Stolen Escape 19'

[Timber Wolf]

Deep woods hunting camp is exactly what I thought of for a stolen unit. Must be lots of deep woods that far North! Very sorry for the loss, damn thieves.

[Seth and Desiree]

We just got our 13' Scamp last week and a couple days later I had a "hitching post" made from steel tubing. Now the post will go in the ground (mounted in concrete like a fence post) with a hitch ball on it to which I will attach the trailer when not in use. Until I get the post in the ground I've got the Scamp locked around a big pine tree with some heavy duty cable locks, wheel lock, and hitch ball lock.

-Seth

[Bob Miller]

Having a "Hitching Post" sounds like a good idea if only because it makes it difficult to pull the trailer forward and away. But it sounds like a bear of a problem for parking.

As I recall there was a movie title about hitch locks, cables etc..... let's see... was it "Gone in 30 Seconds"?

One might do what the highway department does to keep it's sign trailers from being stolen, they take the wheels off. Cheap and easy peasy, and you don't have weight or sun on the tires.....

I saw one trailer where the owner replaced the wheels with square aluminum plates, machined to fit on the drums, when parked at a storage yard. An old set of bare rims might work almost as good as a deterrent.. You don't have to be theft proof, just harder to steal than other opportunities.

[Nut501]

RogerDat, Thanks for the great information! I have not heard of the Lo-Jack, but that would be a excellent idea. Just get it and put it in the camper. That would be one sure way to locate the camper! Because I think this will be a growing problem!

[Nut501]

RogerDat, I looked up Lo-Jack, the device sounds great, but the MSRP is around $695 dollars. Do you have any suggestions on where you can find one at a better price?
Thanks!

[David Tilston]

$45 from China:
SPY CAR Vehicle Realtime GPS GSM GPRS S​MS Tracker Tracking System Device TK103 | eBay

$100 / year for a pay as you go cell account.

[Nut501]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

$45 from China:
SPY CAR Vehicle Realtime GPS GSM GPRS S​MS Tracker Tracking System Device TK103 | eBay

$100 / year for a pay as you go cell account.

David, Thank you for the information!

[Ice-breaker]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

$45 from China:
SPY CAR Vehicle Realtime GPS GSM GPRS S​MS Tracker Tracking System Device TK103 | eBay

$100 / year for a pay as you go cell account.

Cool device. The seller's site says:

Suitable for cars, vans, trucks, bikes, etc.
You this Purcnase is Real Time GPS Vahicle Tracker Drive Include Free Use Latest GPS Tracker Software.
No Contract, No Activation Fee, No Software use Fee.
Can Remote control car power and oil
More safety and convenience, by (running on a personal computer) remote control software can cut off the vehicle oil and the circuitalso can be connections the original vehicle are vibration sensors and automotive door control switch.
It can help you track anything such as your car, boat and other vehicle in time. You will not worry about losing them forever.
It is working based on existing GSM/GPRS network and GPS satellites, this product can locate and monitor any remote targets by SMS or internet. Please visit my store to buy it now.

I was a bit surprised to see that you can remotely cut-off the oil to your vehicle. I guess they want the ability to stop thieves by having the car engine seize up and stop.

[Nut501]

Originally Posted by Ice-breaker

Cool device. The seller's site says:



I was a bit surprised to see that you can remotely cut-off the oil to your vehicle. I guess they want the ability to stop thieves by having the car engine seize up and stop.

Can you use this device with out remotely cutting off the oil? I was wondering the same thing, why get your car back with a seized engine?

[David Tilston]

Chinglish. It seems unlikely that you even could shut off the oil. Maybe it just turns on the oil light, to discourage the thieves. The relay is to shut off the ignition. That's better then seizing the engine.

Search "gps car tracker" On ebay. There are several versions of this type of device. One is designed to spy on your kids. I guess you hide it in their backpack?

[RogerDat]

Some measures work to deter making the attempt such as the hitching post that Bob mentions. Other measures work by making it difficult if the attempt is made.

Skunks survive because of the distinctive white and black markings make it easy for predators to know that skunks are a problem. Badgers back into a hole and make life hard for the predator trying to get them out.

If a perspective thief can see up front this situation has a skunk stripe they move on, if they start to winch onto a flat bed and find it's not moving they might just unhook and move on because you made life hard for them.

