no doubt, car theft is beg here also. border is about 2.5 from here

 

... off craigslist. From a 88 or 89 Comanche so should work on the 93 Cherokee. That will save me from too much experimenting on the mess left behind... Will put it in tomorrow, assuming no issues. Will take pics of the process to share later. Has anyone done this before? Any gottchas? It comes complete with key, lock, etc. Think it will just work?

Meanwhile, ordered the $20 remote relay key fob for the stationary kill switch. I like the idea posted here of putting it between the ignition and the starter. It's an auto trans so no bump start and no battery drain from people trying to start it if I put it on the coil or fuel pump. I guess the risk is that someone would pop the hood and know how to directly connect the starter. Will post pics of that going in too.

Couple of questions on other security stuff. Does anyone have a Cherokee hood lock? I see them for CJs and Wranglers, but nothing for Cherokees. Also, considering the digging they did on the steering column, does anyone use an ignition panel? With the stationary kill switch and an alarm and tracking system, if they decided to try and take the Jeep it would be less damage when stopped or recovered if they were messing with a panel than the console.

Thinking about the cell phone kill switch, OnStar seems to use something in the throttle process to slow the car down and then off. That would work on newer cars by tapping into the computer, I guess, but on old cars like mine? It's a good point about what happens if you just kill a moving car, liability and all that. Kill switching the fuel pump or coil would be a bad idea that way. I guess if I break it down I can only think of 3 places to slow an older Jeep down: the fuel/accelerator, the electrical, the transmission? Currently, I am thinking about how to modify the accelerator cable so it can be disabled slowly and the pedal becomes useless. Anybody have another (esp easier) idea? I'm not going to do this right away, just use the tracking, alarm, and stationary kill switch. Maybe hook the cell phone kill switch up to a very loud noise maker for now...

BTW, thanks for the feedback. I am not really a Super Geek Ninja but it is nice to hear!

 

They make something called a Rack Kit so you can repair your damaged column. But I'm not sure if it would be easier to just replace the whole thing.

 

The 88-89 column has the GM key instead of the Chrysler key, only difference.

 

I don't know for sure, but don't Comaches have column shifters but the Cherokee is on the hump?

Wranglers have hood locks because they don't have hood latches. Or didn't. Not sure about the new ones, but they look a lot more like cars every year.

I like the suggestions here. I'm also a big geek and will probably need to do more to secure my jeep when I put some electronics in it. Right now I leave it unlocked in the parking lot with all my tools in it, no problems. Then again, I'm no where near Mexico (just Allentown, which might be almost as bad)

 

new wranglers do not have hood latches either

 

You shouldn't worry about cutting the engine in traffic, you just plan for it. Let the thieves drive it, while you're working with the police tell them the coordinates and when they're ready, power the vehicle down.