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UPDATE: List of hardening ideas suggested by thread participants collected and moved to the top (thanks everyone!)
Non-tangibles:
I'm both relieved and reminded that it could have been much worse. At one point I contemplated bringing the Transit because it has AWD and large tires. But I didn't want to risk damage, so I borrowed my parents old Toyota Tundra. I think if he had gotten away in the Transit, he might have kept it. The Tundra wasn't really worth that much, and the tools were probably only a few hundred bucks worth. But the Transit? Sheesh. That thing..., well, you all know how much time and money you've put into your own rigs. Enough said.
So in a bid to secure the van, which by sheer chance I have been heavily focused on lately, I am looking at a variety of ways of making it more difficult for thieves, rather than trying to make it impossible, to rob me of equipment and years of hard work. Granted it's important to notice red flags when helping people (lesson learned!), and granted it's impossible to stop really determined criminals with enough time to break through your defenses, but I believe that significantly increasing the difficulty encountered by your run-of-the-mill smash-and-grab thieves is the most cost effective solution, and it has the advantage of leaving the van in a state that is relatively easy to use for its rightful owner.
To that end, I'm aware of the following hardening practices: alarm systems (prone to false trips and routinely ignored in cities), fixed bulkheads (significant impact on space, and therefore a deal breaker for me; swivel interference), retractable bulkheads or other security fencing (TBD, I'm exploring this but it's going to be a lot of work to develop and I see few or no cost-effective simple answers), and finally third-party locking systems.
I recently purchased a set of slick locks, only to return them. Here's why:
1) I had a 240V power conduit that would have been a PITA to remove in the exact position on the rear door where the slick lock bracket goes; I had sent slick locks a photo of it beforehand and they said it wouldn't be a problem, but it obviously was when I got it, so I took them up on the offer to let me return them (nice of them), and then I learned...
2) Slick locks are powerless against thieves who have now learned to fold open the rear and/or cargo door by bending the top edge out a bit with a crowbar, then literally peeling the entire door down far enough that they can crawl inside.
3) Slick locks also require an awkward step of getting the lock aligned so you can get the key inserted, then a bit of fiddling to pull the cylinder out; same for locking and unlocking. If they were high-mounted and prevented the #2 issue of door pealing, I could overlook this smaller issue, but they're not, so I believe this is the final strike against their system.
That lead me to more research, and although this is for European transits, I found this video and this video to be a good introduction to what is possible. I want what they have, so now I need to research US options that provide something like this. Anyone familiar with US options similar to those videos? If not I'll try to report back here once I've done my homework.
Next, I want to share a trick I recently discovered in Forscan. If you watch the first video above, the guy mentions a feature that I was disappointed to find only European Transit owners get as part of their modern OEM security options and software updates. It's the "double lock" or "dead bolt" feature that makes it so a thief can't just break the front passenger window, reach in, and open the door handle. I tried a ton of settings in Forscan, some of which seemed promising like "Double Lock Configuration", but nothing worked. It appears US Transits do not offer this dead bolt feature, at least insofar as I can determine. I can't tell if it's a mix of hardware (physical lock characteristics) and software, or just software. Any further research or input on this is welcome. I plan to ask my local service manager next time I'm in, but it could be many months.
However, I did find a small incremental improvement that will come in handy any time you plan to leave your Transit unoccupied for some reasonable length of time in an area with an uncertain security environment. I say reasonable length of time because at the moment it requires plugging in your OBDii, launching forscan, and changing a single setting, then restoring the setting to default upon return. It's possible I just need a simple button and wire to plug into some open port and this could be enabled/disabled, with the button conveniently hidden.
The first setting is "Child Lock Mode" which you can simply set to "Enabled" and leave that way. It will have no effects on a cargo, at least not that I've been able to determine thus far (no DTC codes or anything). The second is "Child Lock", which you set to Enabled, then lock the doors with your Fob (and/or possibly with door power lock buttons, I forget). But to dis-engage, you must change the setting in Forscan back to "Disabled" and write that value. Once enabled and the doors are locked, the rear slider and rear cargo doors will not unlock under any circumstances using the FOB or power lock buttons. At least that was the result of my initial experiments; it's vaguely possible I overlooked something.
