Hood Lock
The following text and photos are provided
by ZR2Steve and are modifications that he has made to his 2001 Toyota Tacoma.
I installed a hood lock, because I felt that it would be a lot easier to steal
the 2001 Tacoma, once a person gets under the hood, to cut battery or alarm wires,
or hot-wire or jump start. I ordered the Model 207 hood lock cable from JC Whitney
for $46. This locking cable comes with all the hardware, installation directions, two
keys, and an ignition or starter interrupt (which could be wired up, or not wired
up, depending on which works the best for you). The way I wired this is not covered
for security reasons. See the photos below for descriptions.
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I put a hole in the firewall on the passenger side. The hole is lined up to go under the heater inside the cab, and over the fender well into the engine compartment. The hole needs to be 5/8", so I drilled the hole to ½" and used a tapered punch to enlarge the hole and fold the edges of the hole over so it will not cut into the lock cable. |
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I made an L-shaped bracket to mount the lock end of the cable to the metal cross bar under the dash. I had to install some ½" spacers so the key would still turn once the lock was installed. There are other places to mount this, but I didn't want to bolt to plastic, or position it where a passenger would hit their knees on it. |
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I installed the lock end of the cable on the passenger side, under the dash. I can still reach it from the driver's seat, and it moves it away from the stock hood release, slowing down a thief who needs to get under the hood in a hurry. There would be no reason you couldn't install this lock on the driver's side, under the dash. The available space is a little tighter, but doable. |