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Ford lot gets raped by thieves

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Old 06-05-11, 07:44 AM
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O. L. T.
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Default Ford lot gets raped by thieves



http://www.ksla.com/story/14477497/t...car-dealership



STONEWALL, LA (KSLA)- $75,000 worth of tires and rims were stolen from the Jimmy Granger Ford dealership in Stonewall, Louisiana. It happened early Sunday morning while it was still dark. The thieves left the trucks sitting on pre-cut wooden blocks.

"We're normally lit up pretty bright out here, but they had all the back lights to the new car lot cut," Jimmy Granger tells KSLA News 12.

Tuesday, crews worked to get those lights back on. Granger tells us nothing like this has happened at his Ford dealership in the 13 years he's owned it.

"Obviously it was professional guys. They left them all on blocks, cleaned up after themselves."

And they left 23 crippled Ford F-150s behind.

Investigators say it happened fast.

"The last time Stonewall P.D. went through there, they checked it at 1:30. Got a call, and he also responded back at 4:30. That's when he found all the tires missing," says Corporal Dusty Herring with the DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Office.

He says there's no way one person could have done this.

"Obviously they have experience doing this type stuff---wheels and tire work. They also had some type of vehicle that's going to allow them to do that---Some type of covered trailer or cargo trailer or something like that."

They are working some leads.

"There are a few things that we're looking into that indicate that we kind of know who to look for. We just don't know their identity. We know where some tools were bought, and stuff like that."

"I hope they catch them, and put them in jail," Granger says.

Granger tells us the trucks will be fixed- "We got 45 wheels in today. We'll have the rest of them in by tomorrow."

He expects they'll be ready to roll in a couple of days.
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Old 06-05-11, 09:59 AM
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i guess there will be some good deals on tires and wheels on e-bay and craigslist in that area.
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Old 06-05-11, 10:45 AM
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Wow thats pretty crazy, the thieves will probably sell them slowly in other states. Unless their dumb and put em up on craigslist in Louisiana next week Either way, hope they catch them!
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Old 06-05-11, 10:48 AM
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Check which NASCAR pit crew screwed up a tire change last week.
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Old 06-05-11, 10:51 AM
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Did not know ford pickup trucks rims were in demand.
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Old 06-05-11, 11:41 AM
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Do they think they will be able to sell them without being caught . The authorities are well aware of ebay and craigslist.
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Old 06-05-11, 11:56 AM
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Those rims might be on their way overseas.
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Old 06-05-11, 11:56 AM
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Originally Posted by I8ABMR
Do they think they will be able to sell them without being caught . The authorities are well aware of ebay and craigslist.
Yes, they do (in both cases). There are myriad little shops all around that will look the other way when scumbags offer them a better deal so they can make some money. I'm sure the thieves already had scoped out some potential buyers before even attempting the job itself.

The crappy thing isn't just that the dealer was hit - it's that they now have to come up with a way to thwart these jackasses, which means more expense for them.

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Old 06-05-11, 12:15 PM
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Thats pretty ballsy.
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Old 06-05-11, 12:15 PM
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lol how can they sell those Fords when there is probably damage to the side skirts.

anyways, wheel locks should come standard
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Old 06-05-11, 01:36 PM
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Originally Posted by RXSF
lol how can they sell those Fords when there is probably damage to the side skirts.
How is this funny? And clearly you didn't look at the picture (or watch the video) where it shows them up on the large wooden blocks, thus negating any side damage. This was a professional job.

Originally Posted by RXSF
anyways, wheel locks should come standard
Agreed, but hindsight is 20/20, and a determined thief would get wheel locks off anyway.

One thing I didn't mention before - how do they arrive at $3260 per truck for damages? I cannot believe a set of factory rims is $2400 (assuming about $200 per tire). I'm sure they're quoting full retail, but $600 for a factory Ford rim? It better be made out of platinum with 24k gold spokes. You can upgrade to 20" rims for $800 total on the 4x4 model on the Ford site, so that number seems really inflated.

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Old 06-05-11, 02:09 PM
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surprised they had the decency to use wood blocks....
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Old 06-05-11, 02:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Big Mack
How is this funny? And clearly you didn't look at the picture (or watch the video) where it shows them up on the large wooden blocks, thus negating any side damage. This was a professional job.



Agreed, but hindsight is 20/20, and a determined thief would get wheel locks off anyway.

One thing I didn't mention before - how do they arrive at $3260 per truck for damages? I cannot believe a set of factory rims is $2400 (assuming about $200 per tire). I'm sure they're quoting full retail, but $600 for a factory Ford rim? It better be made out of platinum with 24k gold spokes. You can upgrade to 20" rims for $800 total on the 4x4 model on the Ford site, so that number seems really inflated.

Big Mack
Go price some OEM Aluminum wheels for ANY vehicle... $600 a wheel actually sounds cheap to me... that is probably cost on the wheel...

One site I see lists the 18x8 polished wheels @ $507 a wheel and the chrome ones at $700... Probably doesn't come with center caps, and definitely doesn't come with lug nuts...

You can "upgrade" to 20" You don't get to keep the 18"... that means that a 20" lists for almost $200 a wheel MORE than the 18" as there is hardly any price difference between 18 and 20" truck tires... You can buy 20" aftermarket wheels for less than $200 a wheel...

its just how it is...
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Old 06-05-11, 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by 96SC4
surprised they had the decency to use wood blocks....

Actually, that was how they made it easy on themselves...

It mentioned they used precut wood blocks...

with one jack on the front, you jack the truck up until the tire is off the ground, set your precut block underneath the lower ball joint on both sides, lower the truck, do the same for the back, except use the shock mounts or shackles...

with the correct jack and three guys, well practiced, I bet I could get a set of wheels of a truck in about 45 seconds with battery powered impact wrenches...

What I wish I knew was if they were using impacts or if they were just real fast with 4 ways... with a 4-way, you are looking at probably 25 seconds per wheel once the lugs are broken loose...
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Old 06-05-11, 02:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Big Mack
Agreed, but hindsight is 20/20, and a determined thief would get wheel locks off anyway.
Aftermarket wheel locks might have slowed these guys down a tad, or, even have stopped them from stealing them altogether - some aftermarket locks can be a royal pain to remove without the key...

The flip side is that if they were using an OEM lock set, they could have just gotten a wheel lock key set from someone/somewhere, and it wouldn't have slowed them down hardly at all...

Most vehicle manufacturers only have between 12 and 18 different locks...
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