Best Truck Alarm?
 

Anyone have an alarm they feel is the best? Looking for something that has shock,glass break,start dis,and pager. Here is one I found but don't know?

http://cgi.ebay.com/AUTOPAGE-RS-900L...QQcmdZViewItem

Another one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/VIPER-791XV-REMO...QQcmdZViewItem

Do you have a diesel? Some remote starts need to be specially programmed for a diesel. Also, one or two of the big name ones have a turbo timer which will let your engine cool for a few minutes when you exit your truck, before shutting off the engine. This is VERY good for turbo-diesels. Viper offers the Turbo Timer, and I think Auto-Page does as well.

Yes Brian I have ford f-250 w/6.0 psd. The remote start is cool but not 100% sure I will hook it up. I went to Circuit City last night and foun there top of the line one is a Phthon 990. Don't know how good it is? Also they want $550 for it which is a little more then I wanted to spend. Maybe I could get it on the web cheaper have not looked yet.

I'd definitely go to a more reputable local stereo/alarm shop vs. Circuit City and/or Best Buy. The installers there are not the caliber that you want working with the electronics on your $40K truck. The little specialty shops know a lot more about what they are doing, and you should not have to drop more than $350 for top of the line.

Rabid Pit Bull!:evilb:

I will be installing it myself. I have lots of electrnic install experience. I just was checking there to see what they had. I guess I need a brand/model advice from the board. Anyone????

Please don't take this the wrong way, but regardless of your experience with past electronics, if you have not done a remote start / security system before, I would highly recommend not doing it on your vehicle.

There are lots of little "gotcha's" when it comes to these. A remote start by itself isn't to bad. Once you start adding the security and door lock's, it gets more difficult and raises the chance of frying components, especially BCM's. It took me ~10 vehicles with a seasoned installer watching over my shoulder and double checking my work before I really got the hang of it, which I thought was suprising as my background is in electronics. Every car and truck is different. I've done ~300 or so personally at this point and some are still a challenge. Even professionals make mistakes, I just fried a BCM in a Yukon back this past winter. There's a $700 mistake...

Depending on what year Super Duty you have, you're going to need 3 items as a minimum, possibly more depending on the configuration of your truck. As a minimum you'll need the base unit, a bypass module and a blank key. If you're truck has factory keyless, it's a little easier. If it doesn't, you get to learn all about 5wire door locks and you'll need two additional relay's. Also, depending on what unit you go with, you will need a timer before start to allow the glow plugs to come on before the motor actual tries to start.

For what it's worth to give you something to go against, we install basic units w/ remote start and keyless entry for $229.99, installed. If you want something with security, I go all the way up to $499.99 installed for a full security system w/ 2way LCD remote/pager. Since we are primarily a truck based shop and I see a ton of Super Duty's, I can bang out a remote start / keyless on one of those in ~2 hours. Add on the security side and that goes up to ~4 hours, maybe more. It's not a lot more connections per-se, it's just dealing with all of the other wires coming off of the brain. You're going to have ~30 wires coming out of the brain and dealing with all of them can be a pain in the rear.

It comes down to what your time is worth. As I said, it would take me ~4 hours and I'm a seasoned installer. Last thing I'll mention, *many* manufactures will not warrant their system if it wasn't installed by an authorized distributor. IE, you buy a unit off of ebay and install it yourself, you have no warranty. Many shops like ours won't touch a remote start if it wasn't installed by them in the first place, there are just to many variables. When we do it, it ends up costing the customer more than if they would have just brought it to us in the first place, as we rip it all out and start from scratch.

[edit] I'll add something else. eBay is not a good place to price compare. Most eBay sellers that sell audio / security / etc only care about one thing. Volume. As a single location store manager I can tell you I can't touch ebay prices. My cost on many of the same items are the same as what ebay sellers sell for. They're only making a few dollars on each product. I have a full retail store, I can't afford to only make a few dollars. Typical markup on something like that is 30%. So if I buy an alarm system for $140, I'll sell it for $200, meanwhile the same system on ebay is $149. That's just how it is for us, we simply can't do that kind of volume. I've always put customer service before that. 4 hours @ $60/hr is $240. $240 labor, plus a $200 system is $440 plus the cost of any additional components, such as bypass modules, pulse timers, relays, etc.

You have a 35+ thousand dollar truck. Surely $500 isn't going to break you. [/edit]

My 2c and good luck with it.

Ok now that you gave your opinion on installing it do you have one on my original question? What is one of the best ones on the market? And thanks for your concern you make valid points,however I have installed several alarms,car stereos,amps,etc. in the last 20 years so I think I will do just fine on that part;) And don't take the ebay price thing personal since I am doing it myself I want the best price possible and have had very good luck on ebay. If I was going to have a pro do it I would gladly pay the going rate. And also since my 50k truck is just that I also like doing my own work so some punk doesn't phuk it up!

here is mine and people ask me if I'm scared to leave it running, 5% tint all around and 40% on the windshield, cant see in...he wouldnt hurt anyone but people stop and think when they see him.