This will at least make it harder for a smash and grab thief to unload large items through those doors. Now they have to take them out the front door, or do the more involved but apparently still ~2-3 minute task of folding down the slider or rear cargo doors. Or they have to defeat the slider and cargo door locks by drilling, prying, etc, which is all completely doable, but a little harder. And again, my goal is incremental increases in difficulty that all add up, so this is at least a little bit of help.
In conclusion, aside from the alarm system my 2020 does have, which goes off if the doors are opened after the Fob has locked them and a short delay has passed (feels like about 60 seconds), there still remains the concern about dead bolting the slider and rear cargo top portions per the videos above, hardening the plastic housing around the driver's side key lock, possibly hardening the OBDii port (although I need to research; can you really duplicate a Ford Transit key without an existing key needed to put the vehicle in on/accessory state??), and lastly, I'm looking at options to harden the front windows.
My 8 year old nephew said "get bullet proof glass," which I thought was a bit simplistic but upon inspection you really can get glass designed to protect against all manner of intrusion attacks. However the cost is significant. I got a ~$1500 quote for the most basic laminate that looks like a thief can't shatter, but they can push/collapse the laminate and glass shards into the van from the center because the outer edge of the frame and broken window/laminate aren't strong enough to prevent that. For real protection, you're getting into the $5k area, and for the total package including windshield and tint it can get upwards of $10-15k. All of that is too much for me, at least at this point in time. Maybe $2.5K if I have further reason to believe it's critically necessary, but I'm not there yet.
However, it has opened another avenue of research. I'm also wondering if there's a way to create or install a roll-down security mesh, either metal netting or perhaps some extremely tough fabric netting that is very hard to cut through, then dead-bolt the front passenger and driver doors, maybe down low by the foot area, so a smash and grab thief breaks the window, then encounters netting (possibly while the alarm is going off) and if they get through that, now they can't just open the door because they have to figure out where this dead bolt is and climb in through the window to try to unlock it; with Child Lock enabled and no way to open the slider or rear doors, and the alarm going off, all of it sounds like enough hassle that some thieves will decide it's not worth the effort. There are completely unprotected rigs they can go break into, why bother with this one?
I know some of you may find this entire discussion excessive, and not having these kinds of upgrades, may instinctively defend that choice by citing X years or Y miles in Z cities and how you've never had a problem by parking only in X places at Y times, but I'm interested in pursuing these solutions nevertheless.
If you have ideas along these lines, and are interested in this kind of security, especially ruling out the more complicated or expensive options and finding cost effective and simple deterrents, please help provide useful feedback. I've invested so much in my rig, that a few hundred bucks and a few weeks of work to secure it sounds reasonable to me.
Cheers.
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Non-tangibles:
- Auto-lock setting via dash console: after 30 minutes the slider and rear cargo can't be opened without the keyfob (slider manual plunger lock/unlock might still work). Or Child lock feature via Forscan; have to manually change the value in Forscan each time; might be able to rig up a hidden button
- Theft insurance, many coverage options for personal items
- Passive deterrents like parking next to fixed structures that block door access
- Emailing yourself or securely storing cloud-based access to registration, insurance, etc
- Security stickers (maybe in the '80's; I suspect thieves have long since ignored these, or even take them as indicators there is definitely something worth stealing).
- Vanlocker or Sussex front, slider, and rear hook-style locks.
- Security systems, including the OEM Ford Perimeter alarm, and the $200 "advanced" alarm upgrade that triggers on window break or tilt (may have false trip issues, as with all alarms); motion detection systems, including online cameras that issue alerts
- Lock upgrades, ideally high-positioned on rear cargo and slider, as well as hardening the plastic surrounding the driver's key lock with metal plates (see vids and other comments below); recommended to avoid slick locks due to their low-placement on doors, which leaves the "pry and fold door open" method available to thieves (see vids below)
- Light and IR tinting that make it harder to break the windows and windshield
- Creating some kind of metal netting to prevent access via front driver/passenger windows (incorporated into window covers, internal or external?)
