Okimoto Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Unfortunately, I live in an apartment, and park my vehicles on the street. This morning, I had to pick up the piece of mirror that I glued back after someone shattered the one prior (second time my puickup truck's been hit). A few weeks ago, my honda was hit in the back as to cause the wheel to face inwards and leave a metal gash down the side of the car. I had to call that car a total loss and give it away. Two weeks ago, they clipped my grandma's car. I've called the police and all they do is shurg their shoulders. They wouldn't even look at the car. I would go to city council, but the street I live on is a collector street and adding a stop sign probably wont happen. No way for a speed bump either. I park my car totally against the side of the curb, leaving zero room between the curb and the tire. My wheels have spiralgraph curb rash on them because I always park close, yet my cars still seem to get hit. If i lived near the street, I would put a camera up. The culprit has dual tires and white paint. The tires seem to be pretty mid to high profile from the pictures I see. And by the way the totalled honda was crooked after it was hit, it was probably hit at 25 mph. The speed limit on the street is 35mph. So given this, I have an idea: I want to install angle iron on the frame rails under my truck. I want the angle iron to extend out 6" from the side of the truck to be parallel with the side of the mirror. I want the iron to be able to stop whoever's hitting my truck, even if that means sending the culprit thru other cars in the process (so long as her car is not drivable and she's caught). The Z is narrow, so I plan to park the Z in front of the truck. I'm just tired of worring about my cars getting hit. If it pulls the truck and hits my other car(s), I don't care anymore, as long as the girl is caught. My issues are: 1. It needs to be strong enough to severly damage or otherwise stop the culprit's car when her car comes close enough to hit my mirror. 2. It needs to be pedestrian and biker safe. (I had enough of the civil court system). 3. I'm hoping its cheap, but if it does a good job, it's worth the money. 4. it needs to be within the range of the mirror, if it's outside sticking out too much, I could get into trouble, no? 5. I don't mind a stop stick style solution, but it should be a passive system, able to puncture thick ply truck tires. Do you guys have any ideas? I figured I'd ask here, because after reading the chassis threads, I've discovered you guys are quite knowledgable in strenghtening and reinforcing vehicles. I have an arc welder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olie05 Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 i have an idea... get one of those towing mirrors, extend it all the way, and weld in 1" square steel tubing behind it, pointing towards the offending car at a 45* angle from the side of your truck. The "girl" will see the new towing mirror, aim for it, and then wish she hadn't... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastzcars Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Damn that really sucks.You could install some tubular side step bumpers. I helped my brother install a pair on his ford expedition. They stick out about 7 inchs , and are right at mid tires hight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2126 Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Solution to problem........Alot of patients and a BMG!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumo Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Actually you can put a camera inside your vehicle, just buy an inverter or DC power adapter to power the camera and an old vcr and a junkyard battery. In my friends case he managed to borrow one of those ac/dc vcr/tv in one units you can buy from Sams. Then he bought an inverter for the camera power supply to plug into and a cheap $40 "infrared" camera from Frys. During the day time he just put a rag on the camera on the rear deck and trickle charged the battery in his apartment. In the evening he just opened the trunk plugged it in. He was lucky because he caught the teenagers egging his car on the third night. Lucky because VCR's wear out really fast when you used them everynight for eight hours. So you can create your own surveillance system from there. I've seen brand new no name VCRs now for $40. Frys and even Harbor Freight have infrared night vision cameras. You get the idea. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Dig a pot hole a foot or so out from the parking lane and a car length or two back from where you park. Make it deep with square edges. Eventually the local traffic patterns will change to avoid that lane. The Ben Hur bumper idea is a law suit waiting to happen should you ever clip a pedestrian or get in an accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 Okimoto this may be so obvious that your overlooking it! theres a few MILLION places in the USA that cost less to live at and have better parking than southern california, now I know your thinking you can,t move, or find a new job anda zillion other reasons, but its all BS. you can move to a much better lower taxes enviorment IF YOU REALLY wanted too, and in the long run its going to be a good idea.most guys are afraid of change ....but southern california with it high taxes,high crime,and insane houseing costs is far from the best place to live, if your willing to work hard,places as close as nevada have much lower cost of living and much better parking ,all you need to do is make up your mind to do whatever it takes and MOVE! Id bet that in 5 years, youll wonder why you waited as long as you did, and kick yourself in the butt mentally for not moving sooner, if you do move! ten years ago I was making three times what I make per month and my morgage cost me less than 1/3 of what it does now, I moved, and it required a major life style change,but ID NEVER CONSIDER going back or changing, things are FAR BETTER in my new location, I did the research, I changed what needed