Feb 5, 2020 · 33,057 recorded views
This was the beginning of a new and very destructive era. Earlier attacks had commonly involved pushing a screwdriver between the handle and the bodywork, ripping handles off or attacking a driver’s door barrel. Here thieves had realised that modern van bodywork was extremely thin and that cordless drills and cutting tools made it easy to create a new access point straight through the door skin.
The hole was not random damage. It was an attack path to the latch or central-locking mechanism inside the door. Once the attack moved away from the handle, the established van-lock companies and the usual external-plate supplier did not have a suitable solution for what I was seeing.
This is where I became a product designer. I bought a 3D printer, taught myself CAD and repeatedly prototyped an internal and external shield set until it could cover existing damage externally and protect the latch internally. That work was driven directly by workshop evidence rather than by trying to create another catalogue product.
I bought a 3D printer, taught myself CAD and repeatedly prototyped an internal and external shield set until it could cover existing damage externally and protect the latch internally.
It also started the development path towards internal Stealth Shielding with wrap-around features. A flat plate immediately behind the obvious hole was not enough once thieves learned to drill above or below a shield, cut around it with shears or fold the surrounding door skin and attached reinforcement away from the latch.
The Ford security software update (along with many vans now having higher security driver's door barrels) has meant that thieves are less likely to be able to unlock the load area of the Ford Custom van or Ford Transit van by twisting or attacking the driver's door lock. This is good news for the Ford Custom and Transit owners that the easy driver's door attacks are less frequently resulting in tools being stolen from the load area of the vans, but the problem has now migrated to direct attacks on the side load doors of the Ford Custom and the Ford Transit Vans.
The Ford Custom and the Ford Transit (MK8) vans do have a metal shield on the latch inside the side load doors as standard, but unfortunately the design of the factory security shields does not protect the latch mechanism from the hole through the side load door attacks that we are now seeing all over the UK.
This is a nightmare for Ford Custom and Ford Transit owners who have already often been the prime target by thieves who are looking to steal tools left inside these vans overnight and during the day time. This hole in the door attack method is something that we 1st saw around September 2019, but since then we have seen picture after picture of hole in the door attacks on the van security Facebook groups and by Ford Transit and Ford Custom owners who have got in touch with us after having being broken into. This attack method is similar to what we have seen on the barn doors of Renault Trafic and Vauxhall Vivaro vans since 2018 and also other van make and models are getting holes made through the body work in various different places by thieves. It is a particularly destructive method of gaining entry to a van and shows absolutely no consideration by thieves; to the cost that they are causing the van owners who now have to not only replace their stolen tools, but they are often then faced with a hefty repair bill by bodyshops who would repair the damage.
We at Sussex Installations have developed a shield to give protection to the typically attacked part of the latch mechanism inside the side load door, by spanning the gap where the Ford shield stops and the edge of the door starts (wrapping around to the face of the latch mechanism). It is our advice that all Ford Custom and Ford Transit (MK 8) owners purchase and fit our internal shield as soon as possible regardless if they have deadlocks or other security already fitted to their vans or not. We have adjusted out Ford Custom Gold Packages to become a V2 and will include the shield as standard within these security packages.
Our shield fits inside the Ford Custom and Ford Transit left side load door and you cannot see any visible difference on the outside of the van. Full video fitting instructions are provided and the installation can be done as a self installation, by your local mechanic, local van security expert or by our professional installation service (if you are in the South East of England or if you visit our workshop in Eastbourne).
For Ford Custom vans that have already had a hole in the side load door and are faced with an expensive repair bill, we have an external shield option that can be used as a cost effective repair product and add additional security to the latch. We recommend that you have the internal latch shield fitted regardless if you have the external shield or not. In addition to having our shields fitted, we would also like to take this chance to remind you to always double lock your van from the remote control so that the internal release cables will not open the door up (don't double lock your van if you have left someone inside of it, as that will not be safe for them!).
View this shield on our website https://www.sussexinstallations.co.uk...
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
Historical context: This video records the advice, products and attack methods relevant when it was published. Current recommendations may have changed as vehicles, products and criminal methods evolved.
Because Ford rolled out a software update that stopped the driver's door barrel from unlocking the load area, closing off that easier attack. Thieves became more cunning in response and switched to a direct hole-through-the-door attack aimed straight at the latch, which is exactly the epidemic this video is warning about.
It does protect against an attack coming from a different direction, but unfortunately not against this specific side hole-through-the-door attack. There's a gap where the Ford factory shield stops and the edge of the door starts, and that gap is exactly what our internal shield was designed to span, wrapping around to the face of the latch mechanism.
Yes, I'd recommend fitting it regardless of whether you already have deadlocks or any other security on your van. It's a different layer protecting a different vulnerability. I'd also add: always double lock your van from the remote control, since that makes the internal release cables redundant so a hole in the door alone won't open it, unless you've got someone left inside the van, in which case don't double lock it.
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.
