I am sorry to hear this happened to you. It is almost always young punk thug wanna-be's who break into cars, especially when only the stereo or other easily accessible audio components are taken. Punks have no use for your tools, CD's or other stuff that might be in the truck. It may have also been crack heads or dope fiends trying to steal something they could easily sell for drug money. Keep an eye open for your radio at the local pawn shops, ebay and Craigslist.
Best thing to do is replace the radio with a detachable face unit, and take the face off every night when you park the truck in the apartment parking lot. As others have said, the radio is not much good without the faceplate, however faceplates can be had on ebay and other sites for cheap. And even a radio without a faceplate can be sold to the right person or pawn shop for as little as 10 bucks, which can still be enough to buy drugs or alcohol.
Tint your windows to the maximum legal darkness limits where you live. Even dirt bag punks can't steal what they can't see. Plus the tint makes it a lot harder to break the glass and get into the truck, but it won't stop a punk that knows how to use a Slim Jim.
Get a good car alarm, something that at least will go off if the doors are opened. It is also a good idea to add a switch to trigger the alarm if the hood is pried open if the punks have the brain cells and/or time to open the hood and cut the battery or siren wires. A sealed mercury tilt switch on the bottom side of the hood is a lot better and more reliable than a traditional plunger style pin switch. Hide the alarm siren where the dirt bags can't find it but you can still hear it. Get the loudest siren you can find, or maybe just double or triple up on sirens, plus wire in a relay on the siren output from the alarm to also trigger the horn. If you really want to make some noise, add in a set of air horns under the hood, wired to go off when the alarm is triggered. You can also mount a good loud siren inside the cab, so if the punks try to get your stuff even while the alarm is going off, maybe the interior siren would be loud enough to drive them away. Also when you add multiple sirens or trigger the truck's horn, it will make your alarm very easy to distinguish from all of the other alarms in the parking lot that no one ever pays any attention to anyway.
The idea with the alarm is not to stop thefts; if punks and dope addicts want to steal your stuff, they will. All they need is a baseball bat or a brick to break the window and a few minutes to take what they want. The alarm's purpose is to alert you or maybe a neighbor that might be willing to help monitor your truck in the event of another break-in. Hopefully the alarm will either scare the punks away or give you sufficient warning so you can get outside and take care of the situation by whatever means you think is necessary.
You can also interface your alarm with the factory power door locks, or you can add aftermarket door lock actuators if you only have manual door locks. That way you know if the alarm is on, the truck is locked.
Short of letting a pit bull, doberman or a good police service type dog sleep in the truck every night, these are a few things you can do to help stop punks, dirtbags and dope heads from stealing your stuff.
Best thing to do is replace the radio with a detachable face unit, and take the face off every night when you park the truck in the apartment parking lot. As others have said, the radio is not much good without the faceplate, however faceplates can be had on ebay and other sites for cheap. And even a radio without a faceplate can be sold to the right person or pawn shop for as little as 10 bucks, which can still be enough to buy drugs or alcohol.
Tint your windows to the maximum legal darkness limits where you live. Even dirt bag punks can't steal what they can't see. Plus the tint makes it a lot harder to break the glass and get into the truck, but it won't stop a punk that knows how to use a Slim Jim.
Get a good car alarm, something that at least will go off if the doors are opened. It is also a good idea to add a switch to trigger the alarm if the hood is pried open if the punks have the brain cells and/or time to open the hood and cut the battery or siren wires. A sealed mercury tilt switch on the bottom side of the hood is a lot better and more reliable than a traditional plunger style pin switch. Hide the alarm siren where the dirt bags can't find it but you can still hear it. Get the loudest siren you can find, or maybe just double or triple up on sirens, plus wire in a relay on the siren output from the alarm to also trigger the horn. If you really want to make some noise, add in a set of air horns under the hood, wired to go off when the alarm is triggered. You can also mount a good loud siren inside the cab, so if the punks try to get your stuff even while the alarm is going off, maybe the interior siren would be loud enough to drive them away. Also when you add multiple sirens or trigger the truck's horn, it will make your alarm very easy to distinguish from all of the other alarms in the parking lot that no one ever pays any attention to anyway.
The idea with the alarm is not to stop thefts; if punks and dope addicts want to steal your stuff, they will. All they need is a baseball bat or a brick to break the window and a few minutes to take what they want. The alarm's purpose is to alert you or maybe a neighbor that might be willing to help monitor your truck in the event of another break-in. Hopefully the alarm will either scare the punks away or give you sufficient warning so you can get outside and take care of the situation by whatever means you think is necessary.
You can also interface your alarm with the factory power door locks, or you can add aftermarket door lock actuators if you only have manual door locks. That way you know if the alarm is on, the truck is locked.
Short of letting a pit bull, doberman or a good police service type dog sleep in the truck every night, these are a few things you can do to help stop punks, dirtbags and dope heads from stealing your stuff.