- Dead-bolting the front doors low down near the floor on the inside
- Bolting a safe somewhere inside the van, ideally hidden (behind toilet? Lol), or hidden lock boxes like this (one reviewer says could be easily defeated with a crowbar)
- Cutting or hiding a switch to prevent the door lock buttons from easily opening the cargo and slider doors (this one I'm definitely doing unless I can find a way to trigger the child lock feature via manual button)
- Vehicle kill switch (brake shift interlock? could be much easier and could also be used to create a way to prevent driving off with shore power connected using 120V AC solid state relay with 12Vdc output).
- Immobilization systems (2020+ appear to have PATS as standard equipment)
- GPS Trackers (many options, monthly 4G fees may add up; need cell coverage)
I'm both relieved and reminded that it could have been much worse. At one point I contemplated bringing the Transit because it has AWD and large tires. But I didn't want to risk damage, so I borrowed my parents old Toyota Tundra. I think if he had gotten away in the Transit, he might have kept it. The Tundra wasn't really worth that much, and the tools were probably only a few hundred bucks worth. But the Transit? Sheesh. That thing..., well, you all know how much time and money you've put into your own rigs. Enough said.
So in a bid to secure the van, which by sheer chance I have been heavily focused on lately, I am looking at a variety of ways of making it more difficult for thieves, rather than trying to make it impossible, to rob me of equipment and years of hard work. Granted it's important to notice red flags when helping people (lesson learned!), and granted it's impossible to stop really determined criminals with enough time to break through your defenses, but I believe that significantly increasing the difficulty encountered by your run-of-the-mill smash-and-grab thieves is the most cost effective solution, and it has the advantage of leaving the van in a state that is relatively easy to use for its rightful owner.
To that end, I'm aware of the following hardening practices: alarm systems (prone to false trips and routinely ignored in cities), fixed bulkheads (significant impact on space, and therefore a deal breaker for me; swivel interference), retractable bulkheads or other security fencing (TBD, I'm exploring this but it's going to be a lot of work to develop and I see few or no cost-effective simple answers), and finally third-party locking systems.
I recently purchased a set of slick locks, only to return them. Here's why:
1) I had a 240V power conduit that would have been a PITA to remove in the exact position on the rear door where the slick lock bracket goes; I had sent slick locks a photo of it beforehand and they said it wouldn't be a problem, but it obviously was when I got it, so I took them up on the offer to let me return them (nice of them), and then I learned...
2) Slick locks are powerless against thieves who have now learned to fold open the rear and/or cargo door by bending the top edge out a bit with a crowbar, then literally peeling the entire door down far enough that they can crawl inside.
3) Slick locks also require an awkward step of getting the lock aligned so you can get the key inserted, then a bit of fiddling to pull the cylinder out; same for locking and unlocking. If they were high-mounted and prevented the #2 issue of door pealing, I could overlook this smaller issue, but they're not, so I believe this is the final strike against their system.
That lead me to more research, and although this is for European transits, I found this video and this video to be a good introduction to what is possible. I want what they have, so now I need to research US options that provide something like this. Anyone familiar with US options similar to those videos? If not I'll try to report back here once I've done my homework.
Next, I want to share a trick I recently discovered in Forscan. If you watch the first video above, the guy mentions a feature that I was disappointed to find only European Transit owners get as part of their modern OEM security options and software updates. It's the "double lock" or "dead bolt" feature that makes it so a thief can't just break the front passenger window, reach in, and open the door handle. I tried a ton of settings in Forscan, some of which seemed promising like "Double Lock Configuration", but nothing worked. It appears US Transits do not offer this dead bolt feature, at least insofar as I can determine. I can't tell if it's a mix of hardware (physical lock characteristics) and software, or just software. Any further research or input on this is welcome. I plan to ask my local service manager next time I'm in, but it could be many months.
