Hide electronic devices from car thieves!
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(102 votes)
Published: Jan 06, 2008 2:13 p.m.
Viewed 732 times |
I waited for several years for these gadgets to come down in price before buying one. Then I got one for Christmas--it’s a GPS satellite navigation system. It’s good for people who drive a lot to unfamiliar, semirural locations, like me, typically to coal-fired power plants, sometimes 500 miles from home. If you’ve ever used one, you know what I’m talking about.
The problem is I’d like to protect it. It comes with a crappy mounting bracket, which you permanently attach to the inside of your windshield. (According to their documentation, this mounting method is illegal in California and Minnesota. Feh!) Since I live in a town where most people collect government checks, sell drugs, use drugs, or all of the above, this is a bad idea. That bracket, even with the navigation device removed, is an advertisement to every alcohol-soaked, drug-addled welfare recipient that this car contains something worth stealing. They even tell you this in their documentation.
There must be a better way. I want the device to be easily accessable, easily removed, and easily hidden. Then I remembered my vanity mirror, which I seldom use. It’s recessed into the visor, making a perfect pocket to hold the thing. I was goung to butcher the visor, making a hole through it, until someone suggested Velcro. So here goes:
You’ll need Velcro. You can buy it by the foot at a fabric store, or buy a four foot box. You’ll only need about two feet, and have plenty left over. Get the heavy duty stuff, which is the strongest Velcro there is.
A hot glue gun will help.
Get some scissors and a screwdriver. There might be fabric underneath the mirror.
First, pry off the mirror. Mine is held in with tabs. Remove any fabric you may find behind the mirror. For this demonstration, I showed the visor mounted in the car. When I actually did this, I removed the visor and worked indoors.
Put the stiff Velcro on the rigid part of the visor. You peel it and stick it. I put hot glue around the perimeter, so the edges don’t peel off during use. Then I replaced the elastic strap, which had been held in place with the mirror. That’s where I keep my vehicle registration and other crap.
Put the fuzzy Velcro on the back of the navigation device. Don’t cover up the speaker; that’s where the recorded voice gives you driving directions. Also, don’t cover anything imoprtant, like the USB/power port or the external antenna connector, though you might not be using an external antenna.
And that’s about it. I can plug the thing in, and swing the visor down to use it.
After turning it off, just push the visor up. I might cut a hole in the car’s headliner and create a pocket. But best of all, there’s no crappy windshield mount to attract neighbors/theives.
You can do the same with car stereo head units that have a small remote control. |
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 | Jan 06, 2008 2:21 pm -
GREAT 5* |
 | Jan 06, 2008 2:24 pm -
0* |
 | Jan 06, 2008 2:24 pm -
Damn, that sucks for me.
Looks cool though, nice egg. 5*s |
| Jan 06, 2008 2:41 pm -
It’s not much good when someone takes the car off to get it stripped or just sent off to a dodgy scrapyard. |
 | Jan 06, 2008 2:44 pm -
Brilliant, 5*s. Knowing me though, I’d probably leave my car parked somewhere with the visor down. Oh well. |
| Jan 06, 2008 2:45 pm -
No point leaving shit in your car anyway, most thieves go for cars because they have other goodies left in them.
Ah well if anyone tries this at least I’d know some places to look as well. Good job I hadn’t rated yet. |
 | Jan 06, 2008 3:25 pm -
3*s
my parents have one of these (i cant drive yet)
and they just leave the mount on
and take the device off when theyre not using it and either hide it under the seat or take it inside.
this isnt really a GREAT idea either.
so...
3*s |
 | Jan 06, 2008 5:00 pm -
Still VERY visible to the eyes of a thief.
So 4*
It would have been better if a hole was cut in the visor to allow the Tom Tom to rest inside it. But hey, your egg not mine. Good work. |
 | Jan 06, 2008 6:43 pm -
thats pretty much the first place i check in a car- 0 |
 | Jan 06, 2008 7:02 pm -
5* |
 | Jan 06, 2008 10:28 pm -
I don’t even own a car D-:
But good egg, 5*****
Sucks being carless, but meh, you can still live a basically normal life. |
 | Jan 07, 2008 1:30 am -
good work, althoe i dont have a car :/ but im gettin my L’s sooon :)
5 |
 | Jan 07, 2008 11:31 am -
I like it
5*
Ghetto as fuck, but thats the beauty of it. |
 | Jan 07, 2008 12:10 pm -
5. Great idea, cheap and easy.
Continue with the great eggs! |
 | Jan 07, 2008 1:34 pm -
Quote: "5. Great idea, cheap and easy.
Continue with the great eggs!"
kinda like your mother >:D
5* |
 | Jan 07, 2008 2:07 pm -
Great idea. 5* on this and profile |
 | Jan 07, 2008 2:15 pm -
that is a great idea! really nice egg 5**** |
 | Jan 07, 2008 6:29 pm -
One of the first places I look when "car shopping" is in the visors. Although some may not. Good egg nonetheless. 4* |
 | Jan 07, 2008 6:57 pm -
Pretty cool idea.
Haven’t seen this before.
Don’t have a car though.
*5 Good egg. |
 | Jan 07, 2008 10:21 pm -
Great egg but as far as I know most GPS systems are not that thin. 5* |
 | Jan 08, 2008 6:06 pm -
3* for effort, but i mean wtf. why on there, it’s much more convenient in it’s actual spot where it’s supposed to be |
 | Jan 10, 2008 8:43 pm -
Quote: my parents have one of these (i cant drive yet)
and they just leave the mount on
and take the device off when theyre not using it and either hide it under the seat or take it inside.
this isnt really a GREAT idea either.
Scroll up and read this passage:
That bracket, even with the navigation device removed, is an advertisement to every alcohol-soaked, drug-addled welfare recipient that this car contains something worth stealing. They even tell you this in their documentation.
The point was to avoid using the mount. Why risk being caught breaking into a car that might contain good stuff to steal, when you can easily find a car that definitely does contain something good?
Quote: It’s not much good when someone takes the car off to get it stripped or just sent off to a dodgy scrapyard.
My car is worth more as a car than as scrap metal, but if someone steals it, the navigation device is the least of my concerns.
Quote: One of the first places I look when "car shopping" is in the visors. Although some may not.
Not all theives are as leet as you. And after I cut a hole in the headliner, the gadget is completely concealed. |
 | Feb 02, 2008 1:07 pm -
Kudos on an ingenius and creative idea! *5! |
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