I thought I'd grab some materials from Home Depot, and give it a try. I made a "shield" out of some sheet metal. I am trying to find a more secure way to protect the hex bolts at the top, maybe riveting another sheet of metal on top of them, if it will clear the hood. I have yet to do the driver side HID light (too cold out). Then I want to work on some sort of protection for the hood release cable, so it can't be easily pulled or cut. Also, I'm thinking of securing my hood down with some galvanized cable, to the tow hooks on the bottom of the car. I'll have to unbolt the cable to change the oil or what not, but it's nice to have the peace of mind. Here's my webpage, with pics to better explain:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/raa97003/Maxima/index.htm

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

 

Looks pretty good so far! Once it's all done you should sharpen up the metal so if someone DOES try to get their fingers in there it'll just cut-em up real good and then they'll leave blood behind!

One DNA test later and biggity-bam you can find the bastid!!

The cable idea is pretty good - just secure that hood shut with a padlock and heavy cable. I know that'd confuse the hell out of me!!

Looking forward to updates.......

Matt

 

Do they go over the front of the housings? I couldn't tell from the pics.

 

I was with you on this.. but keep in mind, most of them are also carrying a crow bar in the first place. But hey, for $10 and the chance to cut them too !!

keep in mind tho, cut them good enough and they will sue

 

They don't go over the front of the housings, just cover the top and the back side (ballasts) of the HIDs. I'm not trying to make this full proof, but rather more frustrating than the 30 sec it takes to normally steal the HIDs.

 

I can see the headlines now "Maxima owner sued after thief looses finger trying to steal HID headlights!"

 

Am I currently engineering something simiiliar that you are doing but with much heaiver stainless steel. That cable is easy to cut BTW. Nice work thus far though.

 

or, have 50Kv open circuit (good for at least 2 pulses) waiting at the point where they insert the crowbar.

When they insert the crowbar they complete the circuit via their body (hopefully they are not wearing gloves and the ground is wet) to ground and *ZAP*

headline: Maxima owner fed-up with stolen hid electrocutes would be thief

water-cooled TT dreams
SHIFT_woosh

 

it looks pretty nice but it seems to be almost useless. whatever you make you have to protect against this:





this is from my collision with deer but its the same concept. see how the plastic tabs that connect the headlight to the car are snapped off? that is how many theives get away with the HIDs. they just tear them out and break those tabs.

 

Why bother? A thief doesn't know you've got that kind of protection and will probably tear up the front of your car with a crowbar before he figures it out. My advice is to get a car cover and let insurance handle it if anything happens.

 

While this is a great beginning for theft prevention, I still like the "club" idea for the headlights. If something is covering the front of them (ie: bars) this may deter a would-be theif. Whereas this isn't seen on the outside, and you still risk body damage.

As for a car cover, great idea... but I have no knowledge of how easy or hard it is to get on... All I can think about then is if it's pouring rain out... being stuck trying to put the cover on, or off and getting soaked before work, or after a date. Wouldn't a car cover attract more attention as well? People wonder what's underneath them sometimes.

If only Nissan got it right in the first place.

 

Alright! I dont have a 2K2 w/HID but I have a 2K so thank God I am not overly concened with HID theft in NY. Can someone explain to me what the design flaw, if we can call it that, that makes the HID's so easily removed and stolen. I have read OzzFather's father might be working on R&D to help with this but I want to throw out this idea. Do you guys foresee a problem replacing the housing case of the HID's with metal and metal/steel tabs? This is some thoughts I am toying with and would like some feedback. I can look into a company to mass produce it. Installations and other related factors will be addressed later but how about this as a start. I am guessing the glass housing would be a factor too but keep in mind it would professionally done.