Best way to thief-proof my new driving lights.

[damo_s]

Hi guys. I'm just wondering if anyone could give me some ideas as to how to thief proof my driving lights? I had a pair of Genesis 210's stolen last year. They were secured using the usual lock nuts you can get from Lightforce, sidewinder, etc.

https://www.iautosecurepay.com.au/ssl/cms_autoelec/assets/autoelec_lightforce_AT%20LOCKNUTS.JPG

The thief simply twisted the lights off.

The Genesis mounting bracket comes with two smaller holes either side of the main bolt hole to stop the bracket from twisting. The only problem is that the mount on the ARB bar is too narrow, and the bolt holes of the bracket line up directly with the edge of the bull bar mount (hope that makes sense).

I have heard of people using 'roll pins' before. I have no experience with using them and I'd have no idea how to go about it. Other options include 'shear nuts'

http://www.powertoolsdirect.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/f/o/forgefix-shear-nuts-galvanised-bag-range.jpg

Or tamper proof nuts

http://www.westernsafety.com/zumar/zumar10pg46-Tuffnuts.jpg

Any other suggestions or some info on how to use the roll pins would be greatly appreciated. Im going to make sure I do my best to make sure the scumbags who stole lights the first time are going to have a hell of a job doing it again!

Damo

[michaelp]

If the nuts don't affect the light adjustments try using Locktite 243
on the threads and you will you will need to heat it up with a heat gun to undo them (around 70 deg c).
It may not stop them but it will slow them down.

[goingbush]

you need a Trunk Monkey

[manic]

Do the opposite and make them easy to remove!

I'm going through a stage where I want all my 'touring' accessories to be quickly removed (if you know how). I want to put a quick connect/disconnect LED light bar on the bull bar, with a waterproof socket on the back of the bar somewhere. If you can take it off and put in on in seconds then you can just put it on when you need it or choose to take it off when leaving the car in a dodge spot.

My plan is to have a deefer that looks armed to the teeth when off on tour but strips back easily to a non-offensive stock look for any day to day use.

[BigJon]

I have heard of people using 'roll pins' before. I have no experience with using them and I'd have no idea how to go about it.



You drill the right size hole through the thread of the light below where the nut will sit when tight. Once the lights are on and adjusted correctly you bash a roll pin through your hole. This will stop the nuts from coming undone without using a hammer and punch to remove the roll pin first.

[justinc]

Great idea Jon!

One of my Puma Defender customers (Also a Member here) has had 3 lots of side windows smashed, a fridge stolen, driving lamps and the winch rope taken all from out in front of his inner city house.

Pondlife:mad::mad::mad::mad:

He is about to move anyway, so here's hoping the new suburb is a bit more conducive to Accessorised LR ownership :o


JC

[slug_burner]

Great idea Jon!

One of my Puma Defender customers (Also a Member here) has had 3 lots of side windows smashed, a fridge stolen, driving lamps and the winch rope taken all from out in front of his inner city house.

Pondlife:mad::mad::mad::mad:

He is about to move anyway, so here's hoping the new suburb is a bit more conducive to Accessorised LR ownership :o


JC

Tasmanian crime wave:eek:

[SimonM]

Great idea Jon!

One of my Puma Defender customers (Also a Member here) has had 3 lots of side windows smashed, a fridge stolen, driving lamps and the winch rope taken all from out in front of his inner city house.

Pondlife:mad::mad::mad::mad:

He is about to move anyway, so here's hoping the new suburb is a bit more conducive to Accessorised LR ownership :o

JC


And that inner city suburb, which we will now avoid, would be???????

[manic]

OK so you need your power lights on there all the time... why not weld them on!?

[justinc]

And that inner city suburb, which we will now avoid, would be???????

Hi Simon!

