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Steering Wheel Locks: A Review (part 1 Of 2)


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#1
cbsteh

Posted 10 November 2010 - 01:47 PM

cbsteh

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PART 1:

It is well known that steering wheel locks offer little protection against their removal from the car steering wheel. They are more effective as a visual deterrent to theft. For example, a thief may not be interested to invest in the additional time needed to overcome a steering wheel lock. This is especially true if there is another car (better or similar with yours) nearby which has no steering wheel lock.

Not all steering wheel locks are created equal. Some offer almost no resistance to thieves. I include below a link to very useful review of various steering wheel locks. These locks were tested by a well known security specialist, Giles Verdon, from the UK.

Steering wheel locks review


I was fortunate once to see him in action in the UK, and I was flabbergasted at how easy he ripped out some of the steering wheel locks. He used only his brute strength to rip them out. No need to huff-and-puff or spent 1 hour yanking the wheel lock out or causing damage to the car in doing so. Particurlarly susceptible to Verdon's "ripping out strategy" was those so-called "clubs" like this:



and those flat ones that rest on your dashboard top such as this:



There are two basic manner how a steering wheel lock can be overcomed: attack either the car steering wheel or the wheel lock itself. So when you get a steering wheel lock, go for the following criteria:

... to be continued

#2
cbsteh

Posted 10 November 2010 - 01:51 PM

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PART 2:

CRITERION 1:

A wheel lock with hard-to-pick keylock. Do not choose steering wheel locks with a pin tumbler lock as they are very easy to pick (a matter of only seconds) like this:



Instead, get steering wheel locks with tubular or four-sided keylocks. They are not foolproof against lock picking, but they offer higher resistance to lock picking, like these:



CRITERION 2:

A wheel lock which offers high resistance to freezing. Some thieves spray freon gas to the locks, freezing them, then the thieves smash the locks.

CRITERION 3:

A wheel lock which offers high resistance to drilling and impact forces. These are to prevent the thieves from breaking the key lock.

CRITERION 4:

A wheel lock that is strong and resistant to impact. We don't want the thief to break the lock with just his bare hands, do we? Those susceptible ones are the flimsy locks typically made from China.

..,. to be continued.

#3
cbsteh

Posted 10 November 2010 - 01:55 PM

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PART 3:

CRITERION 5:

Get a steering wheel lock that protects the car steering wheel from being cut. Wheel locks such as these:




are nearly useless because the car steering wheel can be cut at only ONE place, and the whole steering wheel locks can be removed regardless of how strong, anti-lockpick, and anti-freeze the locks are.

Get steering wheel locks that at least require SEVERAL cuts on the car wheel to remove them. The following wheel locks are better:




... to be continued.

#4
cbsteh

Posted 10 November 2010 - 01:57 PM

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PART 4:

Or much better:





The above are better because they cover the steering wheel and requires multiple cuts (if possible at all) to remove them. They are also better because of the following criterion 6.

... to be continued.


#5
cbsteh

Posted 10 November 2010 - 01:59 PM

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PART 5:

CRITERION 6:

Get steering wheel locks that protect the steering wheel middle (hub). This prevents wheel removal. So the following five lock types are close to USELESS:







As the review by Giles Verdon concluded, the two best steering wheel locks in the market today are:

Stoplock Ultima
Disklok

Both cover the steering wheel hub and requires multiple cuts on the wheel to remove them. Even though Giles Verdon successfully remove them, much noise was required in the process.

That said, both these locks buy you an additional two minutes only. But then, how many car thieves are like Giles Verdon?

Chris

P.S.
Stoplock Ultima is available from Eneos 1Utama at RM699.
Disklok is available from Supercode Technology at RM499.

P.P.S.
No, I am not a sales agent.

-- The End --

#6
cbsteh

Posted 10 November 2010 - 02:01 PM

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Sorry I couldn't put the whole thing into a single post. I received multiple errors that I included too many photos, so I have to break them up. Oh yes, ignore the "Part 1 of 2" header -- there's is only one post.

Chris


#7
tr0llb41t

Posted 01 December 2010 - 02:48 PM

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Great info, thanks much smile_thumbup.gif

#8
thedoc

Posted 01 December 2010 - 08:04 PM

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Very informative.....

#9
cbsteh

Posted 02 December 2010 - 10:06 AM

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Thanks for the compliment. As an update, the Stoplock Ultima does not fit all steering wheels. So if you are seriously planning to get one, try it first on your car. Disklock come in three sizes which you can select based on your steering wheel diameter.


#10
tr0llb41t

Posted 02 December 2010 - 10:44 AM

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The Stoplock looks like a mini guitar, pretty funky smile.gif But it's damn heavy for something meant to be fitted to yr steering wheel. Whoo 4.2kg according to Amazon.