The Club

[groman]

Hi,

as a person with no locking steering wheel (on a 2000 Chrysler Sebring JX, why is that, by the way?) I've always wondered how The Club works(I don't have one). It seems to connect to just the steering wheel and doesn't seem to be anchored to anything. So how does it prevent driving the car? Could you just steer with the club on?

Regards,

Yuriy

[Push You Down]

How does it work?


Criminal: Hey let's steal this one. (looks inside and sees the club) Oh man this one hasa club.. it will take us an extra three minutes to get it off.. let's just move on.


It's a deterrent.

[JerH]

When put on properly, the long part of the bar should be wedged so that the steering wheel won't turn. Most people don't put it on properly.

[Nature's Call]

Originally Posted by groman

Hi,

as a person with no locking steering wheel (on a 2000 Chrysler Sebring JX, why is that, by the way?) I've always wondered how The Club works(I don't have one). It seems to connect to just the steering wheel and doesn't seem to be anchored to anything. So how does it prevent driving the car? Could you just steer with the club on?

Regards,

Yuriy

The club has one end long enough that it touches the window, making steering with it on impossible.

This is the best picture I could find.

[Cheesesteak]

You can only turn the wheel between the points where the club end hits the windshield and your leg. It's not generally going to be a big enough arc to navigate roads. It won't stop a determined thief, it takes less than a minute to defeat the club, if you're prepared. If a thief is unprepared, the club will make it very difficult to drive off. There are other versions of this device that include a metal shield for the steering wheel, making the typical defeat impossible.

[x-ray vision]

Its made of hardened steel which is almost impossible to cut through (unfortunately, a steering wheel is very easy to cut through, takes about 20 seconds, and the club then slips right off).

[Raguleader]

Yeah, as has been said before, the Club's defense is one part reputation, two parts function, and three parts inconvenience to the thief. While a thief could in theory remove the club without too much trouble, if he was prepared to deal with it, he's much more likely to just move on to a car that will reqire a smaller investment of time and effort. On the subject of traveling the path of least resistance, half of all the cars stolen in the state of Texas had unlocked doors, and a fifth of them had the keys in the ignition.

I never get my car stolen, as I tend to lock the doors and place claymore mines with tripwires all around.

[Padeye]

Originally Posted by x-ray vision

Its made of hardened steel which is almost impossible to cut through.

I laugh derisively at your hardened steel. While you'll have a tough time of it with a low quality hacksaw blade there are a number of ways to break a club type steering wheel lock with little difficulty. I did one the hard way after losing a key using a battery powered dremel tool and an abrasive cutoff wheel.

[Soylent Gene]

As stated previously, the steering wheel can be sawn through fast. I saw a news report where an ex-thief ran a hacksaw though the steering wheel like a hot knife through butter. Took him about 5 seconds.


Have you ever noticed how most of the cars with Clubs are beaters that no one would ever steal anyways?

When was the last time you saw a Mercedes Benz or a Lexus with a Club?

[InternetLegend]

Originally Posted by Soylent Gene

Have you ever noticed how most of the cars with Clubs are beaters that no one would ever steal anyways?

When was the last time you saw a Mercedes Benz or a Lexus with a Club?

My own personal "beater" Jeep Cherokee was stolen not once, but twice, and on one of those occasions it was parked in the lot of a luxury hotel, surrounded by much, much better cars (including a nice selection of later-model Jeeps). That's why I bought and used a Club for my ridiculously undesirable car. Maybe the more expensive cars are more likely to have effective alarms?

Nowadays, my secret hope is that someone will steal the damn thing so that we finally have a good excuse for breaking down and buying a new car.

[Imasquare]

Originally Posted by Soylent Gene

As stated previously, the steering wheel can be sawn through fast. I saw a news report where an ex-thief ran a hacksaw though the steering wheel like a hot knife through butter. Took him about 5 seconds.

But would a car thief want to do this? Isn't sawing through the steering wheel going to make the car undrivable / unstealable?

[Kevbo]

Originally Posted by Soylent Gene

Have you ever noticed how most of the cars with Clubs are beaters that no one would ever steal anyways?

Your greatly overestimating the intelligence of a car thief.

When my beater was stolen, my first reaction was "What, all the good cars were already stolen?"