Don't worry, if you look for places around north, south or east hobart you won't be anywhere near that place....:D

JC

[damo_s]

You drill the right size hole through the thread of the light below where the nut will sit when tight. Once the lights are on and adjusted correctly you bash a roll pin through your hole. This will stop the nuts from coming undone without using a hammer and punch to remove the roll pin first.

Ahh, ok. Thanks for clearing that up Jon. I assume you need to leave a small gap between the roll pin and the nut otherwise the punch will foul on the nut? What sort of length would I be looking at cutting the roll pin to, compared with the size of the bolt? 1 or 2 mm either side?

[alien]

I fittted roll pins to the lights on the wife's buzz box.
The pins I had fitt with about 5mm out each side.
The nut can be loosened and all the adjustments made with out touching the pins.

The key is to make it hard enough for the pondlife to move on, not frustrate them into doing dammage.

[HPLP]

Id say a gob of weld on each thread is as secure as you're going to get. I have heard though of thiefs breaking lights when they cant get them off.h

[bob10]

How many people here have actually had their lights stolen? If you are paranoid, have your lights so you can disconnect them , and store them away. Sheeeesh, the sky is falling, Bob

[Bigbjorn]

How many people here have actually had their lights stolen? If you are paranoid, have your lights so you can disconnect them , and store them away. Sheeeesh, the sky is falling, Bob

Me for one. A Hella 1507 searchlight stolen off the County's bullbar right in front of my house.

Another occasion the Falcon ute was broken into and the contents of the glove box and parcel shelf stolen.

[Disco Muppet]

Me for one. A Hella 1507 searchlight stolen off the County's bullbar right in front of my house.

Another occasion the Falcon ute was broken into and the contents of the glove box and parcel shelf stolen.

Not me personally, but we had people going through the school car park flogging driving lights.
Happens more often than you'd think.

[gavinwibrow]

Could try this mob (they appear to be off line at the moment, but had some good stuff if I recall) http://www.barrinut.com.au/ (http://www.barrinut.com.au/)

[zwitter]

Hi
Some alarms will allow connection to the non grounded side of the light and cutting wire or unbolting the light will set alarm off.

A block of C4 or a big dog trained to kill might be an other option.
James

[rick130]

Great idea Jon!

One of my Puma Defender customers (Also a Member here) has had 3 lots of side windows smashed, a fridge stolen, driving lamps and the winch rope taken all from out in front of his inner city house.

Pondlife:mad::mad::mad::mad:

He is about to move anyway, so here's hoping the new suburb is a bit more conducive to Accessorised LR ownership :o


JC

Geez, old Hobart Town is living up to it's convict heritage :angel:

We don't even lock houses or cars around here, often you'll spot one idling away in the main street unattended, (a major Highway BTW) even though it's now illegal to leave a car unlocked in NSW. :D
(and why do we have dumb laws like this ???)

[Scouse]

You drill the right size hole through the thread of the light below where the nut will sit when tight. Once the lights are on and adjusted correctly you bash a roll pin through your hole. This will stop the nuts from coming undone without using a hammer and punch to remove the roll pin first.Instead of a roll pin, I use a small padlock.

[cal415]

I was thinking of drilling and puting a pop rivet through each bolt instead of using a roll pin, will require drilling and punching most likely to get them out.

[rovercare]

South African Car Flamethrower - YouTube

[damo_s]

I fittted roll pins to the lights on the wife's buzz box.
The pins I had fitt with about 5mm out each side.
The nut can be loosened and all the adjustments made with out touching the pins.

The key is to make it hard enough for the pondlife to move on, not frustrate them into doing dammage.

If the roll pin sticks out that far, would it not make it easy to remove with some sharp nose pliers? Or are they a tight enough fit you still need to bash them out??

What size roll pin for an M10 bolt?


Could try this mob (they appear to be off line at the moment, but had some good stuff if I recall) http://www.barrinut.com.au/ (http://www.barrinut.com.au/)

I have checked them out before, but their website was very poor, and had no sort of catalogue or anything like that, so I gave up on that idea. Ill be curious to see what their new site is like.


