Foo - What sort of car alarms, wheel locks are good?

I have a small old car from 1984.

Ive seen these

http://www.disklok.com

that cover the whole steering wheel and also other ones you put aroun the tyre,etc etc.

Does anyone have an opinion on what are the best products out there?

Im interested also in getting a proximity alarm that i just sit on the driver's seat and the alarm will go off until you press the pin. Does anyone know if they make alarms like this?



thanks

No alarms are any good anymore because everyone just ignores them. So if someone wants your car, they will break in, quickly disable the alarm and take it. Proximity alarms are really worthless because if you are in a parking lot or along a street, people are constantly going to be walking bye it setting it off.

I've heard they make car alarms now that just do a random pattern of honking so it actually sounds like a person in trouble rather than just some alarm. I don't know who makes them though.

I've always been told that the best anti-theft device is an immobilizer. That's what I have on my car. I've avoided car alarms for exactly the reason Indy Rider states. These days, everyone's first thought on hearing a car alarm isn't "Oh my gosh, someone's car is being stolen!" it's "Oh ****, another damned malfunctioning car alarm!"

http://www.autolock.com/Unbreakable_Auto_BL.htm

I would go with a product from Suburban Auto Group. Here is there anti theft package. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geynA-JYDHE)

What kind of car is it? If it's a beater car then just lock your doors and maybe get a Club. Then hide any valuables in the trunk and out of sight.

If it's worth a little bit then get any decent alarm that has an ignition kill. My old Viper alarm had that option.

If it's a good car worth something or alot than get that alarm and add a hidden kill switch. I installed a switch between the power wire of the fuel pump. So even if they did bust through the alarm the car would just die unless they found the kill switch.

But basically anything with a flashing led light will help deter common thieves.

If it's a pro thief it doesn't matter what you have on the car. They'll just tow that chit away.

As for wheel locks, the standard Gorilla brand wheel locks are fine. Almost any wheel lock can be defeated with a slightly larger socket hammered on the lock. we had to do taht on my friend's car when he lost his wheel lock key.

If you are good with working with high voltage, you could always hook up a good sized battery to a converter and put 50,000 volts on the car body. That would stop just about anyone from breaking in. :D

There used to be a car alarm called the Dragon (not sure if the company is still around anymore. Google turns up nada). When it went off (and it would only go off if glass was broken, or a door was opened), it would fill the cab of the truck with fog (basically a heavy duty fog machine.) For an audible warning, it used a tape of someone shouting "FIRE". The good thing is that it gets attention... the bad thing is that is causes the local fire department to come.

What I can't stand are these stupid car alarms that have 4-5 sounds, and because they are poorly installed, they are almost always going off. Just as important as the alarm itself is the installation, and decent car alarms (Clifford, Alpine) rarely, if ever give false alarms.

The most dangerous car "alarm" I've seen was someone who wired a solenoid, and hid a sawed off 12 gauge in the steering column. If someone attempted to drive the car without flipping the "kill" switch... there would be quite a mess.

As for physical locks, I've seen people here go to extremes as installing a special steering wheel which they take with them (and a 1/2" metal plate that locks on the column when the steering wheel is not present.) Personally, a Club and that is a deterrent, but most people breaking into a vehicle are there to find something to grab and run off with.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060705/060705_bear_hmed_3p.hmedium.jpg

Little hard on the upholstery, but no one is going to go through the trouble of stealing the car.

I would go with a product from Suburban Auto Group. Here is there anti theft package. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geynA-JYDHE)

beat me to it. :D