Given LPL's overall experience and professionalism, I'm quite sure he deserves the benefit of the doubt regarding his own safety. I would be shocked if he wasn't protecting himself in a way that was totally adequate for his experiments.
Might want to wear an athletic cup or something, too. I've got a Kevlar dick protector from my time in the Army that I favor for these types of events.
I was gonna say you can probably modify a 2-jaw gear puller to do the same thing. Get a battery-powered impact wrench and make quick work of defeating these types of steering wheel locks.
@@joshuakarr-BibleMan No the steering wheel is easy to cut and bend. It’s designed that way for safety. The devices were discontinued in the 90s because they didn’t work. The people doing it would leave the clubs in the empty parking spot as a joke.
This is just a modified puller, like a bearing puller or pulley puller, for automotive uses. Two things. First apply oil or grease to the threads where it goes through, and to the bearing surface. That will make it way easier and help the tool last longer. Next, drape a blanket or such over the items while in use to absorb the high speed projectiles that can happen when things break. Simple additions to the help properly and safely use this tool.
Yep, good advice, I use several layers of an old army tarp. And greasing up the screw is a good idea. I think that washer is a phosphor-bronze bearing washer. But I've found it never hurts to put a little oil on those to get them started.
While the blanket is a very good idea for safety, it's not so good for a video demonstration, because we want to see what sort of mangulation the tool does to the lock.
@@wurfyy Except for the majority of their engines nowadays, you're correct. In the 90s, Hyundai/KIA was notorious for changing wiring harness color-coding mid-year without offering schematic updates. They did a lot of things to lower manufacturing costs just like all manufacturers do. They've always been cheap (never reliable) transportation, but their engine problems in the 2000s should've made them go the way of Daewoo.
*I happen to collect vintage locksmithing tools.* Great icebreaker. That's almost as quotable as Leslie Neilsons: "I'm a locksmith. AND - I'm a locksmith."
@@philsharp758 hate to be a wet blanket, but LPL works Corporate law and hasn't ever touched Criminal Law; or so he's said in that one talk he gave at a Hacker's Convention.
By the way, thanks to you, Bosnian Bill and Deviant Ollam, I recently figured out how some individuals were accessing a secured area at my employer. Medeco M3 locks are only good if your latch and strike were aligned right. I showed them how one could bypass most of the entry doors with a traveler hook. Got a few weird looks but also thanked profusely and facilities is now setting things to rights. So. Thank you three.
@@LexYeen I gather that this Ollam is trans and is somewhere center-right, center, or left on some or all of their political stances. I also gather @bljdeep is deeply involved in one of those milieus that tends toward cultish tribalism in its use of language. Really trying to signal group membership and create a distinctive way of speaking that is less comprehensible to outsiders and serves to insulate members from outside source of knowledge.
@@bljdeep That's fair, I could have toned it down a bit! For what it's worth, I was trying to call out cultish behavior. I've seen, like, two lines from you. In text. I don't know what your essential qualities are as a person. But not fair for me to try to make you into an object lesson. That was selfish, and I apologize.
Not really. He's busted a few Masterlocks and the one-and-only thing they do right is materials. The harder steels they use (at least in their heavier locks) would have put up more fight, then likely shattered against this tool. They melt against the mere threat of a lock pick, though. Okay, correction: They also have pretty good marketing, at least for the ignorant masses.
You're a smart man wearing the safety glasses. That could have potentially shattered into a lot of small pieces. I probably would have been wearing gloves as well.
Even a tiny flake from the breaking, propelled into your eye, will mess up your day. Or your life. I tell people who are loathe to bother with eye protection, "You have two so you have a chance of learning from being stupid. But you don't HAVE to learn the hard way."
In Highschool I had a metalshop type class working with aluminum. Was turning a part on a lathe when a little 2mmish bit of material bounced in between my safty glasses and face getting stuck ON my eye thankfully not embedded. Oh how fun it was to sit for 2 hours waiting on the nurse because they couldn't simply get it out of my eye. IMO even cheap safty glasses are not safty glasses. Get yourself some with a gasket like trim to better protect your peepers.
The first time I saw a Club defeated was a local news program. They took a hack saw, cut through the steering wheel and pulled the Club off. Steering wheel has a metal core. Still drivable with a split steering wheel. Took like ten seconds.
I'm not sure of that particular brand but early versions were marked under the name The Club. Perhaps because it would be better protection to beat some one with it than lock your car and walk away.@@_ninjas555
I'm sure the tool is easier to turn when used on a club that's installed on a steering wheel. You wouldn't be fighting the leverage of having to hold tool and club at same time.
Underrated comment - the only disadvantage of it being in a car is the lack of space to turn the lever. You would probably need to be off to one side leaning in - on the other hand that might be safer from flying fragments.
