sleepyhead87

Hi,

I came here in hopes of finding out a few answers to my question, as there seems to be some very knowledgeable members on these forums.

I've always heard about Viper Alarms and how they're "the best" (could be argued, but they've certainly established a brand name). Anyways, I'm aware DEI owns Viper, Clifford, etc, and that they're all basically the same alarms with slightly different looking remotes, but I haven't really seen a price difference among them, and decided I liked the looks of the Viper remote best. Please correct me about the pricing if I'm wrong :P

My questions are as follow:

1) Are aftermarket alarms transferable?

I currently drive a 95 civic lx that doesn't have an alarm. I plan on adding some electronics that I'd like to safe guard, but my concern is that I am certain in that I won't be staying with the car for more then a year or two, so is it possible for me to cut out the alarm after it's been installed and transfer it to a new vehicle? Is it as simple as transferring a head unit, or does the removal of the alarm haywire everything?

2) How much does an installation typically cost? (assuming I supply the product)

I actually plan on doing it myself, but if it's not too expensive, I'd much rather have it professionally installed. Unfortunately, if it's as much as I think it'd be (200-300 dollars in labor), I'll probably be doing it myself. Which brings me to my next question:

3) What is the install difficulty for the average person?

I know it's quite subjective, but I'm pretty technologically literate as I build and repair computers for a living. That should give me a slight edge over the masses :P

4) Where would one go to obtain the wiring diagrams/other install information for my vehicle?

I research heavily before I start hacking things up. Though, I'm not really sure where to find the information I seek, except perhaps here. :P

jaggerwild

#1 Yes
#2 It is easy, removing is not hard.
#3 You need to be fairly comfortable under a dashboard, we have talked a few peps through it here before. You need to be handy with tools and able to fix most auto repair jobs that happen on an average car(even if you pay someone else to do it). If you can do your own brake job, then I think your able to.You can build a computer , then you should be fine.
#4 Google is your friend! http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/vehicles.html

Need more ask!

If you have never installed a relay then you may have problems......

sleepyhead87

Thanks for your reply!

I find no difficulty in changing my own oil or brakes , or tires for that matter. To me, those jobs are quite simple once you've been taught the proper procedure.

Though, I am currently installing a basic sound system (amped coaxials) right now in my car, and probably will not do the alarm for some time. I'm still weighing whether or not I should proceed with the alarm or wait until I actually get some decent components and head unit installed.

One of your answers concerns me though:

You stated it was quite easy to remove an aftermarket alarm... That doesn't surprise me as I've heard many stories. Of which was one of a thief who had successfully disabled a Viper alarm almost completely with the exception of the paging feature. The owner then came to check on his car when he was paged via his remote. That is the only reason I'm getting a decent alarm with paging abilities; otherwise I'd just get a basic remote starter that allowed me to remotely unlock and lock my doors.

Anyways, my question is: If it's so easy; how do I prevent a scenario similar to the above story from happening? There just aren't that many places to hide the brain unit in a car....

lcurle

your dash is full of pockets and holes. If you take your time you can find a decent spot to where no one can access unless they disassemble your dash. If someone really wants what you have they will do a smash and grab, quick and dirty. Most of the time they don't want the car, just the electronics for quick resale.

Raylo

If your question about transferring alarms is about all the wires and connectors matching, the answer is no. Many or all of the same connections will be needed with a new alarm but each mfg uses different plugs and wire colors. This can even vary between models from the same mfg. So you'll still have to find all the necessary connect points and hook up the new harnesses.

sleepyhead87

That is true, however you can only remove so much with a crowbar (at least without damaging the goods too) :P What I'm afraid of is that they disable the alarm so that they can work on it all night and neatly remove everything. I guess my question was a bit silly as I was asking for a perfect hiding spot. I need to find my own spot :P Thanks for telling me.


I assumed you had to splice wires when installing an alarm, but I did not expect wires and connectors to match. My question was basically if anything would complicate removal of said alarm and installing it in another vehicle.

Though that brings up another question I forgot to ask:

jaggerwild said something along the lines of: "If you have never installed a relay then you may have problems......"

Can anyone (or jaggerwild himself :P) elaborate on this part? As I have never installed a relay >_<

Raylo

A relay is just an electro-mechanical switch that uses a low current (control)circuit to energize a coil that shuts contacts in a high current (main) circuit. Lots of flavors of relays but mostly for these projects you need SPST (single pole single throw) although other types can also work, typically SPDT, but just won't use one of the terminals. (will need SDPT for "normally shut" applications, but I digress....) If/how many you need depend on the car, the alarm system and what features you are trying to install. Bottom line is if you try to power a high current circuit from a low amp control wire in your alarm system it will get fried, hence need for relays.

A couple of examples..... on my older Clifford system there is no on board relay for the 2nd starter, just a milliamp capacity wire the shows ground during remote start, so I had to use a relay. The input to the main relay contacts is a high current feed in the truck, the input to the relay coil is any +12v circuit in the truck (in this case I used the same for both) and the above mentioned signal wire is connected to the coil negative side. During RS sequence the relay coil neg side gets connected to ground which shuts the main contacts to port power to the 2nd starter wire.

Likewise my system did not have an onboard relay for dome light supervision. So I had to use another relay for that. The alarm system wire for that was again a milliamp type that can power a relay coil but not enough to drive the lights themselves.

The concept is fairly simple but care needs to be taken to get the logic and the connections right. I find it helpful to sketch simple circuit diagram of my relay add ons before I start splicing wires. The 12volt install bay has a lot of good FAQs, include detailed discussion of relays. Have a look over there.

lcurle

From Raylo, check out www.the12volt.com

sleepyhead87

Thanks guys, I'll necro this thread in a few weeks xD (or maybe make a new one) when I actually have the alarm and am ready to install it.

jaggerwild

The old saying goes "an ounce of prevention is worth................." that being said you can never fully stop a theft, but you can hope to slow him down. I had a lot of issue's with this myself growing up. The best advice I can give anybody is make sure to fully insure the auto after the alarm is in and working correctly. With a low deductible aswell, there are other measures that can be taken. I can not post them as they involve personal injury to others, and more times then not even happen to someone who is not a theft.

I do endorse using extra backing straps, to make it more difficult to remove the head unit, also it must be as short as possible. A lot of common everyday stuff is over looked, example if you park the car in a dimly light area. Use motion detector lights that go on when something moves.

I have also mounted the head unit under the drivers seat, and placed the removable face plate on the sun visor using a ribbon cable to connect the two.