Introduction: Car Security Hack

I use a steering wheel lock in my car as a deterrent to thieves. So far (touch wood) it has done its job.

Terminal weekend, it broke. The key to unlock it would non turn and it took x minutes of two engineers jiggling the key, the lock and the wheel before it was undone.

A piece of equipment similar this absolutely has to be reliable, and so I was going to have to supercede it. Then I realised that since its primary function is every bit a visible deterrent, it didn't actually take to function as a lock, it simply to look similar 1.

Step 1: Dismantling the Device

The device works by having an extensible bar which ratchets out between reverse rims of the steering wheel. This extensible bar is retained past a pin.

I could non notice a way to remove the extensible bar pin equally it seemed to take been installed at manufacture earlier the covering was applied to the far end of the device.

I broke the pin off by extending the bar to its limit very quickly to employ a transverse stupor to the retaining pivot. This took a few iterations only somewhen the bar slid right out.

And then I went to remove the lock.

The inner barrel of the lock rotates, and at that place was a modest pin visible on the outside of the lock housing. I assumed that this pin was what prevented the outer lock barrel rotating under torsion.

I marked the position of this pin with an ink dot on a piece of record then drilled it out with a 4mm (five/32") bit.

The pivot was obviously extremely hard as the bit slipped off, but the steel around the pin was patently very soft as the scrap chewed downward into it very hands.

Since the pin wasn't going to play, I drilled a pigsty in the steel either side of it and and then used a punch to knock the pin sideways and out.

Footstep two: Removing the Lock Barrel

After the pin was removed, the lock barrel was eased out.

The bolt which locked against the ratcheting bar was removed.

The inner and outer barrels were separated, which released the dozen lever and bound sets which formed the friction match for the primal. They can be thrown away.

The lock barrels were reinserted into the steel housing.

The extending bar was slid back into the device.

Provided that the lock is put onto the steering bicycle with the drilled holes hidden from view by the centre of the steering cycle, at that place is no external indication that the lock is not fully functional.

Step iii: What Failed, and What I'll Do Side by side Time

I tried a number of things which didn't make it to the final hack.

Unless the steering bike is at the right angle when the device is applied then the device volition fall off, equally there is nothing preventing the ratcheting bar from slipping back into the body of the device.

The outset attempt tried to add together some friction to the movement by jamming a piece of eraser into the housing where it would grip the ratchet. This sort of worked, but moved out of place whenever the ratcheting bar was moved.

The 2nd attempt tried adding padding and friction to the ratcheting bar itself by various layers of record (both duct and masking). This didn't work at all, equally the deviation betwixt "no effect" and "jammed" was impossible to find.

The concluding try involved applying and expansion to the ratcheting bar by winding a spring and slipping it into the device earlier the bar. This was a scrap of a Hail Mary and it didn't come up. Dumb thought.

Knowing the internals of the device as I now do, a repeat of the hack would be much quicker to implement, more useful and more useable.

  1. Drill a single 4mm pigsty downwardly beside the lock barrel retaining pin
  2. Dial the pin sideways
  3. Remove the lock
  4. Remove and discard the tumblers from the lock
  5. Reassemble, filling the drilled pigsty with epoxy or hot glue and painting the surface

This would retain the ratchet machinery, but mean that anything (including a screwdriver) would open the lock.

Y'all live and larn.

ane Person Made This Project!

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