Some 25 years ago there was a TV show, where two experts on car security were tasked to move 10 cars from one parking lot to another. Few cars have devices like this, and it either had plastic parts of it was mounted to a steering wheel made of plastic. All of them were simply yanked out with bare hands, mostly without damage to the cars. The only car which stood the challenge was old Lada, because it was broken, and could not start.
Not exactly true! We do have secure computing devices that are secure against physical access by design! Even someone with incredible knowledge and expensive equipment will still be challenging. The only consumer device closest to most computers would be the modern Xboxes which run a hardened version of Windows and significantly hardened hardware.
@@0x225 I would like to see pictures of what you have in mind. Most PCs I have worked with can be opened in a few seconds and the componets (graphics card, storage,etc) unslotted from the motherboard very quckly.
@@David_Crayford Depends what you are talking about with physical security, there, if you are talking about removing components then yeah anything that isn't soldered is trivial but some machines do have memory inside of the SOC package and the SOC being soldered to the SOC that connections soldered storage etc. It is very easy to destroy, yes. I am talking about tamper resistant machines where it keeps the information secure and prevents most if not all tampering attempts and may even leave physical evidence behind or logs such as in high security workstations which can wipe all encryption keys when tampered with.
a hacksaw on the steering wheel was also common. Those clubs seemed like a great idea and rapidly went out of style once people realized that car thieves didn't care about keeping the steering wheel pristine.
@@stevebabiak6997when the car next to it doesn't have a club and you want to joyride only an idiot is going to want to deal with cutting the steering wheel
Nice video. Kool tool. A light lubricant on the threads will make it a little easier. A full face shield and gloves will protect you more. I'm a retired civil engineer and have seen some nasty chinesium failures. Good Luck, Rick
Back in th the day when the club was poplar, supposedly some thieves used freon or dry ice to freeze the lock mechanism and then hit it with a hammer and it would just pop apart, they would also just cut a notch in the steering wheel.
I reckon the people stealing Hyundais are also familiar with catalytic converter theft. A cordless reciprocating saw is probably their tool of choice. Clearly not the professional's choice! Keep up the good work! These videos are addicting.
I saw one of those Club-type steering wheel locks in the wild the other day. I was amazed they still made them. I was doubly amazed that people still bought them.
I love the "destructive attack" LPL videos.. brings me back to the Ramset days. I know their expensive to make but they're always more entertaining than watching LPL pick a substandard lock in 3 seconds.
In 2003 I had gone for a run and only taken my door key with me. Locked other things in the trunk. Someone was watching while I close the vehicle and stole everything. Including my keys for the club. The AA guy that came did a much easier destructive method. The cast metal housing around the key is very cheap casting. He hit it 3 times with a hammer and it completely shattered and came apart.
I have one of those, didn’t know what it was. Took it from gramps garage when he passed. Said to my mom, I don’t what this is, but it’s going to come in handy when I do!
I used a similar tool as a helicopter mechanic in the Army to, albeit smaller, to remove the engine input seals on the E/UH-60A/E/L/Q. Instead of the hook was two pieces of safety wire looped behind the forward rotating half of the seal. The threaded part was then placed against the input flange retaining nut rethreaded onto the input pinon, then a socket place over it to protect the pinion and nut from damage. Then slowly turn the threaded rod and voila.
Agreed on the oil, that thinnest of thin films of it really works wonders in most cases. Though I'd suggest locks also keep dishonest people from bothering - can you circumvent it yes, but can you do it quickly, quietly etc so you are not likely to get caught doing it..
@@joelzylstra2971 I'd probably give it a rub with beeswax first just to see if it worked. If it does, that means I've got one less tool trying to transfer grease to every spot I set it down on.
I remember "sword" fighting with my mate, me, with m6 6-D cell Maglite and his "bull worker" fitness device. We swung at each other, the Maglite buckled the bull worker and folded it in two. The Maglite had a minor scuff on the anodised coating...
My dad had one of those bull worker things, with hand grips on each side and a vinyl coated cable and some kind of spring tension inside the middle I guess
Maglites were pretty strong. I think one of their advertising slogans in certain circles was "You can beat a suspect with it all day, and it will still turn on, the very first click."
Cool tool, i love niche specialty tools like that. Its a pulley puller on steroids with a hand crank. Anti seize on the threads will make it a bit easier as well.
1:01 i do remember in the 90's a friend had lost his keys, called a locksmith and when he got to the club, he first put a jumper over, then hooked it on. Neither of us bothered to ask why, probably assuming it's so the metal doesn't scrape things... but it would make sense that it's for chips. Hardened rods always snap in bits.
Yes. Thanks for telling us you have safety glasses on. Breaking something like that is a way to get some sharp object into your eyes. And yeah...learned it from the experience. So never break (by bending) objects in your direction, break them in opposite direction from you. Or at least wear safety equipment while doing so.
@LockPickingLawyer there is a reason why there is no thrust bearing there is because it will slip back so having no bearing at that point friction will hold it preventing it from slipping.