Instead of a roll pin, I use a small padlock.

I have heard of this used before. Could be a good idea. Perhaps for the cross bolt that holds the light to the mounting bracket that would be the way to go. Then I could just remove the lights and leave the brackets there?


I was thinking of drilling and puting a pop rivet through each bolt instead of using a roll pin, will require drilling and punching most likely to get them out.

Sounds like a more of a permanent solution than the roll pins? I can't imagine enjoying trying to drill out a small rivet in that confined space

[Yorkie]

what about making the lights a circuit in the 12v, anyone touches and zap! :twisted:

[cal415]

Sounds like a more of a permanent solution than the roll pins? I can't imagine enjoying trying to drill out a small rivet in that confined space

I guess it depends how confined the mounting points on your bull bar are, wouldnt be an issue for me as i have fairly easy access to the mount bolts.

[isuzutoo-eh]

Scratch and bash the covers/housings, get overspray in multiple neutral colours on them, get some rust coloured paint/treatment for the mountings, stick tape on them that looks like it is holding the lenses on, make them look like rubbish not worth stealing. But then it'll look as dodgy as my One Ten :p

[flagg]

...make them look like rubbish not worth stealing. But then it'll look as dodgy as my One Ten :p

hahaha as I was reading this I though - "My god, I've used this method on my whole 110!!" :lol2:

[rovercare]

what about making the lights a circuit in the 12v, anyone touches and zap! :twisted:

Ever picked a car battery up by both terminals and......... Noted it does not give you a boot?;)

[Bearman]

How many people here have actually had their lights stolen? If you are paranoid, have your lights so you can disconnect them , and store them away. Sheeeesh, the sky is falling, Bob

Me too, I had both my Hella 4000's stolen at a local boat ramp in broad daylight one afternoon. Even took the ram off the top of the snorkel. People around everywhere but nobody saw it happen:confused:

[Blknight.aus]

Never got the fascination with having driving lights the best way to stop them from being stolen is not to have them.

putting a roll pin through is the best way to install them while still having them removable and a 3x15mm roll pin is whats required in an M10 bolt To keep the adjusability of the lights double nut the thread and leave about a 2mm gap between the nut thats actually doing the work of mounting the light and the one thats going to give you your security.

In the security nut drill through it on the flat then hammer in the roll pin in most m10s will have a minimum of a 17mm nut on them so center up the roll pin, then solder fill the ends, file and lightly polish the solder fill the gap between the 2 bolts with grease, wipe of the excess then paint

[damo_s]

Never got the fascination with having driving lights the best way to stop them from being stolen is not to have them.

putting a roll pin through is the best way to install them while still having them removable and a 3x15mm roll pin is whats required in an M10 bolt To keep the adjusability of the lights double nut the thread and leave about a 2mm gap between the nut thats actually doing the work of mounting the light and the one thats going to give you your security.

In the security nut drill through it on the flat then hammer in the roll pin in most m10s will have a minimum of a 17mm nut on them so center up the roll pin, then solder fill the ends, file and lightly polish the solder fill the gap between the 2 bolts with grease, wipe of the excess then paint

Ah, so if I understand you correctly, you are saying to drill through both the nut AND the bolt, then bash a roll pin through, instead of just bashing a roll pin through the bolt. I had that idea, but i never thought it would work because i was thinking of doing it with just 1 nut. Your idea of having one nut to do the tightening then a second to do the securing is probably what I will go with. Thanks for your help!

[Sussdisco]

i recently bought my first disco which came with a set of hella spotties padlocked on through a bar running between the two, the padlocks are even wrapped in black electrical tape so they dont get all rusty lol

[rrturboD]

I've used a split pin instead of a roll pin, initially to stop nut loosening and falling off. Also my lights have a hose clamp attached (between top of light and bull bar) to adjust angle of light. Stops any vibration, and makes them awkward to try and steal.

