Security and Alarms

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Ravelco. It's genius lies in its simplicity. It. Just. Works. Could it be defeated with enough time and energy? Sure and so can any other solution but Ravelco has made it exponentially harder and often the attacker will move on to a softer target.
 
Forgot to post an update when I installed the BajaMod bracket. The bracket fits the 21 and probably 22s also since I doubt they’ll change anything by where it mounts anytime soon.

I also adjusted the sensitivity to max and haven’t had any false alarms. When I did it without the bracket and the window down the interior sensor set it off and made me think I needed to lower the sensitivity.

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It works great ! Its no ravelco for sure but i just have issues with adding in to or on the factory wiring harness . Having alot of experience with electronic injected diesels when you have 15 ft of engine/dash wiring harness spread out on 2 work benches with all the tape and covering off looking for broken wires you get a little leery about some one fiddling around with your own harness in your truck
 
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Ravelco is definitely one solution, but they're only legendary on internet forums... The real world has very little knowledge of the company, despite the fact that it's been around for three decades. There just isn't any verifiable documentation of their effectiveness aside from a single news story from like 2009. The company is literally one guy out in California and the product hasn't changed even one time since it was launched before the advent of the internet in the mid-nineties - not even to offer a different color plastic. The installers are independent contractors, each behaving in his own way; some ask for gas money, some will only take cash depending on your address. Many prefer to meet in box store parking lots, some will come to your home.

The kill switch itself is a well proven concept and this take on the technology is an interesting one. I would love to see an analytic review of the system, but they don't exist. It's always a guy on a forum who knows loads of cops who all swear by the unwieldy grey bottlecap; it's always very emotively defended by those who paid to have it installed, and it always seems to be a defense spurred by a perceived insult to their personal investment and decision-making abilities more than it is about the product itself. The byline is that it's never, ever, been defeated when properly used... Okay, that's awesome! Can we source that? Is there any record at all to back up these claims?

Nope.

That said, kill switches, using traditional toggles, RFID, or hidden magnetic switches work well. Ravelco being nothing but a pinned take on the kill switch concept likely works well too. But so do engine and system bus immobilizers, particularly if they are uncommon implementations. Honestly though? Layering differing solutions works even better and despite the 'nothing really matters' crowd, these trucks - once properly hardened - become exceptionally hard to steal. Once you've tackled the common means of theft, including removing the tumbler, swapping the drivers handle, installing Jimmi Jammer door plates, covering the front grille wiring in steel tubing, setting police options in ForScan, installing security film on your glass, storing your keys in a Faraday box when not in use, (to defeat relay attacks) and finally implementing some form of immobilizer solution - you're more likely going to have to deal with damage caused by the failed attempt and the attacker's anger taken out on the truck. Even the Go Jack crowd can't seriously claim it's likely thieves are going to be able to push your 7500 pound truck around on roller skates without a wrecker - even if the jacks themselves were rated to this weight - and they're not.

I'll be honest, I kind of want to get one of those viper alarms, just so the truck will talk with a very stern sounding transformer voice when prompted... I think that might be cooler than my wolo air horn.

Anyway.

While anything can be stolen if it's wanted bad enough, consider that by the numbers - and living where you do, it is unlikely Memphis Raines from 'Gone in 60 Seconds' is going to be jacking your ride. I lived off of Silverbell and Grant for over a decade, elsewhere North of Oro Valley for about as long... Most car theft in Southern Arizona is explicitly paint by numbers, known exploits, targets of opportunity committed by exactly who you would expect, in exactly the areas you would expect.

Just make sure that if you perform the tumbler delete, that you provide yourself an external charging solution just in case your battery ever dies and you need to put a charge on before you can unlock your cab. I used Noco, linked below, but there are others - home-brewed solutions too. Just make sure there's a firewall between the shore power and your system to protect against surge attacks, and you'll be fine.

Haha! I was just thinking I wanted to get the talking alarm that sounds like that! Not for the anti theft just because I saw it in a movie when I was kid and always wanted one!
 
Forgot to post an update when I installed the BajaMod bracket. The bracket fits the 21 and probably 22s also since I doubt they’ll change anything by where it mounts anytime soon.

I also adjusted the sensitivity to max and haven’t had any false alarms. When I did it without the bracket and the window down the interior sensor set it off and made me think I needed to lower the sensitivity.

View attachment 42810

How was the install? Did the new sensor come with instructions?
 
