They do have steel underneath (even if the sides and top are aluminium or GRP). However, it is in the form of a ladder chassis, rather than being continuous and may have fork lift pockets. It is part of a structural frame that the cladding is attached to. A wooden floor provides a replaceable and continuous wearing surface over the chassis.
Colin Bignell
My mistake, then, as I assumed they were totally made of steel. Clearly, depending on the materials actually used in a particular container, that would affect its suitability for shielding Trakker signals.
Did the warning suggest what measures they should take to prevent theft?
On the other hand, if it's pre-meditated, it's not too hard or expensive to wrap the car in aluminium foil inside the container, or line the container with foil if there are a couple of cars inside it.
Trakker needs to be activated, you can block the activation rather than the trakker itself.
There are better systems about that don't need patrol cars with receivers to find a stolen car.
The report I heard mentioned some sort of software upgrade from BMW. However I got the impression that it was a customer push, rather than a dealer pull scenario. Maybe BMW don't like the idea of publicising the fault. They did stress it wasn't *just* BMWs - IIRC Audis were mentioned.
Vauxhalls come with a card with a security code on them. The dealer needs the code if he is doing stuff to the computers.
No it isn't the radio code before you ask.
If a thief is skilled/motivated enough to use expensive decoding equipment to steal a car, why wouldn't he also just disable the tracker?
be stolen.
Soon, you'll have to have two trackers - one for the thieves to find and deactivate and the other to enable the car to be found.
It was part of smashing up the monopoly main dealers had on servicing, thank goodness. Since then, I've taken my car to places that know how to service it, rather than the main dealers or doing it myself.
Part of the installation is to put the device in an obscure corner that requires half the car to be dismantled before you can reach it. As I discovered when my car powered down a 'live' feed after being parked for several hours, they also activate when the power to them is cut.
Colin Bignell
Think that only applied to diagnostics for some basic engine functions.
The couple I've come across weren't that difficult to access. Nor would I expect them to be - unless a factory fitment.
I suppose it rather depends upon how conscientious the fitter is. Mine spent most of a day on the job. The disadvantage of factory fitting would be that they would always be in the same place.
Colin Bignell
assumed (yes, I know) that the floor was something like the sides (corrugated steel) with plywood inside for smoothness & replaceability. Thanks for the links.
Why stop at two? They can sell dummy boxes like the ones for home alarms.
Right, thanks. As I said to Steve, I've never seen one from below, so I'd assumed they had a continuous corrugated steel bottom (like the sides).
Adam Funk wrote: [snip]
You're welcome.
I have a couple of containers and was thinking of using some more for building a holiday home on my land. There are some very nice designs on the web, some obviously much better than others. One I quite like is to build a quadrangle lined with containers then roof it over and thatch/shingle to give a large central room with three rooms surrounding it.
Anyway, I thought the floor was steel with a plywood surface until I got underneath to try and work out some details for connecting services.
From the roll of steel to a shiny new container ...
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