However, I did find a small incremental improvement that will come in handy any time you plan to leave your Transit unoccupied for some reasonable length of time in an area with an uncertain security environment. I say reasonable length of time because at the moment it requires plugging in your OBDii, launching forscan, and changing a single setting, then restoring the setting to default upon return. It's possible I just need a simple button and wire to plug into some open port and this could be enabled/disabled, with the button conveniently hidden.
The first setting is "Child Lock Mode" which you can simply set to "Enabled" and leave that way. It will have no effects on a cargo, at least not that I've been able to determine thus far (no DTC codes or anything). The second is "Child Lock", which you set to Enabled, then lock the doors with your Fob (and/or possibly with door power lock buttons, I forget). But to dis-engage, you must change the setting in Forscan back to "Disabled" and write that value. Once enabled and the doors are locked, the rear slider and rear cargo doors will not unlock under any circumstances using the FOB or power lock buttons. At least that was the result of my initial experiments; it's vaguely possible I overlooked something.
This will at least make it harder for a smash and grab thief to unload large items through those doors. Now they have to take them out the front door, or do the more involved but apparently still ~2-3 minute task of folding down the slider or rear cargo doors. Or they have to defeat the slider and cargo door locks by drilling, prying, etc, which is all completely doable, but a little harder. And again, my goal is incremental increases in difficulty that all add up, so this is at least a little bit of help.
In conclusion, aside from the alarm system my 2020 does have, which goes off if the doors are opened after the Fob has locked them and a short delay has passed (feels like about 60 seconds), there still remains the concern about dead bolting the slider and rear cargo top portions per the videos above, hardening the plastic housing around the driver's side key lock, possibly hardening the OBDii port (although I need to research; can you really duplicate a Ford Transit key without an existing key needed to put the vehicle in on/accessory state??), and lastly, I'm looking at options to harden the front windows.
My 8 year old nephew said "get bullet proof glass," which I thought was a bit simplistic but upon inspection you really can get glass designed to protect against all manner of intrusion attacks. However the cost is significant. I got a ~$1500 quote for the most basic laminate that looks like a thief can't shatter, but they can push/collapse the laminate and glass shards into the van from the center because the outer edge of the frame and broken window/laminate aren't strong enough to prevent that. For real protection, you're getting into the $5k area, and for the total package including windshield and tint it can get upwards of $10-15k. All of that is too much for me, at least at this point in time. Maybe $2.5K if I have further reason to believe it's critically necessary, but I'm not there yet.
However, it has opened another avenue of research. I'm also wondering if there's a way to create or install a roll-down security mesh, either metal netting or perhaps some extremely tough fabric netting that is very hard to cut through, then dead-bolt the front passenger and driver doors, maybe down low by the foot area, so a smash and grab thief breaks the window, then encounters netting (possibly while the alarm is going off) and if they get through that, now they can't just open the door because they have to figure out where this dead bolt is and climb in through the window to try to unlock it; with Child Lock enabled and no way to open the slider or rear doors, and the alarm going off, all of it sounds like enough hassle that some thieves will decide it's not worth the effort. There are completely unprotected rigs they can go break into, why bother with this one?
I know some of you may find this entire discussion excessive, and not having these kinds of upgrades, may instinctively defend that choice by citing X years or Y miles in Z cities and how you've never had a problem by parking only in X places at Y times, but I'm interested in pursuing these solutions nevertheless.
If you have ideas along these lines, and are interested in this kind of security, especially ruling out the more complicated or expensive options and finding cost effective and simple deterrents, please help provide useful feedback. I've invested so much in my rig, that a few hundred bucks and a few weeks of work to secure it sounds reasonable to me.
Cheers.
) Only time to engage would be when the criminal has engaged you decide that remaining passive/cooperative would result in a greater risk of personal harm.
