Interior Opening Gas Cap Cover

[Terrymo]

scary outside of the basement.

Right safer in the basement eating Cheetos and typing angrily on my keyboard

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[OminousSkitter]

The leaps of logic in here are quite fun. Too bad farcical leaps of logic are not a recognized sport yet. So we have potential ne'er do wells running around with gas cans full of improper additives and pry-bars, or hoses that can't defeat the anti-syphoning devices in the fuel neck. Seems kinda silly don't it?

Don't forget that they're also carrying around screw drivers/drills and self-tapping screws to bypass the locking gas cap (instead of punching a hole in the tank).

 

[Twisted10]

Right safer in the basement eating Cheetos and typing angrily on my keyboard

dont forget to be armed.

 

[SlickRicksWilly]

That was always my rule with the soft top. Leave it open so they can see that there's nothing in it. But I did get some asshole that cut open the back window on my TJ just to "unlock" the unlocked door. I guess I should be grateful that they did the back passenger window which was cheaper to replace than the soft half doors it had.

I read about this several times on the S2000 forums, it happened to enough owners that people started selling stickers saying something like "door is unlocked, please don't cut the top" that people would place on their windows. The S2000 and these stories are what inspired me to not carry anything valuable and just leave the doors unlocked.

 

[Twisted10]

ive left my guns in my jeep w a soft top for days in my parking lot at my business.

probably not the smartest move but i dont worry much about anything.

 

[jeepingib]

I read about this several times on the S2000 forums, it happened to enough owners that people started selling stickers saying something like "door is unlocked, please don't cut the top" that people would place on their windows. The S2000 and these stories are what inspired me to not carry anything valuable and just leave the doors unlocked.

It's frustrating for sure. That was a TJ, so they could have even just unzipped the window...

 

[SlickRicksWilly]

It's frustrating for sure. That was a TJ, so they could have even just unzipped the window...

Stupid is as stupid does, I guess .

 

[AndySpill]

You're not reading and/or thinking clearly.

Breaking into the car and setting off the alarm to use the fuel door release is MUCH MORE suspicious than prying open the internally latching fuel door.

Even if in some universe it weren't, a vandal still has to stand by the unlatched-from-the-inside fuel door to commit a fuel tank contamination crime - just like while prying open the fuel door.

To further ground this discussion in reality, the vandal is likely to be much more deterred by the presence of onlookers than an internally latching fuel door.

I'm talking about someone up to no good trying the door handle and only proceeding to gain entry and pull a fuel door lever if the vehicle's unlocked and unarmed versus prying the door lever.

 

[yokramer]

I'm talking about someone up to no good trying the door handle and only proceeding to gain entry and pull a fuel door lever if the vehicle's unlocked and unarmed versus prying the door lever.

So the 3 seconds it takes to pop the door is somehow MORE suspicious than the 5mins+ its gonna take to pour a whole bag of sugar in the tank?

 

[AndySpill]

Do you often sit around dreaming up scenarios that rarely happen.

No. Instead I pose harmless survey questions with no horse in the race of the opinions of those who reply actually while some offer not simply off thread comments (which itself are fine) but ones often void of logic or manners.

No to gas fuel doors @yokramer ? I'll make a note of that.

 

[OminousSkitter]

No. Instead I pose harmless survey questions with no horse in the race of the opinions of those who reply actually while some offer not simply off thread comments (which itself are fine) but ones often void of logic or manners.

No to gas fuel doors @yokramer ? I'll make a note of that.

The tone of your replies makes it seem like you have an answer you really want and are unhappy with the responses you're getting. But, this is just text; I am probably misinterpreting things.

Put me on the side of, "it's pointless to have both a latching door and a locking cap; both are easily bypassed, but they offer some deterrence and a lot more peace of mind."

 

[THAW]

I'm talking about someone up to no good trying the door handle and only proceeding to gain entry and pull a fuel door lever if the vehicle's unlocked and unarmed versus prying the door lever.

Ok, that's what you meant, but not what you wrote - it happens.

However, it still doesn't make sense in the context of fuel tank contamination vandalism. Why would a vandal try the door handle, not the fuel door? And walking a line of cars testing door handles and/or fuel doors is more suspicious than walking up to a single car and nearly instantly popping open a fuel door using a small, concealable lever. It's all moot anyway, because (as already mentioned in the thread) anyone worried about arousing suspicion is unlikely to pour liquid down the fuel filler neck.

The bottom line is it's incredibly quick and easy to pry open an internally latching fuel door - look up videos about how to do it and you'll see.

 

[Ratbert]

AndySpill said:

Prying open is a more obvious act that looks suspicious, than opening a locked and armed car door.




Sure Foster, maybe at a gas station it doesn't. But if you're sitting on the street without a filled gas can and trying to pry open a fuel door or cap, I think you might stand out.

What's the perpetrator of such crime likely to say to passers by. "I'm breaking into this owner's fuel input to do my good deed for the day and fill their tank up with gas?"

Why wouldn't they have access in the first place if the rightful owner. If the rightful owner but they lost their keys, why would they be filling their tank with gas?

You just don't think things thru at times, do you?

How long are you thinking it takes to pop open an interiorly-locked gas cap with a screwdriver?

Two-ish seconds?

 

[Terrymo]

Doesn't it take in the neighborhood of two seconds to pop open an interiorly-locked gas cap with a screwdriver?

Agreed and as long as we’re making up “what if” scenarios…plenty of people don‘t get involved either out of fear or apathy or self absorption if it’s something of this nature. If you are in a rural area response time might be 15 minutes or more within the officers beat. Or if it’s a busy area, calls are being prioritized and if the officer is already a dozen calls down, it‘s going to be a crime report not anything preventative because they have no choice but to handle something that matters.

 

[Blade1668]

True indeed, but I'm more concerned about vandalism these days. I remember not too long ago, there was a rash of vandalism where the perpetrators were simply pouring Pepsi or some other carbonated beverage into the gas fillers. Wranglers were an easy target because most didn't have secure/locking gas caps. Since then, I've always ensured that my gas caps can lock, including those on my former CJ's. Better to spend a few bucks on a relatively cheap locking cap, than contending with major fuel system and engine damage.

In a few places "people" have tried to open fuel doors and remove cap then light vehicle on fire. A friend of mine had someone trying to do that to his truck when parked at jobsite. She didn't notice he was inside the truck at first. Brick into side window and that. His response was slightly different. About every job he has and his work crews do in some city's and states are a loss due to vandalism and theft. The police don't even take reports on it and tell him to file with insurance company.

To several other points in this thread,
When I had a soft top on my Wrangler I never locked the doors. One soft top I had was torn up by a damn raccoon, I regret not just leaving the windows down. On stupid s### levels some jackass stole my oil fill cap off of it when I was parked once. The jackass at parts store then tried to say they fall off sometimes. Hmmm how the f### did the flipping "dummy cord" remove it's self from where it was tied to. I had drilled a hole and put the cord on it after dropping it and landing in oil drain pan. Few years back it wouldn't start and had been not been running right. When I started looking it over I found that someone had cut several wires. Then someone trying to tell me it was squirrels or rodents that chewed up the wires. Definitely some really ballsy rodents to do that at my place with many cats around.

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