In most situations, locksmiths will open a vehicle using a variety of special tools. Picking or impressioning takes too much time and effort compared to using opening tools. The most common method of getting into a car is, therefore, by using specially designed opening tools.
Since the window is the most vulnerable area of many cars, most locksmiths will attempt to gain entry there. There’s a small amount of space alongside the window so that it’s free to move up and down. This small space is big enough to al-low a tool to slide alongside the window and into the door.
Most auto opening tools are inserted between the window glass and the surrounding weatherstripping. Once inside, the tool is manipulated to open the door-locking mechanism from the inside.
A door with a vertical lock rod can usually be opened by using a tool to hook the lock rod and pull it up. Doors with horizontal lock rods can be opened by using a tool to hook the rod and pull it forward.
In older vehicles, this method is quite simple to use. However, with the rise in auto-related crimes, manufacturers have de-signed their vehicles so that it’s much more difficult to open a door in this manner. On older vehicles the window gaps were much wider and there was clear access to the door lock knob.
Also, the lock button had a wide head that could easily be hooked and lifted with a piece of twisted wire coat hanger. The end with the hook was slipped between the door and the win-dow. Once inside the car, the hook could be slipped around the lock knob and the knob pulled up, thus unlocking the door.
However, manufacturers today have designed their vehicles so that this type of access isn’t possible. Most vehicles today have much tighter window gaps and lock knobs placed far-ther away from the window gaps. Newer model cars have lock buttons that are tapered or sit flush with the door when the door is locked. These buttons are virtually impossible to hook with a piece of wire. For these reasons, the opening of a locked door isn’t as easy as it used to be. For today’s vehicles, specially designed tools and the knowledge of a trained lock-smith are required to successfully open the door.
Now, let’s look at some of the more common car-opening tools in a little more detail. There are many specialized car-opening tools available from locksmithing suppliers; in fact, there are about as many different tools as there are vehicles.
These tools are designed for use with the many different car models a locksmith will commonly see. However, while there are many tools available, most locksmiths have found that just a few of them can be used to successfully open most cars.
The most commonly used tools are the following:
• A rubber wedge
• A krypton light
• A Slim Jim
• The MCOT (multiple car opening tool)
• The Spring-L
• The Slide Lock
Let’s look at each of these tools separately now.
The Rubber Wedge
Before you can slide a car-opening tool between a car win-dow and the surrounding weatherstripping, it will usually be necessary to create a space for the tool to fit. As stated earlier, today’s vehicles have very little space between the window
and the door. To increase the space, a wedge made of rubber is forced into the small space that does exist. This wedge will widen the space between the window and door enough so that a tool can be inserted. Since the wedge is made of rubber, it won’t scratch the door or the window and it’s soft enough so that it won’t break the window once it’s inserted (Figure 42).
The use of a wedge a flexible rubber seal between the window and the door. The seal is commonly known as the weather strip. If the weather stripping is in the way, you can slide a paint scraper or a similar tool between the glass and the weather stripping, and gently pry the weather strip out of the way.
Once the weather strip is out of the way, you can insert the rubber wedge, thin edge first, between the window glass and the weather stripping. Press the wedge into place. As you push the wedge in, the wedge should force the glass and the weather stripping apart slightly, leaving you room in which to insert a light and an opening tool. The farther the wedge is pressed in, the wider the gap will be. Now that you have a way to widen the gap enough for tools to be inserted, let’s look at some of the tools that can be inserted into the door.
The Krypton Light
One very useful tool in car opening is the krypton light
(Figure 43). The krypton light has a handle containing a bat-tery, a flexible shaft that’s small enough to be inserted into a car door, and a tiny light bulb at the end of the shaft. To use the light, simply turn it on and insert it into the car door. The light will illuminate the inside of the door, allowing you to clearly see the locking mechanism inside, and making your work easier. While a krypton light is very useful anytime, it’s essential for night-time service calls. By being able to see the mechanism, you can more easily decide which tool and pro-cedure will work best. Now that we can see what we’re do-ing, let’s look at one of the most common tools, the Slim Jim.
FIGURE 42—A Rubber Wedge
The Slim Jim
The Slim Jim is a simple but very useful car opening tool. The tool is a long, thin strip of metal with a notch, or “hook,” cut into the end (Figure 44). While the Slim Jim has been around for many years, it’s still used to open many of today’s car models. Since the Slim Jim works on a variety of different ve-hicles, it’s one of the most versatile tools for opening doors.
In most cases, the Slim Jim is used to pull up on the lock rod, thus unlocking the door. To use the Slim Jim, follow these steps:
Step 1: Insert a rubber wedge between the window glass and the car door as described earlier. As you face the door, insert the wedge about four or five inches to the right of the locking button. Automotive car entry books will tell you where to wedge for each particular car. These are available from lock-smithing supply houses.
Step 2: If needed, insert a Krypton light into the door to help you see what you’re doing inside.
Step 3: Bend the Slim Jim slightly.
Step 4: Insert the Slim Jim into the space created by the wedge. (The tool should be inserted between the wedge and the locking button.) The curved end of the tool should be fac-ing the interior of the car.
FIGURE 43—Krypton Light
FIGURE 44—The Slim Jim
Step 5: After inserting the tool, lower it about 12 inches into the door.
Step 6: Slide the tool to the left until you feel the end of the tool make contact with the vertical locking rod. (The locking button will move slightly when contact is made.)
Step 7: Pull back on the tool and lift it upwards at the same time. Lift the tool slowly, keeping it in contact with the lock-ing rod.
Step 8: Keep lifting the tool until you feel it contact the locking button. Then, simply lift the locking button to unlock the door.
The MCOT Tool
An MCOT tool (Figure 45) is a special type of car-opening tool that’s designed for certain models of cars. The tool is inserted into the car door in the same way as a Slim Jim, but instead of operating the locking mechanism inside the door, the MCOT tool is bent around the window glass and hooked onto the
locking button in-side the car. This tool is used with a number of modern
Step 4: Rotate the MCOT tool, turning it around inside the car door so that it bends under the window glass.
Step 5: Lift the tool up on the inside of the car door between the glass and the weather stripping. Lift the tool until the end clears the weather stripping on the inside of the car.
Step 6: Use the end of the tool (now inside the car) to hook onto the locking button, and lift to unlock the door.
The Spring-L Tool
Step 1: On the passenger door, insert a rubber wedge about four or five inches to the right of the door lock.
Step 2: Insert a Krypton light to look for the locking pawl.
Step 3: When you’ve identified the locking pawl, insert the Spring-L tool into the door between the window glass and the weather stripping.
Step 4: Manipulate the tool until the end of the tool is hooked under the locking pawl.
Step 5: Lift the locking pawl to unlock the door.
The Slide Lock Tool
Step 1: On the passenger door, insert a rubber wedge about four or five inches to the right of the lock between the win-dow glass and the weather stripping.
Step 2: Insert the Slide Lock tool into the space created by the wedge.
Step 3: Lower the tool until the end passes beneath the win-dow glass.
Step 4: Rotate the tool slightly and manipulate the tool until the end of the tool hooks under the door locking button.
Step 5: Lift the tool up to unlock the door.
Car Opening Information
The tools we’ve just described can be used to open most car models on the road today. Since manufacturers change their vehicles all the time, it’s difficult for us to give you a definitive list of what tools to use with which car models. However, the
A = Slide Lock
table on the previous page lists some popular car models and the tools that will most often open them successfully when no keys are available.