Ravelco is definitely one solution, but they're only legendary on internet forums... The real world has very little knowledge of the company, despite the fact that it's been around for three decades. There just isn't any verifiable documentation of their effectiveness aside from a single news story from like 2009. The company is literally one guy out in California and the product hasn't changed even one time since it was launched before the advent of the internet in the mid-nineties - not even to offer a different color plastic. The installers are independent contractors, each behaving in his own way; some ask for gas money, some will only take cash depending on your address. Many prefer to meet in box store parking lots, some will come to your home.

The kill switch itself is a well proven concept and this take on the technology is an interesting one. I would love to see an analytic review of the system, but they don't exist. It's always a guy on a forum who knows loads of cops who all swear by the unwieldy grey bottlecap; it's always very emotively defended by those who paid to have it installed, and it always seems to be a defense spurred by a perceived insult to their personal investment and decision-making abilities more than it is about the product itself. The byline is that it's never, ever, been defeated when properly used... Okay, that's awesome! Can we source that? Is there any record at all to back up these claims?

Nope.

That said, kill switches, using traditional toggles, RFID, or hidden magnetic switches work well. Ravelco being nothing but a pinned take on the kill switch concept likely works well too. But so do engine and system bus immobilizers, particularly if they are uncommon implementations. Honestly though? Layering differing solutions works even better and despite the 'nothing really matters' crowd, these trucks - once properly hardened - become exceptionally hard to steal. Once you've tackled the common means of theft, including removing the tumbler, swapping the drivers handle, installing Jimmi Jammer door plates, covering the front grille wiring in steel tubing, setting police options in ForScan, installing security film on your glass, storing your keys in a Faraday box when not in use, (to defeat relay attacks) and finally implementing some form of immobilizer solution - you're more likely going to have to deal with damage caused by the failed attempt and the attacker's anger taken out on the truck. Even the Go Jack crowd can't seriously claim it's likely thieves are going to be able to push your 7500 pound truck around on roller skates without a wrecker - even if the jacks themselves were rated to this weight - and they're not.

I'll be honest, I kind of want to get one of those viper alarms, just so the truck will talk with a very stern sounding transformer voice when prompted... I think that might be cooler than my wolo air horn.

Anyway.

While anything can be stolen if it's wanted bad enough, consider that by the numbers - and living where you do, it is unlikely Memphis Raines from 'Gone in 60 Seconds' is going to be jacking your ride. I lived off of Silverbell and Grant for over a decade, elsewhere North of Oro Valley for about as long... Most car theft in Southern Arizona is explicitly paint by numbers, known exploits, targets of opportunity committed by exactly who you would expect, in exactly the areas you would expect.

Just make sure that if you perform the tumbler delete, that you provide yourself an external charging solution just in case your battery ever dies and you need to put a charge on before you can unlock your cab. I used Noco, linked below, but there are others - home-brewed solutions too. Just make sure there's a firewall between the shore power and your system to protect against surge attacks, and you'll be fine.

I was wondering about the dead battery situation the other day. Just how would one get into the truck if batteries were completely dead, other than breaking a window? I do like the charger install idea…I often hook up a smart charger to each of my vehicles for desulfurization. I also wouldn’t mind having the block heater connected to the same outlet, since I tend to charge the batteries more often in the winter.
Thanks for the product ideas….
 
I was wondering about the dead battery situation the other day. Just how would one get into the truck if batteries were completely dead, other than breaking a window? I do like the charger install idea…I often hook up a smart charger to each of my vehicles for desulfurization. I also wouldn’t mind having the block heater connected to the same outlet, since I tend to charge the batteries more often in the winter.
Thanks for the product ideas….
For an idea of how to solve the dead battery situation, you can see what I'm going to do in my electrical planning thread. Specifically, take a look at page 3 of the wiring diagram in this post (the emergency battery in the diagram is a $25 AGM small motorcycle battery from WalMart):


I came to that design after significant discussion with @BroncoHooves earlier in the thread. That discussion started with this post if you want the full back story:


Let me know if you have any questions about the design. :)

The reason I opted for this solution is it's essentially maintenance free - no need to remember to charge up a booster periodically. Also no need to worry about hiding a booster pack such that it's secure from others, but still accessible to myself. And lastly, it's fully independent of other vehicles compared to the remote battery posts that some folks have installed as a solution to this problem.
 
For an idea of how to solve the dead battery situation, you can see what I'm going to do in my electrical planning thread. Specifically, take a look at page 3 of the wiring diagram in this post (the emergency battery in the diagram is a $25 AGM small motorcycle battery from WalMart):


I came to that design after significant discussion with @BroncoHooves earlier in the thread. That discussion started with this post if you want the full back story:


Let me know if you have any questions about the design. :)

The reason I opted for this solution is it's essentially maintenance free - no need to remember to charge up a booster periodically. Also no need to worry about hiding a booster pack such that it's secure from others, but still accessible to myself. And lastly, it's fully independent of other vehicles compared to the remote battery posts that some folks have installed as a solution to this problem.

