Theft prevention

[cyndi H]

Hello everyone. It's been a long time. I finally got my trailer out of storage and lugged it to my new place. I only have one of the small hitch lock on it that the screw tightens up with the key. I'd really like to hide a smart tag in it somewhere. However I've heard that there are only certain places in vehicles Etc where they should be hidden so they're not able to be scanned/detected. Any suggestions from those in the know? Thanks

[cyndi H]

Hahaha that was my friend from high school suggestion

[Casita Greg]

Do you lock your trailers safety chains up short as well? And lock them together? All they need to do otherwise is to wrap those safety chains together and drop them over their trailer tow ball and drive off with it. Gone in a flash. Today, with the advent of cordless portable battery powered cut-off wheel grinders, even that will offer you little protection from a determined thief. Again, it's only a false sense of security. Any lock is only 30 seconds away from being off. Your best peace of mind would be to get a good insurance policy and sleep better at night.

And "smart tags" will only work in certain places on, or in, the trailer. If the thief has acess to a "scanner" to detect it, all I can say is that if he can't detect it, it probably wouldn't emit a tracking signal either.

[cyndi H]

Thanks for the suggestion regarding locking the chains.

[C&G in FL]

If I were really concerned about theft, I would look into a GPS tracking device (example: Find It Now…..there are a number of companies that offer these trackers) that notifies you whenever the trailer moves and can be used by you/police to track and locate the trailer. The downside of these devices is that they require a subscription fee somewhere around $100/year but you might consider the fee as “extra insurance.” Locks on the tongue and binding up chains may be a stopgap measure but doing those things will not help in catching the thief or recovering the trailer.

[Gerry]

I take a stout chain... put it though the spokes of the wheel then around the frame of the trailer and have a stout lock on the the chain ends ... Never used it on my Casita but used it on my utility trailer that held my tools, when I left it on job sites.
Would work on my camper as well.

[justa25thTA]

If I was real concerned, I would put jackstands under the trailer and remove the wheels.

[jgilliam1955]

Look at Proven Locks. You can also buy chains and locks that are hard to cut. I have one GPS hidden in the camper and a GPS and track unit on my camper. It does not have a contract. It is one price, and the battery lasts five years.
The person a block over had his airstream stolen last week. Sadly he had no GPS, and had only a cheap hitch lock.


https://gpsandtrack.com/trailer-track-gps/

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

Do you lock your trailers safety chains up short as well? And lock them together? All they need to do otherwise is to wrap those safety chains together and drop them over their trailer tow ball and drive off with it. Gone in a flash. Today, with the advent of cordless portable battery powered cut-off wheel grinders, even that will offer you little protection from a determined thief. Again, it's only a false sense of security. Any lock is only 30 seconds away from being off. Your best peace of mind would be to get a good insurance policy and sleep better at night.

And "smart tags" will only work in certain places on, or in, the trailer. If the thief has acess to a "scanner" to detect it, all I can say is that if he can't detect it, it probably wouldn't emit a tracking signal either.

The detectors are really based on the idea that it is one of the normal apple or etc devices.



You might even try putting an old phone with a charger cable to it in the camper. Most would not even have to be activated. Just have the information to activate it and have the findme style app installed and programmed into it. They probably would not be looking for that.


I do have a friend who has a system that detects movement and it is switched on then it activates and you have to switched it off. And it is set to lock one of the brakes. That might slow them down a bit.

[Alan C.]

Look up Abloy locks & chains. Would deter most thieves. Expensive.

[barrry smithe]

Originally Posted by cyndi H

Hello everyone. It's been a long time. I finally got my trailer out of storage and lugged it to my new place. I only have one of the small hitch lock on it that the screw tightens up with the key. I'd really like to hide a smart tag in it somewhere. However I've heard that there are only certain places in vehicles Etc where they should be hidden so they're not able to be scanned/detected. Any suggestions from those in the know? Thanks

Difficult to steal a 19’ SCAMP. No problem

[Sammy Joe]

I come from the Marine world so trailering has been since I was 15. In South Fl the theft rate skyrockets over anywhere else. We frequently would put the boat in at a tournament and the trailer stayed at the hotel not too safe BUT I carry 2 spare tires. One on a wrecked rim just hanging , other I put 2 pieces of tire plug between groves so easily seen finally lower pressure to 15 lbs ( keeps it beaded) . Then on the starboard tires run pressure down on them to 15lbs.
Fender take a hammer to it on outside edge to look like you sideswiped something.
Sometimes one needs to Think outside the box Even a thief won’t take a wrecked trailer when an easier one next to it !
Takes about 5 min to air up before moving trailer. It’s worth it to me to have it there.
You get back to the boat ramp and no trailer or truck, it only happens once and it was towed by city the ramp closed on past Monday and I didn’t see the signs at dark 5:30 am .

