K 1500 Pickup

7. 1994 Nissan Sentra

8. 1994 Dodge Caravan

9. 1994 Saturn SL

10. 1990 Acura Integra

 

[Matt400]

Makes perfect sense too because the 05 Ram is the newest one you could get without Sentry.

03-05 it was optional.

06 and newer it's standard equipment so if your gonna steal one you might as well go for the newest that doesn't give allot of trouble.

 

[Matt400]

My grey key (or key/remote combo) control an immobilizer and there's no flashing light on the dash. No alarm either.

What year is yours?

 

[Road Dog]

I have an '05 Caravan with the key-remote and factory immobilizer. My Dodge RAM is a '98 with an old fashioned key.

In '05 any Chyrsler with the remote had an immobilizer. It was a package deal.

 

[Matt400]

In '05 any Chyrsler with the remote had an immobilizer. It was a package deal.

Not on my 05 if you mean Dodge too. Mine came with a fob & black key. I later added a Gray Sentry key along with the software to enable the dash led. The flashing led on the dash I mentioned earlier pertains to the 3g Rams.

 

[AKaiser]

Not on my 05 if you mean Dodge too. Mine came with a fob & black key. I later added a Gray Sentry key along with the software to enable the dash led. The flashing led on the dash I mentioned earlier pertains to the 3g Rams.

Same here. 05, remote entry, no remote start, black fob and key, and NO sentry. Don't recall a dash LED; maybe it's there, dunno.