Break-ins through door handles

[MDJAK]

I can barely lift the hood with the lousy inner latch.

 

[Ruger]

They go thru the grille. Some sort of tool they use.

There has to be a way to prevent that.

 

[JohnyPython]

There has to be a way to prevent that.

Only way relocate the horn.

From what I heard in my area is that these fu c k e rs have it down to a science.

Disable the horn, wrench the cylinder, pull the fuse for the FordPass.

I don’t think they got a good copy on the key fob so they left. Or they got startled.

Now I got this…

 

[Ruger]

@JohnyPython , when your truck was violated was the hood latch mechanism behind the grill still bolted to the radiator frame rail? I am trying to work out how they did it, and it seems to me that a 10mm nut driver could be forced through the grill to unscrew the two hood latch bolts. In that case, the hood could be raised together with the hood latch.

In any case, I think that a metal cover to prevent tampering with the hood latch mechanism could be fabricated fairly easily. I'm working on it.

 

[JohnyPython]

@JohnyPython , when your truck was violated was the hood latch mechanism behind the grill still bolted to the radiator frame rail? I am trying to work out how they did it, and it seems to me that a 10mm nut driver could be forced through the grill to unscrew the two hood latch bolts. In that case, the hood could be raised together with the hood latch.

In any case, I think that a metal cover to prevent tampering with the hood latch mechanism could be fabricated fairly easily. I'm working on it.

They did not open my hood but rather went thru the grille and unplugged the horn.

 

[Ruger]

Okay, here's phase one of my solution. The idea here is that they're not cutting the horn wires, they're pulling the plug. So, how to prevent that?

I took a 1 1/2 inch length of 3/4 ID steel electrical conduit and flattened it in a vice into an oval. Then I did a little cold shaping with a ball peen hammer to flatten one side of the oval, and cut out the other side of the oval with a hacksaw so that I had a rough U shape. Then I hammered the rounded sides flat so that I had a good U shape that would fit down over the horn wire plug. Drilled a couple holes to safety wire the thing around the plug, and now all I need to do is paint it. My thought is that if they can't reach through the grill to cut the horn wires, then they also won't be able to cut the safety wire. See photos.

 

[Raptor R]

They go thru the grille. Some sort of tool they use.

They sure do. They Cut/unplug the horn assembly. Easy solution. Just relocate the horn. There will be no cutting mine now.

 

[Littlefx4]

Okay, here's phase one of my solution. The idea here is that they're not cutting the horn wires, they're pulling the plug. So, how to prevent that?

I took a 1 1/2 inch length of 3/4 ID steel electrical conduit and flattened it in a vice into an oval. Then I did a little cold shaping with a ball peen hammer to flatten one side of the oval, and cut out the other side of the oval with a hacksaw so that I had a rough U shape. Then I hammered the rounded sides flat so that I had a good U shape that would fit down over the horn wire plug. Drilled a couple holes to safety wire the thing around the plug, and now all I need to do is paint it. My thought is that if they can't reach through the grill to cut the horn wires, then they also won't be able to cut the safety wire. See photos.

Nice work you put into this! Any thought on producing for forum members?

 

[JohnyPython]

I’m relocating and replacing the horn with this…



It’s louder than stock and I’ll run it to the battery with the supplied relay.

 

[Ruger]

Nice work you put into this! Any thought on producing for forum members?

Thank you for the nice compliment.
I explained what I did because I expect that the average Raptor owner is likely to be more than capable of fabricating such a simple device. It only took me 30 minutes with nothing more than hand tools and a bench vice. Same thing with the dead pedal I made several years ago - if I can figure it out, then anybody should be able to copy it.

That's only phase one. Phase two will be to protect the horn wires with flexible electrical conduit. Phase three will be to protect the hood release mechanism.