Duffdog

just a question for you...

why would you want to have the remote start shut off if the alarm is triggered? you cant drive the car anyways because it will shut off when you step on the brake and shift from park. And that is only after you jimmy the door or break the window and the owner still doesnt notice... im sure if there was a high demand for that feature, it would be in the alarms. There is one real flaw with clifford alarms that im sure you didnt know--if the alarm is going off and someone shorts the sockets inside one of the parking lights, the brain will fry and you will have no more alarm. Dei is the only company that has "catch" diodes on the parking light relay so that the short is sent to ground and not through the brain. I wasnt talking about the disconnecting the brain--thats a no-brainer I was talking about killing the alarm without even intruding into the car at all. That is a major flaw in my opinion---course you wouldn't know that unless you knew how people stole cars....maybe i should stop right there. I personally am glad that viper is making the alarms because now they will be guaranteed for life! cant go wrong there.

Tim

netZ

duffy,

you do know that some automatic transmissions can be shifted into drive w/o pressing the brake right? and instead of using the brake pedal the person uses a hand brake...

btw, i've tried shorting the parking light to test the clifford, and the only thing that shorted was the fuse powering the parking light relay.

thanks for the info...

netZ

PhxTRDRunner

The funnist part of this entire thread, is that people are failing to mention that any alarm is only as good as the install. I promise you I could install a freeking bulldog that you couldn't bypass inside of an hour, no matter your experience. Everything mentioned here is only valid if the alarm is installed very basically, at the ignition harness, and without anything else (I.E. hidden alarm, unknown relays to fuel/ignition circuits). Anyone can just splice a starter wire, but for guys who want to take it a step further, its not that big of a deal to add little goodies like fuel shut off, fuel pump cut, battery backup sirens/ignition kills, just to name a few...


If clifford was the greatest ever, they would not have gone bankrupt.

Now, I have fixed so many crappy installs, it does start to get on my nerves, but I have to tell you that most of the "botched" installs that I fix are those Circuit City "soldered" jobs. I wonder if they told all you guys that got your stuff installed at Circuit, that instead of using heat shrink, they absolutely LOVE to use good old Black electrical tape Yes, they do, I have fixed SEVERAL of these hack jobs...even got to fix one on a car I purchased that already had a Circuit City hack job installed. :pat:

...again, it is only as good as the person installing it.

oh and btw, if you can shift it into drive w/out a brake, and you use the handbrake, what are you going to do about the locked steering wheel, and rev. limit?? Just curious, because thos are basic safeties built into 550s and 553s.:confused:

netZ

i agree that any alarm system is as good as it's install... duffy already mentioned that. i never said it's the greatest alarm, it's big and bulky and more expensive than other brands. i just happen to like it very much and it's works like a champ.

it's nice to add all those extra features, but what happens if the alarm failed? the owner would be stranded somewhere and not be able to fix it.

clifford going bankrupt is a shame... it's all the inexpensive alarms out there taking away the market share. how can clifford compete with alarms installations starting at $99?


"If clifford was the greatest ever, they would not have gone bankrupt"

this isn't a good argument, there are a lot of things in the world that was great and they didn't last, ie. toyota supra... it's a great sports car but the dealers killed it b/c of price gouging.

the landcruiser is great, but you have a 4runner... etc etc etc... you can go on and on... but i should be entitled to my opinion w/o being beaten for it.

netZ

Mohamed

Sheesh, I didn't realize Alarms was such a sensitive subject for some people. It's almost as if it's a racist remarks or something...

Ralph, judging by what you have been talking about, I really wish you lived in California. I would make the drive to ALMOST anywhere within the state to have you install my alarm in my Accord (which is currently immobilized because the radiator sprung a leak...out of all times, it had to do it yesterday and now I gotta scramble to pay someone to fix it today...ergh...my appointment for my alarm is tomorrow). Is there anything I should tell the installers to do, besides the obviously like soidering instead of connectors? It's an Clifford IG6000. Thanks!

PhxTRDRunner

haha, well only a couple states away

Parlos

Duffdog, Where in California are you? and where do you work?
I just bought a new Double Cab and turned down the dealer installed alarm. I've heard mixed reviews about the RS3200 so I didn't want to get it at the time, not to mention you can buy it from Romania for $249 instead of $499 at the dealer.
What alarm do you recommend? I don't need remote start, but wanted the window roll down feature.
Thanks

sleepy1405

damn I think my dealer installed alarm was more than 499, I thought it was like 699 or something like that, although I could be wrong I don't remember anymore.

Cebby

Anybody remember VSE? Their claim to fame was the EXT functions. I had 20 functions on my Celica GTS. Had panels popping all over (via pneumatics). They had a good window module that had spade lugs on the brain so you could use a nice heavy guage wire so there wasn't any voltage drop. One of my beefs with Clifford alarms was that if you didn't pull the fuse and jumped the battery, you'd fry the brain. Clifford's best product hands down was their window modules (Smartwindows II). The downside is that the things were huge. Does Alpine still make those sweet sealed pin switches? Those rock. I've had Alpine, Clifford, Viper, and VSE alarms and installed all of those brands. There were things on each of them that I liked...and some things I didn't.

I now have a DEI 550 (?) and window roll up modules from DEI. I wish I had the Smartwindows II module still, because the DEI one isn't strong enough to put my back window back up (down is fine - window weight I guess) but it won't go up. I think the installers only used 18 ga. wire...:pat:

I used to install in my free time for a few years when I was big into the IASCA circuit. It helped feed the addiction... No time anymore. Got married and had and and .

BTW, I have a new Ultra 900 and other misc. pieces that have never been installed that I'll be using for a new vehicle (soon). Does anyone have wiring diagrams for the Ultra 900, 551T, 530, and 540 units? I tried DEI, but since I'm not a dealer...

Cebby

Here's a pic I dug up of my alarm I installed in my 87 Celica GTS for competition. This low profile box was under the seat and in the floor area for the backseat. It was finished with a 3/8" thick plexi cover and custom carpet over it with a flap to lift for a looksie. This system was a DEI Ultra 900, with (2) DEI 530s for the windows, a DEI 540 for the sunroof, DEI 550 for remote start, and an Alpine paging system. All those relays controlled misc. motorization via pneumatics, solenoids (doors, trunk, and gas door), and various other alarm functions. One of the things I think people should add is a "pain generator". This is a shrill little siren that you mount under the dash. It was really painful on the ears inside - PAIN.

Nobody asked, but I thought I'd throw it up since I came across it.

kc4runner

Here is a poorman's 4Runner alarm. The empty part will defintely make the bad guy think twice about breaking into your 4Runner or a run in with the owner...

[IMG] [/IMG]

Cebby

I LOVE that idea. If they are looking in there, they'll see it. I wasn't sure what it was at first.