TOOL THEFT STINKS! ADVANCED VEHICLE ALARMS HAVE THE COUNTERMEASURES
You know, if it wasn’t for the fact of multiple-use of the pickup truck, with dogs sometimes being the rear bed passengers, the super-fitters at Advanced Vehicle Alarms – AVA, would have left a serious hearing-damage grade siren in the back of the Ford Ranger in this tale. They tried it out and found that even the arming chirps were unbearable inside the top cover. It’d cause hearing damage to thieves. Actual Bodily Harm.
For the second-generation stalwarts that run AVA, a pukka family business in South London, near the big O2 dome of legends in Greenwich, said YES!
They said yes to looking after my young mate John Jeffries. After a traumatic theft which even damaged his motivation for a moment, along with his vehicle, these evil little extrusions from the butt of a slimed sewer rat are to be thwarted in future.
I spoke to his dad about it. He was ready to commit acts of violence upon the perpetrators, had he been able to catch them at it. I get that. It is a daddy bear effect and in this case, I was able to join in and get something done.
It is all down to the Guv’nor at AVA, along with his superstar chap, Bill Finch, who took my mad calls and agreed that it’d be worthy a thing to do, with my getting to brag about it, when THEY did it.. typical journalistic ploy.
So, if you have a pickup truck, this is what you need to do if you wish to keep stuff in the back.. or the front cabin for that matter.
- Fit a super clever alarm. One that uses your normal key but adds waaay better security.
- Equip it with a microwave sensor in the back, that won’t false on a windy day but can be set off by an arm reaching in.
- Fit the best physical security tool protection equipment on the market- a Van Guard Tool Store, with integrated lock. Made in Britain, it’s ‘ard, comes in fours sizes and will take serious, noisy attack for a good while.
And that is exactly what they did. First, the Van Guard ‘Medium’ Tool Store in 910x480x480mm size, some £200’s worth… https://van-guard.co.uk/shop/universal-fitting-van-accessories/tool-stores?product_id=1057 with two of their embroidered seat covers as well! The seat covers are about £37 each and are universal. Great for when John gets back in the truck, muddy. The chunky ironmongery is bolted down internally and is kinda a perfect fit for the truck.
Then the really clever bit. The COBRA alarms company, came from Italy, as did all the best car security, spanning from the days in the Eighties, when car radios got stolen all the time as they used to be universally fittable in all cars. The Italians had dreadful problems as did the rest of the world. But they just cared more and enough to create the quality security equipment they did. Nowadays, a whole era so long later, that few readers will have ever ‘parked’ a car radio in a restaurant rack as part of their cloakroom (Joe Allen’s Exeter Street, London, 1988) and they are owned by the mighty Vodafone.
Thus, the top end is now the Cobra 4600 Series Wireless alarm. It has a half hour cost and install saving as the siren does not need to have a physical connection. The classic ultrasonic sensors are used, except that instead of the simple easy clip-em-on method most installers use, the chap Lee, who did a slice of this alarm install, took the trouble to run the cables and fit these sensors in the factory position. Seamless removal and replacement of the OEM ones and the new ones are best placed and cannot be brushed out of position by wiping the screen.
The microwave sensor, a Cat 1 module found as standard in the A4138HF model, is an A5462 if you want to ask for it by name for your application. The 4600 Series Wireless is sold as £349 included, installed. One heck of a bargain for the level of commitment that AVA apply to their installs. They also happened to fix his tailgate, repair, re-solder and sticky-heatshrink a bundle of wires back together, from where a previous owner had had a bodge. The microwave allows for a breeze and can even protect opened convertibles. You reach in though, and the microwave field is disturbed and the watch-monkey will clang his cymbals. (Get the movie reference?) That is a sophisticated item and costs £160 including the fitting, in this case with a hidden switch for those times when the alternative sensor has hair and teeth – woof!
I want to offer a massive thanks to Advanced Vehicle Alarms. To Bill Finch and to his oppo Lee, as well as the Guv’nor Sam Scott and the real boss these days…his Mrs! It was a lovely treat to catch up with Larry as well and I even grabbed a paparazzo shot or two of him.
To say that John was and is deeply grateful is a bit trite. You have fixed his life back up, guys and for that, I love you forever and John will never forget as long as he lives! I can see him being very successful, running a gas fitting company with many vans… and bringing them all to AVA for the best treatment possible!
As well as the best security, installed with proper skill, effort and expertise, the audio department is awesome at AVA. I made a short video in the shop. Bill is getting talked about by the car audio superstars I talk to! Only young but deeply talented in many directions, I called once to be told he was out on a customer visit.
To decide what the fellow wanted in his Lamborghini.
http://www.advancedvehiclealarms.co.uk/
Tel: 020 8318 9200,
Advanced Vehicle Alarms,
96-100 Lee High Rd,
London SE13 5PT