to be changed and IM FAR better off now and have both lower stress and a much nicer home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonsZ Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 You know how some cars have curb feelers? Instead of that, make a (retractable) spike strip that lays on the ground by your car. anyone who comes so clese as to hit the mirror will run over this strip and lose their tires. So that they don't know it was your car that just severely damaged their tires, it should be completely breakaway so when it imbeds int he tire it goes with the car. In fact a board with a few screws in it could do the trick placed near your car. The person(s) will be no doubt drunk which is why they can't stop hitting things, and this won't stop them, they'll drive4 home on the punctured tire. So all you have to do is puncture their tires a few times and they'll find a new route home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas hammer Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Try going to a traier place and get 2 reese hitches and make a removable step that you can put in spikes at night. Chrome steps by day, blck spikes at night. One more side swipe and it should stop. Just a thought. just make sure you are under 8 foot wide otherwise it's could be you paying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Sleep in your vehicle. When they hit it again, you will catch them red handed. Keep a camera and cell phone handy. That's what I would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okimoto Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 Okimoto this may be so obvious that your overlooking it! theres a few MILLION places in the USA that cost less to live at and have better parking than southern california' date=' now I know your thinking you can,t move, or find a new job anda zillion other reasons, but its all BS. you can move to a much better lower taxes enviorment IF YOU REALLY wanted too, and in the long run its going to be a good idea.most guys are afraid of change ....but southern california with it high taxes,high crime,and insane houseing costs is far from the best place to live, if your willing to work hard,places as close as nevada have much lower cost of living and much better parking ,all you need to do is make up your mind to do whatever it takes and MOVE! Id bet that in 5 years, youll wonder why you waited as long as you did, and kick yourself in the butt mentally for not moving sooner, if you do move! ten years ago I was making three times what I make per month and my morgage cost me less than 1/3 of what it does now, I moved, and it required a major life style change,but ID NEVER CONSIDER going back or changing, things are FAR BETTER in my new location, I did the research, I changed what needed to be changed and IM FAR better off now and have both lower stress and a much nicer home[/quote'] Your telling me to move to solve my side-swiping problem is like my telling you not to drive in the rain because Z car windshield wipers don't work too well. Yup, driving in the rain is all BS, you know? I live with my grandma who's common-law husband passed away six months ago. I don't want to devastate her by leaving her, and I definately don't want to devastate her by moving to Texas. Besides, if I do that, I give up all my hours in the IDP for California Licensure as an architect. Yes, I know more BS excuses. I almost moved to san fransisco though. At least there, people know how to park. I didn't move, was too scared. I have an RV at my other grandmother's house, but I've seen RV's get mashed in pretty badly in the drivers side corner from being hit. Nearly every RV parked at venice around my work has that problem. Texas hammer: I've been thinking about the spike strip idea too, but that's not exactly passive and it needs to be somewhat pedestrian proof. Alot of people looking to burglarize cars ride bikes at night... and one of them could really sue me for doing that. Matt73GNz: I would sleep in my car if it happened on a weekly basis... but it's random. Also there are now two sets of dually tire marks near the front of my house. Luckily it was street sweeping and my truck was on the other side. The 1" square steel idea looks good... but the problem is with mounting it in such a way as to not rip the sheet metal off the door when the offender goes whizzing by at 35. I've been thinking about another idea. A tow chain attached so that the hook faces outwards from the mirror. The chain can snake down a pvc pipe on the side of the car and attach to the frame rail. The problem is hooking the offender. The hook on those things are usually not big enough. and if they are, i don't know if it will grab. The camera idea would be great if my neighborhood wasn't suspect with crime. My brother's car got broken into about 5 feet forward from where the truck was parked, believe it or not. When I called the police to report the car being hit, they asked why not park it in the driveway. I didn't tell them, but my brother's car was parked there because it was broken into a few weeks prior. Luckily for him, they only stole the head unit and broke the passenger side glass. I'm going to try calling city hall on monday to see if I can get some time in city council. (theyre usually closed on friday) reading your ideas are great. That's why I love these forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonsZ Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 I still think a well placed board painted black with screws sticking out of it would do the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaparral2f Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Have you thought about a land mine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iskone Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 The 1" square steel idea looks good... but the problem is with mounting it in such a way as to not rip the sheet metal off the door when the offender goes whizzing by at 35. How about putting a junker door on for a while? Isk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.