Master Switch lockout

maple_leaf_eh · #1 10-04-13, 01:58

I found this photo that makes me think about how to keep our precious MVs from driving away on their own.

It seems like a very simple way to keep the master switch from being thrown, either to start the vehicle or to keep the battery from being drained. The fixed part encircles the top of the switch and the swinging gate locks the lever in a narrow slot.

Anyone else care to share what they use or have seen?

rob love · #2 10-04-13, 02:08

That will only keep the honest people honest. It takes about 1 minute to unplug the wires at the back of the switch and replug them to make it hot. It also does nothing to prevent the light switch from being turned on, which the kids also like to do.

The army's method of the chain from the seat bracket through the steering wheel works, although that is only as good as the pair of boltcutters used to defeat it. The aircraft cable used on the Iltis was better...combined with a good padlock it was much harder to cut. The plastic coating was nice as well, since it prevented the scratching of paint like the chain would do.

The locking of the steering wheel also prevents simply towing away the vehicle with an a-frame or dragging it onto a trailer, provided the wheels are locked in a turned position.

I have a simple keyed ignition switch on my jeep, and again, it keeps the honest people honest. I doubt it would even slow a real thief down.

maple_leaf_eh · #3 10-04-13, 02:30

The MLVW had a steel angle lockout for a padlock on the shifter (or the starting lever?).

rob love · #4 10-04-13, 02:58

Yes, on the shifter. You could lock it into neutral so it could be started and warmed up, or else lock it into gear so it could not be started. This was either an installation instruction or else a low priority modification, and was not done to all the trucks.

We used to have some fancy contraptions for the 5/4 ton that locked over top of the ignition on the column. It both blocked the use of the key (all 5/4 tons were keyed alike from the factory) as well as blocked the shifter.

The iltis of course had that goofy master key just above the toeboard. Can't count the number of times I had to jam my pen into that hole to get the truck into the shop. There was a later modification to make a bracket which prevented removal of the master key yet allowed it to be turned off.

Here in Manitoba, and especially Winnipeg, it had become a sport to steal (civilian) vehicles and go for joyrides. With the catch and release program the Wpg police seemed to have with the youth in the North end of that city, there was very little incentive to give up the sport. Eventually, the youth took to running over joggers, running into towtrucks, and enjoying the high speed chases. It got to the point that the police were actually shooting at the windows of the cars. (Very unsportsmanlike). As a result of all this, the Manitoba Public insurance (MPI) made it a requirement to install immobilizers (at their cost) into all vehicles which did not have such a system from the factory. The millions spent seem to have worked to some degree and has reduced the occurrences. As well, MPI go back to court every ten years to re-instate the financial restitution orders against the offending youth, thus ensuring their perpetual poverty. Mind you, the supreme court of Canada recently ruled that the area now known as the city of Winnipeg may well belong to the Natives, so perhaps these youth were merely excersizing their ownership rights over the "european" trespassers.

maple_leaf_eh · #5 10-04-13, 18:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob love

Yes ...

Here in Manitoba, and especially Winnipeg, it had become a sport to steal (civilian) vehicles and go for joyrides. With the catch and release program the Wpg police seemed to have with the youth in the North end of that city, there was very little incentive to give up the sport.

....

There was a similar phase in Regina, except they liked a specific year and model range of Oldsmobiles. The gang members somehow managed to schedule joyrides when certain Justices of the Peace were on duty. Catch and Release, except one night the cops happened to get a different JP, and they were able to pin a couple hundred priors on one individual and keep him in cells for weeks until his trial for the arresting offence. Then one by one the rest of the kids were rolled up and sentenced as adults or for the more serious offences. Problem solved.

Private_collector · #6 11-04-13, 10:28

In the mid 70s my father bought a new Ford Falcon. For the first few weeks he relied solely on one of the devices that locks into the steering wheel and expands from one end to form a physical barrier to stop the steering wheel from turning until the device was unlocked with its key and removed. This worked well, but dad had seen a demonstration of how similar devices could be broken sufficiently that the vehicle could be driven away. Dad came up with a simple method of his design, that would outsmart any but the most determined of thieves.

The fuel line, which by good fortune, ran down beneath the driver side floor, was cut and rerouted through a simple on-off tap. The tap was hidden beneath the carpet, aft of the place where the front and rear carpet sections overlap. The tap was entirely hidden, and once turned to 'off' position, the vehicle would only move about ten feet once started. If you took too long getting ready, you wouldn't move any distance at all!

That tap worked well, too bloody well. I rarely drove dads car, but on the occasions that I did, you could be sure that I forgot about the damn tap more often than not. Dad sold that car in 1990. When the new owner went to drive it away,..........yep you guessed it, dad had forgotten to tell him about the tap, so it died as it was leaving the driveway. Once enlightened, the buyer saw the funny side. If that old car is still on the road (and that's doubtful) I expect you would still need a tow truck to nick it!!

Something similarly hidden would work equally well on any vehicle.

super dave · #7 12-04-13, 06:47

I installed a Master disconnect from an iltis and installed it in the mutt in front of the battery box area

.

maple_leaf_eh · #8 12-04-13, 14:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Private_collector

...
The fuel line, which by good fortune, ran down beneath the driver side floor, was cut and rerouted through a simple on-off tap.

...

Something similarly hidden would work equally well on any vehicle.

Come to think of it, there is a cut off valve on the main fuel line of the M38A1. It sits low near or on the frame rail under the hood.

Casey B · #9 21-04-13, 20:32

Yes there is a fuel shut off there in the fuel line. I often thought of shutting it off to stop a would be thief but alas as Rob says only the honest ones would be stopped. Plus it is so old and in need of replacement it would probably break on me in the closed position! So I too put a switch in under the hood that looks like well a plug for a hole or a tap for coolant flow. It does what I assumt the switch on the Iltis does dissconect the power from the batteries? That's what mine does and when it's raining hard yep you guessed it I forget hop in and nothing...Time to get wet. That's the least of my worries here on the coast!