do you lock the doors of your jeep?

I've seen a slit cut into a rag top, even unlocked. Just another example of jealousy, like the trolls of this group. God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O mailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com

I live in NYC and always lock my doors even with the top off. I run a soft top March through November and have not had a problem yet. That said I leave nothing out in my rig. I have a tuffy locking console and everything is in there or locked in my garage until I need it. Now that I said that I'll might walk out tomorrow morning and top will be cut and my rig trashed but the doors will still be locked.

I live in Milwaukee - never lock the doors - try not to keep anything too valuable in it.

Still doesn't mean that people don't take a peek to see what I do have inside - and steal my favorite wool winter hat. :-/

paul

I always lock mine except when it's in my driveway, but of course being an XJ makes a difference .

Jeff DeWitt

I think leaving it open with nothing to take is best.

Soft tops aren't even safe in the bush, the freakin' raccoons know how to open the zippers at the corners, let alone safe in the city!

Mike

I lock mine now and then, depending on where I'm parking it and what's in it. It's kind of an exercise in futility though.

Locking it only slows someone down from getting in through a rear zipper anyway. I just think that it keeps them from looking like they own it by just stepping in rather than climbing through the back.

Kate

I didn't lock mine for a couple years after the factory grease in the lock mechanism congealed to the point that I couldn't. But of course I live in Silverton and the biggest town I ever visit is Durango. That applies to the full steel doors that go with the fiberglass hard top only. The half door soft top combination continued to lock OK, but of course that is only good for keeping honest people out. This summer I finally got around to taking the full doors apart and lubricating the lock mechanism. Look Ma, it locks and unlocks, just like a real car. I am not too worried about marmots breaking in, because they're not tall enough and not that bright. They ate the wiring harness on my neighbor's Ford Explorer a few years back. Never saw anyone with such a powerful antipathy towards marmots, like he is now. Linx maybe, or coyotes, might break in and take my Jeep for a joy ride. Grizzly haven't been spotted here since the seventies, and black bear I don't think could drive with those claws they have. Wouldn't need to either. Have you ever seen one move, when they wanted to?

Cheers,

Earle

Well put --

My [99.5% empty] TJ gets rifled through so often that I'm beginning to think it's their first stop on a night of petty theft -- they sure like those 99c flashlights. Christ, I go through those things like candy.

The only reason I could see to lock the doors would be if the local thieves' guild decided to target half doors/windows....but it hasn't happened yet.

Jon

I bought one of those blinking light thingys that start blinking when the ignition is off It mimics an alarm. I mounted it on the top of the steering column of the TJ. It kinda stops the interest when I have the doors and top off. Although there is nothing worth to steal. the only thing visible is a booklet of copied CD's of my music. I don't think they'd steal my music any ways :-)

J>

I live in So-Cal. I have a soft top and never lock my jeep doors. I figure they will just pull a window on the soft top or just cut right through it.

Yes Frank

Those blinking things really work. I've done this on several passenger cars. A 555, a led and some discrete parts and you have a circuit for less than a dollar that will put a blinking light in your dash. Now that I think about it, I believe we have a circuit that does that.

I never lock my XJ because the locks freeze in the winter even with graphite in the locks. Just leave a cigarette lighter and a cheapo flashlight in the glovebox for the theives. I keep a $25 CTC took kit under the back seat for emergencies but nothing of value. The lowlifes are just looking to grab anything that can be swapped for crack.

Nothing wrong with Chet, Buck and Hank but the crack addicts might break into your vehicle again to put it back!

Merrill

My Dad locked his doors even when he parked it in the garage and locked

Not if you want the interior to be there when you return.

Note, 40 some years back a columnist in the local paper wrote he carefully locked his Jeep when he parked in Phoenix because some SOB might steal it and when he parked it in Payson, a small town north of here, he left the keys in the ignition because some friend might need to borrow it.

Times have changed. Lock it, hire security, chain a vicious dog to it and you may have a 50% chance it won't be stripped, vandalized or stolen.

A lot depends where you live. IIn NYC not a big market for Jeep stuff especially lifted YJ's painted dull grey and white. My old neighbor parked a lifted cherokee with a tool box, ax, and jack on top for a few years that was never touched. Now if I owned a tricked out ricer it would be gone in a sec. Someone robbed the tires off a brand new honda accord around the corner from my place last christmas eve. My Yj with 33's was a block away untouched. They left this new accord on plastic milk crates which were breaking and the car was almost on the ground. The poor women who discovered it Xmas morning had a helluva time finding someone to tow it(they would need to have at least two tires to get it on a truck) on christmas day.

Sure, as long as you have nothing in the Jeep that you're worried about somebody stealing.

Locking the doors if you have a convertible top will get expensive in the city. Thieves will pull their switchblade knife out and cut right in. So if you have a convertible top, always leave the Jeep unlocked in the city.

I have a hard top so I lock my doors, but I do not put anything expensive into the Jeep anyhow. But the main reason I lock my doors is to keep the neighbor's kids from playing in my Jeep, they always leave sticky stuff all over the place when they do and I hate that. If a thief wants into my Jeep he'll just smash the window.

Remember the story about the guy who left a Rottweiler to guard his Camaro, and they stole the Rottweiler?

Cheers,

Earle

Yes, me too. Always unlocked. Nothing in it. Well except mud!

Greg

Nah, you just need to move. I went to Europe for 2 weeks and left 2 Harley's in an unlocked garage, and 2 unlocked Jeeps in the driveway. Last thing I had stolen was a toolbox, out of a locked camper shell, back when I lived in SoCal.

-- Old Crow "Yol Bolson!" '82 FLTC-P "Miss Pearl" '95 YJ Rio Grande BS#133, SENS, TOMKAT, MAMBM

Maybe that's a cultural thing, but my father-in-law does the same thing. Plus, it's a Chrysler Concorde that is completely stock, and has absolutely NOTHING in it to steal. In-laws. :)