No, you overestimate the intelligence, diligence and coolness of these thief scumbags. They look through the window first and see if there is anything of apparent value in the car. That might include an aftermarket HU, if they don't see the HU right away, they are not likely to bother. Trust me, these guys are such geniuses that they break the windows to get in even if the doors are unlocked . This is for real, it happened to one of the cars they broke into a few weeks ago. That's when I had neglected to remove the radar detector from my car, That cost me a new convertible top for the Miata as well as the loss of the Radar detector I realize that a clever person who's looking to steal my HU, will definitely eventually spot the decoy. However, even they would probably not waste the time to steal a HU without a faceplate.....

 

Umm.. nice mod but are you doing this so you won't get jacked? cause they'll just jack your gauges.

 

Well, if you follow that line of reasoning, you are screwed regardless of what you do. If you hide the gauges, then they'll jack your gearshift knob, if you remove that, they'll jack your steering wheel, after that, they'll jack your seats, etc., etc.

There is no perfect solution, but it's a vell known fact that ppl just don't bother jacking factory HUs (even the most expensive ones), and they wont evenj bother any factory, OEM stuff. They certainly would not steal the crappy OEM gauges.... Anyway, thanks for the props on the work. It's just something I did to make me feel a little safer. If it works for that, I'm extremely happy

 

You're right, I'm sorry about my stupid comment. Seems like a lot ppl enjoy this mod, find some time, make some more, GB this motha~ haha

 

First of all, there is no need to apologize. Your comment was not stupid . It's good to point out potential issues with any new idea.....

Now, here is the scoop about alternative securing methods (Velcro) and magnetic field issues. The sketch shows the arrangement of faceplate and HU. The HU profile is in green, the metal “tray” is in blue and the faceplate is in red. As one can see, there is no space between the faceplate and the metal tray for half of the Velcro fastener.







Now as for the magnet, first, it’s a very weak magnet and it mounts on the existing metal plate. The metal plate is a perfect magnetic shield anyway and since the magnet is weak, there is probably very little if any effect on the memory inside the HU. Also, a stationary magnet does not create disturbance or EFI. This only would occur when the magnet is moving in close proximity with the metal tray. Additionally, these EFIs would only cause a problem during the operation of the HU. Obviously, the decoy is only there when the faceplate is out and the HU is turned off. The verdict would be that the magnet would have minimal if any effect on the HU…



BTW, I got my adapter hooked up to the Alpine and a little patch cord connects the iPod to it. It works great. When I want to use the iPod, I simply press the “input” button until I get “AUX” and it’s done. The signal from the iPod plays through the HU and sounds great! Upgraded speakers will be next along with some method of attaching the iPod to the dashboard….

 

Here are the pictures of the iPod hooked up to the HU and a close up of the RCA cables coming out from under the HU. I don't care for this set up but I'm going to wait a couple of days to re-route the cables. Perhaps I'll have them come out from the ashtray... Any suggestions?

 

good idea, i thought of doing the aftermarket HU thing with ipod, but because of the thought of thieves i didnt do it. now you came up with a good idea.

 

lol i do agree that some of these guys are really clueless. one of my friends had his car broken into, they popped the trunk and took his subs. funny part is that he has a false floor where the amps were located, the amps were a lot more expensive than the subs he had because those were "temporary" subs while the good ones were being custom boxed. they didnt even noticed how high the "floor" was

 

Wait, here is maybe a better idea... The back of the stock unit has a socket similar to the Alpine's. It looks like the input for a CD changer.... I bet you can use an adapter simlar to mine and use the stock HU with the iPod... Now that's totally stealth

 

That is clean...is that a fabric on that piecs?

 

No fabric anywhere. The cover plate is textured black plastic available at any auto audio shop. The spacer is 1/4" lexan and the magnet is a thin plastic magnet like those refrigerator magnets. The spacer is attached to the cover plate with double stick tape.

 

Faceplates can be acquired for 35-50 bucks.

 

Yeah, but your average smash & grab, crack-head thief is not in the business of stealing half of a radio to try to find out exactly which faceplate to purchase and then invest $35 to $50 (which he does not have anyway) to get a complete radio which he can then sell for $10~$15 to the fence..... They might break in if they see the HU without faceplate because they might think that the faceplate is in the glovebox or somewhere in the car.... These ppl are not the sharpest ball in the rack. The idea is not to thwart an expert car audio thief, it's just to decoy some drugged out scum bag......

 

also bro...what kind of glue or 2sided tape did u use to put the badge on? im asking because that gave me an idea of sticking the 2 oem badges i took off for the sub box hehe

 

you can hook up a changer, or ipod to the stock HU if you really wanted to. You would still need an rca to mini adapter and a soundgate interface to work with the stock radio. But it would work...

I would just get a radio, xm direct, and remove the face when in bad areas...