So the other day I did a big OOPS. Got home from work and a neighbor pulled in at the same time. He has a 1970 El Camino and as I was admiring his car (truck?) I did something I have never done in 48 years on this planet. Shut my Jeep off and left the key in the ignition. Didn't realize it until I got to my front door and had no keys to unlock the door. CRAP! So I go back to my Jeep, check all the doors, all locked of course. All windows up of course. After thinking for a while I reckon the best thing to do is break a window and unlock a door. The back doors have that vertical window that does not roll down. I figure this might be the cheapest window to replace so I am going to break this one. I always carry a folding pocket knife with the "glass breaking" pointed tip on one end. I have owned this type of knife for decades and never needed to use one for glass breaking. So I grip tight and give the window a WALLOP with the pointed tip. Nothing happens. Do this five more times, a little harder each time and the window never breaks. Hmmm. About this time a neighbor walks by and I explain that I locked my keys in the Jeep. He suggests calling a towing company, which I had already thought of but didn't want to pay for. Then it hit me.... WAIT A SECOND!!! I have roadside assistance coverage on my insurance policy! Never had to use it before so I didn't even think about it. Called up Geico and they said I was 100% covered with no cash out of pocket and a roadside assistance guy was to my Jeep in less than 30 minutes. Nice.

Lessons learned:
Don't lock your keys in your vehicle. Duh.
Make sure you know what sort of insurance coverage you have and the policy number, etc.
Don't trust a "glass breaking" knife just because it is advertised to do so. I'm sure the window would have eventually broken if I hit it extremely hard, but at that point I could have just used a big rock.
Buy a hide-a-key magnetic key holder and put it somewhere safe on the vehicle.

 

I could see that it would be very easy to lock myself out of the Jeep so I keep a spare key in my wallet and another on a 2nd keychain. One of the nice things about an older vehicle that doesn't have electronic keys is you can get duplicates made for just a couple of bucks.

 

I made a lot of money over the years because of these lock outs, Trust me it is much more common than you might think. I have done this on mine too, but I have all the professional tools to get in. 30 seconds on these and you are in. I did more lock out calls than calls for anything else.

 

I will say this... I can't 100% speak for a ZJ... but as for the XJ... that is about the easiest vehicle I've ever seen to get in without breaking anything if all the windows are up.
So not going to spell it out for potential bottom feeders of society on the Internet... lol

 

Oh I am sure a ZJ is not hard to break into, but all my tools are either in my Jeep or my home, and I had keys to neither. LOL. That won't happen again. Crazy that now they have these tiny air bladders that they slide in the door frame and use a hand pump (bulb) to inflate it and create a gap to get a rod in to unlock the door.

 

you might want to go back and sensor that comment stealth... lol

 

Trust me, all the criminal scum bags that have internet access already know all of this stuff.

 

true...but I still don't like giving them any assistance. LOL. Can't stand dirtbags like that.

 

Don't even need the bladder. lol If he used a bladder he didn't know what he was doing on yours. He was using the universal method for all makes. One of those old school tools work just fine on these.

 

"Shhhh, Stop telling them how to get into mine!" lol You are both right on this one.

 

yep... the old school method is how I got into mine... when the shop locked the damn keys in it one time. lol. Took a total of 4 eyeballs and about 4 mins worth of effort. Mainly because we were trying to be careful to not scratch the hell out of it.

 

I keep my house keys on a separate keyring than my car/Jeep keys. If ever I lock my keys in, I can access my spare in the house. This also minimizes weight, and therefore wear, of the ignition lock cylinder, and my keys lay flatter in my pocket. If traveling far from the house with my wife, I also ensure she has her key for whatever vehicle we are driving.

 

I love having an old school key with no fob on it. Easy to carry a spare in my wallet at all times.

 

Those bladders destroy door frames. One cause of horribly leaky doors is because at one point someone used one and warped your door frame.

I had a truck that was out almost 3/16" of an inch because of it and took a good amount of work to fix it.

Also those bladders are common knowledge.

 

We've all done that -- and felt like idiots too.
Note: Strike the glassbreaker point at the corner. Should work with a complete shatter. Even a heavy hammer will bounce from the middle.
When I did the same as you a few years ago, I used a flat screwdriver blade at the top edge of door to create a minigap and then a straightened coathanger to snag the keys. No damage, though I had been worried that I might warp the door. Fortunately both a longhandled screwdriver and an old metal coathanger were handy. Whatever works...