[Jon in AZ]

A good hitch lock and a good wheel lock that covers the lug nuts. My “outside the box” extra security when the Scamp was stored in our driveway was to always have it blocked by another vehicle at night and when we were out of town. We now have a garage.

Last resort is good insurance.

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by barrry smithe

Difficult to steal a 19’ SCAMP. No problem

Lot of 5th wheel trucks out there. ;-)

[Jon in AZ]

Scamp 19 does not have a fifth wheel (king pin) coupler. But it’s easy enough to drop a 19’er onto a high-rise ball hitch.. Of course that requires a bit of advance planning on the part of a would-be thief. The bigger deterrent against 19’ theft is what to do with it after you steal It.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by cyndi H

Hello everyone. It's been a long time. I finally got my trailer out of storage and lugged it to my new place. I only have one of the small hitch lock on it that the screw tightens up with the key. I'd really like to hide a smart tag in it somewhere. However I've heard that there are only certain places in vehicles Etc where they should be hidden so they're not able to be scanned/detected. Any suggestions from those in the know? Thanks

We have a wheel lock that goes around the tire and has a handle about 18" long that won't allow the tire to turn. Of course they could take the tire off but that would take a few minutes. The key cannot be duplicated. We use it on our Casita and our motorhome when on the road. Also a hitch lock and chains locked help also. Otherwise they are in our garage on our property.

[computerspook]

I am reminded of one place I worked. There was a company up the hill that the boss kept a large cabin cruiser that it took the company simi tractor to really tow. (or something really large at least) Kind of why he kept it there instead of at home.

One day I show up to work and find the cabin cruiser with the front of the trailer and like 3 foot of the bow in the reception area. When they pulled it out there was a VW bug bumper on the front with a clamp on ball attached to the bumper. Yeah someone had tried to seal it with a bug.


Did a lot of damage to the office and to the boat. So they can really mess you up failing to steal your camper.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by computerspook

I am reminded of one place I worked. There was a company up the hill that the boss kept a large cabin cruiser that it took the company simi tractor to really tow. (or something really large at least) Kind of why he kept it there instead of at home.

One day I show up to work and find the cabin cruiser with the front of the trailer and like 3 foot of the bow in the reception area. When they pulled it out there was a VW bug bumper on the front with a clamp on ball attached to the bumper. Yeah someone had tried to seal it with a bug.


Did a lot of damage to the office and to the boat. So they can really mess you up failing to steal your camper.

Funny. Some idiots will try anything. Where we live an idiot tried to pull a 60ft house trailer with a small truck. The truck axle broke and the trailer came apart. The cops wouldn't let him move it but late one night the guy finally got it to an empty lot somehow. Finally someone felt sorry for him and moved it but it was junked.

[Meadowlark]

YOu wonder what in the world thieves do with a stolen camper. Most of us are too smart to be taken in by someone selling a brand new Casita for cheap.



But I'm afraid these days the answers aren't all that hard to figure out. They're using the campers for more nefarious things like smuggling, or cooking meth, or packaging fentanyl, or worse, sex trafficking. My ex husband related the time he went up to Mt. Rainier for elk hunting, and a woman had set up a camper further down the mountainside, and she wasn't there for elk. She was there for..um, 'clients' who were invited into her camper for, um, an activity I seriously doubt was something like Bible reading.

In the same area, a bunch of enterprising yahoos had also set up tents for beer fests, a big heater, a generator to run the televisions and who knows what other shenaingans were available.



No, he didn't get an elk. He didn't even SEE an elk. They'd run away from the lights, the noise, etc.



It certainly was nothing like the times when my father went deer hunting.

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by Jann Todd

Funny. Some idiots will try anything. Where we live an idiot tried to pull a 60ft house trailer with a small truck. The truck axle broke and the trailer came apart. The cops wouldn't let him move it but late one night the guy finally got it to an empty lot somehow. Finally someone felt sorry for him and moved it but it was junked.

People also dump them at wide spots in the road with all of the id removed too. I have helped deal with this several times. Also worked for a buddy whey he got paid by mobile home parks to dispose of them. Not cheap.