Video Knowledge / Video
Original Sussex Installations video

How to fit Armaplate? - Are you thinking of fitting Armaplate Van Security?

Sep 26, 2014 · 26,354 recorded views

Video ID: qna0JAUEjDAInstallation standards and fitting lessonsSep 26, 2014 · 26,354 recorded views

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Jeff Scott's retrospective context — 2026

Fitting Armaplate and other bolt-on reinforcement products highlighted practical risks that are easy to miss until you are the one drilling into a real door: stud positions sitting close to wiring and linkages, only a few millimetres of margin for error around each fixing, and the consequences of receiving little or no vehicle-specific fitting guidance from the manufacturer.

Those experiences helped shape my later product-design philosophy. Products should be designed from the installer's perspective, with safer fixing locations, usable tolerances and genuinely clear instructions supplied as standard, not treated as an afterthought.

Products should be designed from the installer's perspective, with safer fixing locations, usable tolerances and genuinely clear instructions supplied as standard, not treated as an afterthought.

Sussex Installations began designing its own van-security products in 2018 and manufacturing them in-house from 2021, but the design standards were informed by many years spent fitting other manufacturers' products first, including this one.

Original description

An information video on what is involved in fitting Armaplate sentinel protection to a van.

Video features Armaplate installation to a Mercedes Sprinter to help protect against the vehicle being broken into. Contact us via our website http://www.sussexinstallations.co.uk or 01323 638999.

Installation available in the South East of England in Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire and London. Sussex Installations carry out the very best workmanship and take care of your vehicle. We are based in Eastbourne, East Sussex which is close to the Brighton, Crawley, Worthing, St Leonards, Burgess Hill, Hastings, Red Hill, Reigate, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Crowborough areas.

Subscribe to both our YouTube channel and website newsletter to keep up to date with van security products and advice; as things are constantly changing as we respond and adapt to new attack techniques as we see them.

Note: Whilst we take great care in selecting products and techniques that we believe are effective to increase your van's security, we can never guarantee that any van is safe from a break in, please see our website for full terms and conditions.

Common questions

How much margin for error is there when drilling the holes for an Armaplate fitting?

Jeff shows only about 4mm of gap between the edge of the screw hole and the edge of the plate on some fixings — move a hole 5-10mm out of place and you'll end up with a hole in the bodywork that the plate won't cover.

What can go wrong if the installer isn't experienced with vans?

Drilling can go straight through into the bodywork behind, or wiggling the drill bit can break the internal part that holds the external door handle release — real risks Jeff has seen when the job isn't done by an experienced professional installer.

How long should a proper Armaplate installation take?

Jeff recommends around an hour per plate to let a professional installer do a neat job, with holes in the right places and rust protection properly applied, rather than the "five minutes" some online videos suggest.

Transcript

Show transcript
0:00 -hi I'm Jeff Scott from Sussex
0:01 -installations that I'm going to talk to
0:02 -you today about hidden armor play this
0:04 -is the armor plate Sentinel which is the
0:06 -bolt on version and I am just going to
0:08 -show you a little bit more about fitting
0:09 -these are my place educate you into a
0:11 -little bit of more of what's involved I
0:13 -know there's a video going around the
0:14 -internet like put it in five minutes but
0:16 -I can tell you really you want a
0:17 -professional installer spending around
0:19 -about an hour per door put you know an
0:21 -hour per plate fitting just to make sure
0:23 -it is a right good nice tidy job the
0:25 -holes go in the right place all the rust
0:26 -protection is in place etc now what's
0:28 -just a little video I don't know why
0:30 -hopefully enlighten you a bit more about
0:31 -it and again you can make a better
0:34 -decision about who to fitnah security
0:36 -products whoever it is just have a go
0:38 -get stuck in them and Andrew I was in
0:40 -your van or or whether you do need to
0:42 -get professional work installer in you
0:45 -will need to make holes in the bodywork
0:47 -so that's something that is unavoidable
0:49 -with picking this armor plate Center no
0:51 -because it is a bolt on things I would
0:52 -say the most important thing is you got
0:54 -a nice new panel if you spent 20 grams
0:55 -on that family to ground than that bad
0:57 -is that you don't end up with holes in
0:59 -the wrong place they're not gonna be
1:00 -covered by the plate and I think you
1:01 -will agree with me with that secondly
1:03 -there's other things that could go wrong
1:05 -and you really do need to be aware of
1:06 -the hazards that lie there I mean
1:08 -obviously yeah if you've watched any of
1:10 -my other videos rust protection flying
1:11 -away all of this debris that that is
1:13 -sitting here and how important that it
1:14 -is to till then apply a brush treatment
1:16 -to that to the cup med so that is
1:18 -another thing factoring I'm gonna show
1:20 -you a little bit more about some
1:21 -potential hazards within these imagine
1:24 -for example if you're drilling these
1:25 -these back holes and away you go through
1:29 -your drill and you're unaware that
1:30 -actually the other side of them holes is
1:33 -straight into the bodywork here so you
1:35 -know if you're just not aware and not
1:36 -used to working on motive if that's the
1:38 -type of thing you might might end up
1:39 -doing you know another hole in the wrong
1:41 -place this one for example is another
1:43 -hole if you was to come in just in the
1:45 -wrong place or if you're wiggling the
1:48 -drill around there is the potential to
1:49 -actually damage the internal parts of a
1:51 -handle see here but if you're wiggling
1:54 -the drill bit around or coming at the
1:55 -wrong place you can actually break the
1:58 -the part that holds the external handle
2:00 -release so yet there are lots of dangers
2:03 -there ahead of you while we're talking
2:06 -about drooling in the right place can
2:08 -you see how much margin for error you've
2:09 -got on some of these ha
2:10 -literally that's about four millimeters
2:12 -gap between the the this edge of the
2:15 -screw and the side of the plate so if
2:17 -you imagine if you was to put that hole
2:19 -five ten millimeters too far forward
2:22 -you're going to end up with a hole in
2:23 -your body work there which is not going
2:25 -to be covered by the by the plate so
2:28 -don't be put off by having armor plate
2:30 -it is a good security product but it
2:32 -should be fitted by professional and
2:34 -sometimes I put them in conjunction with
2:36 -extra security plates just to address
2:38 -other manufacturers security issues
2:41 -which are not addressed by these armor
2:42 -plates and it varies a bit from vehicle
2:44 -to vehicle so if you would like to get
2:47 -in touch about getting an armor plate
2:48 -fitted go to the website which is
2:50 -www.sussexinstallations.co.uk thanks for watching

Transcript source: the YouTube transcript supplied for this project with minor corrections. Automated transcripts can contain recognition errors and should be checked against the original video.

Page details

Author
Jeff Scott
Publisher
Sussex Installation Team Ltd
Updated
2026-08-27
Primary focus
Installation standards and fitting lessons
Jeff Scott, founder of Sussex Installation Team Ltd
About the author

Jeff Scott — Van Security Specialist and Industry Educator

Jeff Scott is the founder of Sussex Installation Team Ltd (Sussex Installations). He has fitted vehicle-security systems since 1997, started Sussex Installations in 2003 and has specialised in van security since 2008. His work combines installation, vulnerability research, product design, UK manufacturing and long-term public education.

In 2009, Jeff published the first known YouTube video explaining mechanical key-operated van deadlocks. He has continued documenting van-security products, installation standards, vehicle vulnerabilities and changing attack methods ever since – earning his description as "The OG Van Security YouTuber."

Jeff has supported thousands of professional vehicle aftermarket technicians across the UK and beyond with access to technical information, while actively promoting higher quality installation standards through his trade community ifitstuff.com since 2006.

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