[Blknight.aus]

IF you only use a split pin with the right steal all tool It'd take me maybe 3 seconds more per light to have them off.

If you want the roll pin to be really really pain in the tail to get out drill the hole undersize for a 3mm pin drill it at 2.25mm use a pin thats a bit longer than you need, bevel the leading side of the pin and drive it through get the pin though till its only got a couple of mm to go then cut it off on the other side clear a couple of mm.

Using a heavy hammer on one end as an anvil use a deep angled center punch to start flaring the end of the roll pin. Swap the position of the anvil and the center punch and go again. Once you've got both sides flaring nicely mash the edge of the roll pin over.

Short of grinding they aren't going to come out.

[bob10]

Never got the fascination with having driving lights the best way to stop them from being stolen is not to have them.



I have two of the cheapest, just in case I have to drive after dark, off the highway.Even they have a way of disconnecting , and placing in the vehicle, when I am not happy where I am parking for the night. I often wonder how many people with the top shelf lights actually use them for what they are for, or are just posers, Bob

[rick130]

[snip]
I often wonder how many people with the top shelf lights actually use them for what they are for, or are just posers, Bob

We've had Cibié Super Oscars on the Patrol since it was new (June 01) and SWMBO uses them every morning on her 30km trip to work at 4:45 ;)

As a kid in the seventies I was introduced to good headlights when Dad fitted Bosch H4 h/lights with 100/90 globes to his Jeep Wagoneer for our big trips around and through Oz.

Compared to the candles that were laughingly called headlights that were fitted to the average car back then, they were a revelation as we did a lot of travelling at night.

I've made sure I've had decent headlights (Cibiés in the Deefer) + good driving lights since I got my licence and make no apologies about that.

[BigJon]

. I often wonder how many people with the top shelf lights actually use them for what they are for, or are just posers, Bob

For me, the difference between standard lights and having good quality driving lights is so great that I will go to considerable effort to install driving lights even for just one or two trips where there might only be 4 hours of night time driving.

[Disco Muppet]

I often wonder how many people with the top shelf lights actually use them for what they are for, or are just posers, Bob

I'll have you know I use my driving lights for their intended purpose very regularly, blinding people who refuse to dip their high beams :D :twisted:
Seriously though.
Do a few dusk/early morning trips around here and you appreciate good quality driving lights.

[isuzurover]

Never got the fascination with having driving lights the best way to stop them from being stolen is not to have them.
...


You must not drive at night???

Having driven to Meekatharra at night [out of necessity], even the Hella headlights, upgraded wiring and 130W globes in my 110 were inadequate.

[Tombie]

You must not drive at night???

Having driven to Meekatharra at night [out of necessity], even the Hella headlights, upgraded wiring and 130W globes in my 110 were inadequate.

In defence of those who dont see the need and *may* drive to suit the lights they do have this is possible.

When I was doing Wilcannia to Cobar at night we were down to sub 60km/h due to the number of Roos about..

At that speed a candle in a glass jar would almost suffice...

[Tank]

Simon, it doesn't matter, junkies are everywhere, there's no escaping them, good luck, Regards Frank.

[Davo]

You must not drive at night???

Having driven to Meekatharra at night [out of necessity], even the Hella headlights, upgraded wiring and 130W globes in my 110 were inadequate.

We once drove down to Perth in the Landie and were silly enough to do a lot of night driving. I almost went blind using only the headlights and trying to see the big mobs of cattle at some spots. On the way back, just a pair of Narvas were enough to make a difference. Never again! Talk about learning the hard way.

[celtic4x4]

Hi there , if you buy a set of the first set of lock nuts, look on the socket that fits them rotate the socket so as the pins strike clean metal mark and drill these with a pilot drill then drill the nut half way thru with the same size as the other pin holes then tap the pilot hole and insert the appropriate size of grub screws which will be hidden to look like the other holes, when fitting lights all is tightened pilot these holes tap them and locktite the grub screws in.you will find that this will stop your next set of lights going walkies .it works and they will wonder how the nut won't move:):):)

[Tombie]

I'd rather my lights go...