Forgot to mention an alarm, motion detecting alarms that go off if the trailer hitch is lifted would make staying there seem unattractive.

I also do not like having my camper out front where it can be easily seen from the road both because it might become a target of opportunity and because it's absence indicates I am not home. But I have the option of parking around back which many do not.

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

Chinglish. It seems unlikely that you even could shut off the oil. Maybe it just turns on the oil light, to discourage the thieves. The relay is to shut off the ignition. That's better then seizing the engine.

Search "gps car tracker" On ebay. There are several versions of this type of device. One is designed to spy on your kids. I guess you hide it in their backpack?

Chinglish is exactly correct. I asked a co-worker from Taiwan and oil and gasoline are the same word with a literal translation of "oil"? For auto fuel they would possibly use a prefix meaning "vapor" when written or spoken they would not typically use the prefix.

Fuel pump would be an easy circuit to kill and stop the car. So that makes sense.

[Bob Miller]

I think that something was lost in the translation from Chinese to Chinglish.

I think that they meant oil as in fuel oil aka diesel fuel or gasoline.

There really is no way, short of opening the drain plug, that would cut off the oil.

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

I saw one trailer where the owner replaced the wheels with square aluminum plates, machined to fit on the drums, when parked at a storage yard. An old set of bare rims might work almost as good as a deterrent.. You don't have to be theft proof, just harder to steal than other opportunities.

At first I thought the square plates were a great idea. But then I realized that what I really want to do during storage is take the weight off my torsion axle so simply blocking under the axle would be a better solution. Take off and lock up both the wheels and lug nuts (if they want the spare let them have it). As another poster mentioned I too dislike having the trailer out front in the driveway. It announces in big letters WE AIN’T HERE when both the truck and trailer are gone. In reality I don’t have a lot of good options as I have a corner lot, right up front in the neighborhood. Everybody, their brother, and all their friends drive by twice a day. I am sorry for the stolen trailer but maybe some of this discussion can help somebody else in the future.

[Bob Miller]

By securing the square plates with locking lug nuts you could be offering another layer of security as well as getting lots of questions about your new wheels.

If I were to just take the wheels off, I would also install locking lug nuts on the studs to discourage anyone from slapping another set of wheels on, but that would take another 2 minutes, but no problem in a storage yard.

Again, the idea is to make your trailer the third+ choice of that nights work for the trailer perps.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Timber Wolf

Deep woods hunting camp is exactly what I thought of for a stolen unit. Must be lots of deep woods that far North! Very sorry for the loss, damn thieves.

Well the area the trailer was stolen from what is a major suburb of the City of Vancouver and only a few minutes from the border so not that "far north" or much in the way of Deep woods hunting camps to be found unless one takes a 10 to 12 hour drive north or East.

My money says it will be painted and put out in the back of a farm in the Valley and turned into a guest cottage or a meth lab. Or its painted and on its way to the the Alberta oil fields where there is a shortage of cheap housing...

Posting the info to the BC Fiberglass Facebook page incase anyone spots it.

[reeves99]

You can buy wheel locks--like the traffic enforcement people use. Hopefully the trailer was well insured. Replacement value hopefully.

[Roger C H]

Don't trailers have the equivalent of VIN numbers?

Keep your eye on the on-line sales Craig's List, etc.

[Carol H]

Yup they do. If someone was to try and register & plate it here in Canada with that VIN it will be picked up as stolen. Not a chance of getting it register in the US either with the original VIN - as it would need to have to been imported correctly & paper work to show it was.

Either way its a good bet that is being used as cheap housing someplace & not to likely to show up on Craigslist.

[Bob Miller]

God Points Carol,

Unfortunately many buyers just don't check the VIN on the paperwork with the VIN on the chassis.

A seemingly intelligent friend of mine bought a near classic Volvo 1800ES Sport Wagon and was so excited about "Stealing" it from the seller that he not only didn't notice that the VIN on the paperwork didn't match, the license plates didn't match the registration and they didn't even match each other..... Yep, stolen and he lost all of his money.

When the ad is for about 1/2 usual price, the seller sez "Meet me at the Jack-In-The-Box, and bring cash, that's three flags to me.