I could be misreading you, but it seems as if you may be thinking of a different product. The Noco solution I recommended isn't a booster, has no battery, but is rather is a full range battery maintenance system with a remote mounted AC port.

I know you've engineered your own solution, but you should check this out all the same.
 
Ravelco. It's genius lies in its simplicity. It. Just. Works. Could it be defeated with enough time and energy? Sure and so can any other solution but Ravelco has made it exponentially harder and often the attacker will move on to a softer target.
My Revelco installer told me it would take him an hour to defeat a system HE Installed. Unbelievable the peace of mind it gives me. People say "that's why I have insurance", well sure, but how long to get a replacement, plus the waiting period most Insurance companies require.
 
I could be misreading you, but it seems as if you may be thinking of a different product. The Noco solution I recommended isn't a booster, has no battery, but is rather is a full range battery maintenance system with a remote mounted AC port.

I know you've engineered your own solution, but you should check this out all the same.
Did you install this NOCO on your truck? Very curious about it.
 
I could be misreading you, but it seems as if you may be thinking of a different product. The Noco solution I recommended isn't a booster, has no battery, but is rather is a full range battery maintenance system with a remote mounted AC port.

I know you've engineered your own solution, but you should check this out all the same.
That looks like a great product, but when it comes to the tumbler delete doesn't help if your battery dies when you're not near AC power if I'm interpreting it right (perhaps I'm not?).

Now, different folks have different requirements, but I wanted to throw my solution out there since it solves the problem even if you're solo and not near shore power (read: in the woods somewhere). That was a primary concern for myself so I'm not stranded outside of my truck.
 
I could be misreading you, but it seems as if you may be thinking of a different product. The Noco solution I recommended isn't a booster, has no battery, but is rather is a full range battery maintenance system with a remote mounted AC port.

I know you've engineered your own solution, but you should check this out all the same.
I plan to put some sort of battery charger on my truck, I have used NOCO on my motorcycle and golf cart. I will probably go with NOGO on the Tremor.

Just a note you don't need a 2 bank for the truck alone. If you have a 2nd "house" battery, then a 2 bank would be needed. The factory dual batteries are wired in parallel. Also, be sure to hook the charger negative to the frame and not the battery negative. These modern vehicles have sensors to see how electrons are flowing.
 
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I know this is an old post, but does the ford KN1Z19A361A come with a LED to indicate the car alarm is on?

Thanks
 
I am getting a Revelco. I emailed the guy and told him I did not want their standard installation which looks like a Bubba's Plumber did it.
I didn't say that but it's a pretty cheesy install IMHO, especially in a $100K truck. He called me and was rather insulting and tried to tell me that if they installed it in that nice spot to the left of the steering column that I would be cussing him out when Ford refused to do a warranty job on something related to the dash. I looked up there and there's plenty of space. How would the Ravelco in that spot inhibit work on the dash? Sure, there would be some extra wires to deal with but I assume the Ravelco installer would have them neatly bundled together.

I was so mad I basically hung up on him. He's not the installer so I guess I'll go ahead and schedule it and try dealing directly with the installer.

Am I being unreasonable or do any of you think there's any truth to what he said?
 
Thanks for looking, that's too bad... Was hoping we might have scored one for free there. For anyone interested, Here's the best price I found during maybe 45 seconds of searching.


I know this is an old post, but does the ford KN1Z19A361A come with a LED to indicate the car alarm is on?

Thanks
I have the same question about the led indicator as Beer but using the updated perimeter sensor ML3Z19A361A.
Thank you for your help in advance
 
I am getting a Revelco. I emailed the guy and told him I did not want their standard installation which looks like a Bubba's Plumber did it.
I didn't say that but it's a pretty cheesy install IMHO, especially in a $100K truck. He called me and was rather insulting and tried to tell me that if they installed it in that nice spot to the left of the steering column that I would be cussing him out when Ford refused to do a warranty job on something related to the dash. I looked up there and there's plenty of space. How would the Ravelco in that spot inhibit work on the dash? Sure, there would be some extra wires to deal with but I assume the Ravelco installer would have them neatly bundled together.

I was so mad I basically hung up on him. He's not the installer so I guess I'll go ahead and schedule it and try dealing directly with the installer.

Am I being unreasonable or do any of you think there's any truth to what he said?
I recall when they came to my house to do the install the tech asked if there was a specific spot I wanted mine. May be worth a shot.
 
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