Often in frustration the bottom feeders will key, smash or dent if they can't get the lights off

[Disco Muppet]

I'd rather my lights go...

Often in frustration the bottom feeders will key, smash or dent if they can't get the lights off

To which I would reply with similar methods.
Fair game if you ask me. :twisted: :bat: :vampire:
Honestly, I think it would be easier to make them super quick to remove.
Chuck them in the back, put them on when you need them.

[rick130]

[snip]
Honestly, I think it would be easier to make them super quick to remove.
Chuck them in the back, put them on when you need them.

Just not practical for some of us who can be out any old night, and definitely not practical when you need to re-aim the bloody things.

[Davo]

Perhaps if you're worried about frustrated thieves, it would be best to make your spotties look too hard to bother with in the first place. I'd guess that an old ute with mesh welded in front of the lights wouldn't be too inviting, though that might not suit the more upmarket crowd.

[Disco Muppet]

Just not practical for some of us who can be out any old night, and definitely not practical when you need to re-aim the bloody things.

I know, that's why I don't do it, but then again I don't have to worry about people flogging my lights.

Run a live current through them? :angel: :twisted:

[rick130]

I know, that's why I don't do it, but then again I don't have to worry about people flogging my lights.

[snip]

Ditto ;)

[Disco Muppet]

Ditto ;)

I wonder how easy or otherwise it would be to work a bit of wiring so part of the fasteners for your driving lights are hooked into the alarm circuit....
Probably a bit pedantic though :D

[Blknight.aus]

not hard at all, use pulse test unit like the one thats native in the d3+ and causes havoc with led trailer lights. If it comes back without a response have it trigger the alarm.

[Disco Muppet]

not hard at all, use pulse test unit like the one thats native in the d3+ and causes havoc with led trailer lights. If it comes back without a response have it trigger the alarm.

That and have a Kukri handy like I do :angel: :twisted:

[rick130]

What alarm circuit ?

It's a Tdi Deefer (and a GU Patrol ute)

[banjo]

You drill the right size hole through the thread of the light below where the nut will sit when tight. Once the lights are on and adjusted correctly you bash a roll pin through your hole. This will stop the nuts from coming undone without using a hammer and punch to remove the roll pin first.

Thats what i do but i drill the nut aswell..Sometimes i just drill the nut & tap it for a grub screw.Works for me..

[goingbush]

if you drill through the nut and driving light mounting bolt and punch in a roll pin, wont the bolt just break off across where the hole is drilled when slimebag applies tool of choice, they are not exactly high tensile bolts. the roll pin is going to be the strongest part of the assembly and will help shear the bolt.

I still vote for the Trunk Monkey

how about using a proximity switch or touch switch and electric fence energiser, why not energise the whole car - not just the lights.
should be fine on a Tdi , (might fry a chip or two on anything modern) probably still go the Trunk Monkey on a Td5

[BigJon]

if you drill through the nut and driving light mounting bolt and punch in a roll pin, wont the bolt just break off across where the hole is drilled when slimebag applies tool of choice,

They don't usually use tools.

A sharp tap with the palm of the hand on the lens / body of the light in the right direction will often be enough to "crack" the retaining nuts loose. Then spin the nuts off by hand. A roll pin is enough to prevent that.

[gusthedog]

Why don't you just tie your dog to the bullbar? :D

Or if you don't have a dog, borrow one! Or get yourself one - thieves wont steal a pair of lights from behind a bull mastiff! :Rolling:

[Disco Muppet]

Why don't you just tie your dog to the bullbar? :D

Or if you don't have a dog, borrow one! Or get yourself one - thieves wont steal a pair of lights from behind a bull mastiff! :Rolling:

I was thinking more along the lines of a Panther.
The Puma owners can get Pumas :D