TheOzzfather

My father is a sheet metal worker and the head of his divison for General Mills. He can basical engineer or build anything. I showed him the posts here about HID theft and this weekend he is going to look iver my 2k3 SE and see what he can make as a theft deterant and protectant for our headlights. I advised that if he cam up with something really good I might be able to market it to our community. A reasonable price ofcourse. I will let you know in a week or two, they are in their busy season at research and development. And I will post pics of what he came up with. Just wanted to give a heads up.

NyMaxedOut

iTrader: (8)

Very good Ozz. I dont have HID's on my 2K SE but I would be too glad to see something about helping HID owners keep them. I get so mad when I hear of people losing their HID's and it seems like there's nothing to do about it.

B1GMATT

Sounds cool! Keep us posted.

dcook22

I know I'd be interested.

Dan

cwerdna

Although I don't like doing "me too" posts, I'm definitely interested. Maybe you should take a poll to gauge interest...

Greg's2kGLE

Keep us updated

digimax

Count me in too....very interested!!!

TheOzzfather

My father breifly looked at the lights last night. He stated that he can surley come up with something to deter / prevent theft but the problem is that either way you will have to bolt something on to the car. Meaning if the theif gets to where the bolts go on he is going to be able to yank them out. Again, it was very breif he is going to look at them more tomorrow and hopefully have a protype to me in to weeks. Just to gauge interest shoot me an e-mail at Ozzy447@yahoo.com with HID in the subject line if you are interested.

2k2kev

Have him keep looking/developing, but my question is something that's been brought up before in reference HIDs and clear corners... if someone goes to steal your headlights there will be damage. If the thief hits a "deterrent" how much more damage will he do to the car either trying to get them out or through frustration/vandalism?

It's almost like we need a sticker or something up-front indicating "this light protected by OzzFather's Father" or something so they don't even try... am I making sense?

More and more I'm thinking I like the idea of electrifying the whole assembly so anyone who touches it gets a dozen amps to put him on his butt.

drsprite

I'd be first in line if he came up with something really useful. I would be able to sleep easier at night

MichaelAE

iTrader: (1)

The bottom line is that most of the thiefs have broken the plastic tabs which are attached to the car. The only way to prevent this is to reinforce the plastic tabs. No matter how you bolt the headlights to the car, if there is a thin piece of plastic, anywhere in the mix, the thief will always be able to grab the lights, twist them up and break them off.

The best solution, if there is one, would be to somehow build a sheetmetal "backbone" to the plastic tabs and the back side of the headlight assembly. If there was a nicely fitted sheetmetal backing which could be riveted to the actual back of the light, then the tabs could not be broken.

I agree that this might frustrate thieves and cause more damage...but we do all have insurance, don't we? If your car is being assaulted, damage will result...the amount of damage is really unimportant (a scrach on the hood vs. a bend vs. a crack headlamp). I say it is worth it to know that the thief went home without your headlamps. Let the insurance company worry about returning your car to its original state.

spta97

iTrader: (1)

I would be very interested as well. As far as bolting to the frame, security bolts (like TimW sells) could be the answer to that.

As far as making it worse due to vandalism / frustration, how about something that will go over the HIDs when you park the car? Kinda like a "club" or "club sheild" for the headlights? I'm sure that no one wants their Maxima to look like a truck, but if there was some kind of metal "cage" that we could put around them when we park it I think most people would go for that? They would be obviously covered by huge metal bars or what not and theives would be deterred by looking at them. I have no artistic ability, but here's what I'm talking about:

________|-----------|
_______|XXXXXXXXXXXXX|
Nissan_|----0---------0-----|
______|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|

In this picture (if you can call it that) the "|'s" are the perimeter of the HID assembly, the "0's" are the bulbs, and the "X's" are a metal cage, and the "_'s" is the grill with the "Nissan Logo". Don't laugh.

Any input?

drsprite

Sounds like a plan, but where would it be locked in? would it wrap around the car and go inside the wheel well and then in the grill, or wheel well to wheel well?

spta97

iTrader: (1)

I'm an idea man, we'll leave it up to OzzFather's Father to engineer that one out! Perhaps something with a key?

I'd be willing to pay $100 for something that secure.

dcook22

[QUOTE

________|-----------|
_______|XXXXXXXXXXXXX|
Nissan_|----0---------0-----|
______|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|

In this picture (if you can call it that) the "|'s" are the perimeter of the HID assembly, the "0's" are the bulbs, and the "X's" are a metal cage, and the "_'s" is the grill with the "Nissan Logo". Don't laugh.

Any input? [/QUOTE]

Actually, once you explain the picture, it doesn't look half bad.

The problem with securing the HID's is the "weakest link" syndrome. Whatever part is weakest will be attacked and defeated. At present, this is the black plastic tabs the bolts go through.

I don't think I'd like to cage my headlights.

I'm not sure why they couldn't just make whatever the black plastic parts are (housing, bracket, whatever...i don't know the jargon) out of metal in the first place.

Also, I realize that it was a joke, but it is illegal in New York and I'm sure in most states (except maybe Texas ) to booby trap your property in an effort to deter thieves. (An electric fence is a different matter.) As much as it would suck the thief, or better yet, his next of kin could sue you if they suffered any injury. The fact that they were committing a crime at the time is pretty irrelevant. So, i wouldn't recommend electrifying your HID's. Just throwing that out there.

Dan

TheOzzfather

He has to work tomorrow because as previously stated this is R&D busy season. But I will post later tonight when he has a chance to look at the housing. He is estimating about $80 for what it would cost. Again just early estimate so dont jump down my throat about the cost. Thanks guys!

drsprite

I would pay $80 for that... call me stupid... but if this thing can stop the headlights from being pulled out, and it's removable, I think it's well worth the money.

Quidproquo

I recently paid $500 for an elaborate alarm system, what's another 80 bucks?!?!?

SterlingMist00

If Ozzfather's dad comes up with a viable solution to prevent the HIDs from being stolen, I think the guys with HIDs should not worry about more damage to the vehicle. Since, as someone already mentioned, you all should have insurance. In addition, eventually word will spread within the "thief" community that the lights can no longer be stolen and further attempts should stop.

If this "fix" works Ozzfather, then maybe you can also market the product to the regional Nissan dealerships; this way the remaining 2K3s coming out of the dealerships will also be protected and will help spread the news to would be thieves.....just a thought.