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OK someone thought my PT Cruiser would make a good fuel pump and they stole my gas...now for the good news...they only got a quarter of a tank so I was able to get her to a gas station for a fill up. A friend of mine suggested putting a steel plate over the gas tank if a locked gas cap doesn't work. How would a steel plate affect FE, if at all?

A small plate won't affect FE much.

However, the tank itself is galvanized steel or aluminum, so they already were drilling through metal.

Unfortunately, you can't really stop a determined thief if you're not there. You are just trying to stop the casual thieves and encourage the motivated ones to break into someone else's car:(.

Many modern tanks are plastic.A steel shield would have to be pretty thick to prevent thieves. Heck, why bother with a PT Cruiser with a 18-20 gallon??? tank.Most Suburbans have 40-44 gallon tanks!

Charlie

Many modern tanks are plastic.A steel shield would have to be pretty thick to prevent thieves. Heck, why bother with a PT Cruiser with a 18-20 gallon??? tank.Most Suburbans have 40-44 gallon tanks!

Charlie

The Suburbans ran out of gas a while ago. Or it's too expensive to keep it filled up all the way. :(

Putting a steel plate over the gas tank is certainly on the list for me when the weather cools off a bit. I'll even have to see if it's not beyond my ability to do without some serious equipment.

PTDixieGal, I don't think we can protect ourselves from every possibility. Most thieves are looking for an easy target. I think using a locking gas cap will deter most of the bad guys. I wouldn't consider installing a steel plate over the gas tank. As Charlie wrote, the folks who are cutting fuel lines & punching gas tanks gravitate toward larger vehicles with larger gas tanks. It's also easier to get under a truck/SUV than a PT Cruiser. ;)

Lowering the car (if it isn't already low enough) would serve the same purpose. Alternately, get a fugly body kit to make harder to get at (and...ugly).

Well, I work at WM so I think when I go on my lunch break or after I get off work I'm going to head over to automotive and see if we have locking gas caps on the shelf. My friend Chris works back there and he said he sees them from time to time and that it should be pretty easy to install.

Hi PTDixieGal:

___I would not worry about protecting your tank as there is just to many other easy targets to go after than to drill into a tank and than let the fuel slowly drain out. To long, to much work and a waste of dollars on your part. Locking gas cap if one fits, sure. Protecting the tank?, if someone wanted to cause damage, they could do far worse with a small can of lighter fluid and a match.

___Just seems like far to much work to bother protecting the tank for a few gallons of fuel.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

The first thing to do is get a locking gas cap if you haven't already. A better bet than a steel plate over the tank would be a vibration-sensing car alarm if you really think it might happen again.

What are we talking about here, someone siphoning gas out or drilling / poking a hole in the tank
from underneath? :confused:

Brother, yes doing exactly that.There was a report- online, but you know how stuff spreads once it hits the internet- that thieves were literally DRILLING gas tanks, and catching the fuel with big pans. I would guess big oil catching pans. Like xcel mentioned this is a lot of work for not much value. Just how big a "catcher' can you reasonably get under a vehicle? You sure as heck couldn't catch all 44 gallons (over 250 lbs) from my guzzling Suburban. How in the heck would you catch all that?

Like Nikki pointed out, a big high ground clearance vehicle like Tahoe/Suburban/Expedition is the one to hit. It is easy to get under there and use your tools. Who would want to work under a car with 4' of ground clearance??

Brick makes a good point; lower that SUV to make it a less suitable target. I'm considering something like that to improve the aero profile in the hopes of getting better FE. I could lover it, and put on taller(but narrower) wheels and tires to effectively "gear it taller."

It sounds like a "kids" crime to get gas for cruising. Steal a few gallons and run. A locking gas cap is the way to go. I've heard that it is tough to siphon now with the baffles in the fuel tank filler access.
Charlie

http://www.google.com/products?q=locking%20gas%20cap&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wf

I this is all really you need :)

If you armor plate, I mean steel plate your vehicle, I suspect a FE decrease.

I agree. That'll stop siphoning. If a thief is determined enough to go beyond that, I vote for an alarm.

A few gallons of gas. It could be worse. I read a few years ago that in Mexico they would drill a hole in the battery with a long drill bit to disable the alarm then strip the car.
Before I retired I was responsible for a small fleet of one ton boxtrucks and we had a couple of ocsasions when some one knocked a hole in the 35 gallon gas tank and stole the gas. surviellance cameras solved that. Mabe this type of crime is more common here in Ark.

___Just seems like far to much work to bother protecting the tank for a few gallons of fuel.

Here's the thing though... that could get very costly over time. Consider any of the following situations:

1 - gas goes up to $5+ a gallon, and suddenly "a few gallons" becomes worth quite a bit.

2 - they siphon some gas out. When you put a locking cap they knock a hole in the gas tank.

3 - Or worse, they siphon a little bit at a time. We'd probably catch onto what's happening when our mileage logs get screwy, but it leaves the door open for the possibility of repeated thefts :angry:

Suddenly protecting the gas tank sounds like a better idea.

I've recently bought a club for the car and am going to invest in a locking gas cap. And then when the weather cools off I will look into steel-plating the gas tank to keep people from breaking in. I'll lose half a MPG if it means my gas isn't stolen :angry:

Hi Auston:

___Gas at $5.00 per … steal 3 gallons and risk a year in jail or worse? Going into the tank for maybe 3 + gallons? It would be easier to rip out the OEM stereo and or even jack a vehicle up, place some bricks under it and steal the rims and tires? I could probably remove a tire/wheel combo in less time than drilling a hole in a tank and letting it drain into a small flat container. Payoff would be much higher too!

___If someone is going to drill a hole into a gas tank for that little of a payoff, you were on a hit list more than likely. Wouldn’t it be a ***** if you drilled the hole, let it drain and less than a gallon came out because it was on E ;)

___The scenarios are way out there for a few measly $’s in gas. A theif probably would not break into somebody’s home for a $10 payoff just as bank robbers probably do not attempt to rob a bank for just $10. The risk vs. reward is way out there … Locking gas cap for those without an inside release, sure. Plating up the tank? Why bother with the hassle or cost?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I got my locking cap the other week. Works like a charm, $12 or something at autozone. It's worth it for me because I was backed into and my locking mechanism on the fuel door broke. Before I bought the locking cap, any old shmo could saunter up to my car, flip the door open and siphon my gas no sweat. The good thing was the repairs on the panel came out looking clean so you can't tell that the mechanism inside is broken. I got the cap to be sure though.