Landy security

[CompoSimmonite]

There was a chap who was well known (and respected !) within Land Rover circles who also used to write for the magazines that dealt in used vehicles plus parts. Turned out he "received" stolen vehicles and fully dismantled them before building up again with parts from numerous vehicles, including some legitimate write offs and such, so impossible to say exactly which they were. Obviously got caught and did time ! I think he was in Macclesfield area if it rings bells with anyone.

 

[Robotstar5]

There was a chap who was well known (and respected !) within Land Rover circles who also used to write for the magazines that dealt in used vehicles plus parts. Turned out he "received" stolen vehicles and fully dismantled them before building up again with parts from numerous vehicles, including some legitimate write offs and such, so impossible to say exactly which they were. Obviously got caught and did time ! I think he was in Macclesfield area if it rings bells with anyone.

I know who you mean, can't add much more without giving clues to his identity

There was also a crew in Brum who would break stolen Range Rovers to be sold through a local dealer, the clever bit was they kept a copy of the key and would steal the same car a few months later and "recycle" it through the system again, the police used x-ray equipment to read the ground off serial numbers and with the help of Land Rover dispatch records put enough evidence together to send the main 4 blokes down.

 

[bump]

Hiab or keyless hacks are all the rage at the min down this way. The Borough councils outsource their parking removals, so a newish hiab, a hi-vis and a clipboard and nobody bats an eyelid.

Nobody ever questions anyone in a hi-vis, used to use it as a method as a student to take photos and not be bothered.

 

[Wedg1e]

Problem is 9 times out of 10 defenders are stole by organised rings. A good friend lost one, they moved 18 cars on a car forecourt to get it out, no one heard a thing in the houses behind.

I worked in vehicle security in the early 90s when car crime was rife... we used to get trade journals and so on with latest news of thefts. In one case the gang broke into a nearby factory, stole the forklift and used it to move several cars off a house driveway so they could take the Porsche nearest the house. The family were in bed, nobody saw or heard anything.

The problem with hidden swiitches on Landies is that there aren't many places to hide them and even when you can, any wiring that looks out of place is a giveaway. We did a couple where we fitted a solenoid valve in the fuel line, the valve was covered with a box welded to the floor but even that could be beaten with a hacksaw and a length of small-bore hose... of course the average chancer might have the saw but probably not the hose.
Taking the rotor arm out of a petrol engine is another quick stopper.
There was a steering wheel design that allowed you to remove it (a la Mr Bean ) but they weren't road-legal. Of course the introduction of airbags put paid to that idea anyway. I suppose to get the landie onto a trailer all you'd need would be a pair of Stilsons or whatever onto the column.
Some of the electronic immobilisers worked by shorting all the wires to ground (when immobilising) so any attempt to bypass led to showers of sparks. Unfortunately it also led to a few burned-out cars so they stopped doing that