@@Benoit-Pierre Yea... I have no idea what would you need to make steel so brittle. liquid N2 perheaps? I think Mythbusters had a piece on this subject.
I used to work at a auto auction , I removed a lot of them I would cut the plastic rubber at the end of the handle and braised the wheel and hit it with a mini sledge hammer then it will just collapse inside since that would be the weakest point of the lock. this was the early 90's
Back in the day, 20 years ago, as a cable splicer when the work was all on copper cables, we had a similar tool called a “Little Giant”. A very heavy duty ached /bowed bracket with two string pulley-like studs on one face, one at each leg, and a pinned ratchet to crank the center threaded rod through. The purpose was to bend the heavy support strand in a V (it was a pusher, not a puller) to get a bit of slack for working on tightly lashed cables. I’m not sure it had the range of your tool, but it would probably be enough. And the ratchet is an easier tool for advancing the screw. We have several in the shop still, you’ve given me fun ideas.
This would also be much easier to turn when one end is attached to a steering wheel. Could really get some leverage, instead of fighting against yourself.
@@Dmittry yeah... When I say dry, I mean no lubrication. Also when I said "as well", I meant to convey that I understand the benefits of the bushing and that friction can *also* be reduced by oiling the threads as well.
A little lithium (automotive) grease on both sides of the washer and on the threads would make it turn lot easier but the downside is now it's covered in grease. I do this with a couple of my tools and store them in a heavy plastic bag and use latex glove when working with them.
The grease base or thickener doesn't matter, but an extreme pressure lubricant of any sort will do a lot more if applied to the threads and washer than a rolling element washer will do alone . This thing looks dry so practically any lubricant would help, but something with EP helpers like moly would be ideal.
@paulmoir4452 not true. You can have greases without Molybdenum Disulphide (what Moly stands for) in them. A multi-purpose lithium grease with no Moly in it is best when using in things like wheel bearings, and other roller type bearings. Moly grease is best used for sliding surfaces like threads, slide bearings, truck turntables, etc. The Molybdenum Disulphide actually coats and smooths out the surfaces. In sliding applications this is ok, but can damage roller bearings, causing flat-spots.
Not only would a thrust bearing make things easier, but also replace the cranking levers with a hex nut. So that an impact driver could be utilized, making life much easier for the operator.
@@robinsowpdx That's is exactly the problem. One could just use a cordless angle grinder to cut the steering wheel, though. Noise would be roughly the same.
Back in the day it was the general motors (GM/Chevrolet) G body cars that were easiest to steal. They're probably the reason that "The Club" became such a successful product.
why is that funny? that literally IS the reason they are offering the club. a cheap way to stop their cars from being stolen and some good PR for them, showing that they "understand and care" about the owners.
For the newer affected models they also deployed a software fix that changes the alarm behavior and, supposedly, makes it impossible to start the car without a key in the ignition. Have to go to a dealer to get that, though, and I am suspicious of its efficacy. And even if it does work that's not going to stop people from making the attempt.
oohh I am interested to see how else that monster puller can be used to defeat some locks. That sounds like a gory good time haha. Be safe while doing it and thank you so much!
nothing beats shear physical strength and leverage. In the past normal citizens wouldn't been able to get ahold of something like this but professional thefts would. The problem now is the amount of available knowledge, the ease on getting supplies from either legitimate or illegal vendors, and amount of people willing to commit crimes.
On my Kia, they bent the (Kia-supplied) club just like in the video (they could not start the car for a different reason). I figured they'd used a prybar, but wondered why it didn't mar the steering wheel.
I’m still going to use my Truck “Club” when parked up in secluded places, as it’s just one more little thing to dissuade potential thieves of a “quick steal”. It’s visually useful if nothing else.👍
With the advent of powerful cordless grinders, such a tool as the club buster would be unnecessary; however, the fact that it did the job quickly and quietly makes it ideal for doing the job today.
He's worried about pieces flying away and hitting his eyes or his car, but doesn't wear protective gloves. Strange choice, considering his hands are essential for his lockpicking skill.
I used to repossess cars in the early 80's, but these were not out yet. I never encountered one during my job. But when they did come out, in my experience I realized how pathetic and useless they were. First of all, a sharp rap with a hammer... in the direction of release (parallel with the bar)... they would jump the notches. And the cylinders were just garbage. In fact I picked several of these for fun, to show how easy they were. One time, a friend had bought one for his wife... and when I was about to pick it, he said, "Well that would ruin the present for her, wouldn't it?" Well he was right, I had not thought of that... but on the flip side, by showing how bad they were, I think I was also saving the woman from any false hope her car was safe from theft.
I've had one in my car almost since those things came out. The model I have now is a little thicker than what you showed, but uses the same type of key.
![[1586] Vintage “Club Buster” Snaps Kia’s Steering Wheel Lock](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
