Securing your trailer

On both tires, good idea...
As I said, the dish one is a PITA to work, store and carry.

I'd do the the 2 of the simple ones as my choice.. the dish is just too clunky.. and then I'd have a 200lb block and chain it... oh wait, i'm supposed to enjoy camping.. heheh,
fun..
 
Hello Michael, Frank, Jenn et al.
Sunnyside (formerly Dewey) is about to hit the road. Having read this and other discussions of securing our trailer, I wonder if anyone has considered this.
Using the leveling jacks as a deterrent. When extended to the ground, they act as anchors. Has anyone considered employing a lock in some manner? A lock that does not allow the jack to be retracted? If in contact with the ground, the jack/s would essentially stop the trailer when any non-level surface was encountered.
Being quite sober when I went to bed, I dreamed about this.
Any suggestions?
 
Hello Michael, Frank, Jenn et al.
Sunnyside (formerly Dewey) is about to hit the road. Having read this and other discussions of securing our trailer, I wonder if anyone has considered this.
Using the leveling jacks as a deterrent. When extended to the ground, they act as anchors. Has anyone considered employing a lock in some manner? A lock that does not allow the jack to be retracted? If in contact with the ground, the jack/s would essentially stop the trailer when any non-level surface was encountered.
Being quite sober when I went to bed, I dreamed about this.
Any suggestions?
 
Jenn said:
.....
Others will weigh in on this and maybe we will hear some good "forgot to put up the Leveling Jacks" stories.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Heheheh, Yah, I've heard of one or two stories of doing just that... I would think they, thiefs, would just drag it until it bent or ripped off, my guess, rip off...

but, really, how far should you go. Depends on the area and locals or lack thereof..
 
Interesting thought about the leveling jacks...somehow locking them in the down position. Gonna give this some thought!

We use a boot on one wheel, a coupler lock on the latch, and a ball/receiver lock. We will be investing in a second boot. We hope all of this is a deterrent to a thief. A friend just had a U-haul trailer stolen while attached to her car, while at a hotel. Made me wonder if they provide any locks for their rental trailers.

We knock on a lot of wood!
 
Our first long trip in our The Silver Pullit we camped on the Avenue of the Giants in Humbolt SP, when we were leaving after our stay we thought we had gone over our checklist. We made it about 15 feet before I felt a HARD pull on the tear. I got out and found that our leveling jack had not been raised. It dug a perfect furrow that a farmer would be proud of, until it hit the asphalt of the roadway! It was bent enough that I could not get it down.

I sent Peg to the camp host to book another day so I could figure out a way to remove it. She came back and told me that the campground was completely booked for that night and that we had and hour or so to vacate or we would have to have it towed! I managed to get the bottom base off and used a zip tie to make sure it would not drag. We drove about 20 miles to the nearest RV dealer in fear that we would go over a speed bump or have to go over a curb. The RV place removed the now worthless jack and on we went.We knew we would never forget raising the jack again.

We emailed Cary about how we could get another jack.

We headed to Kings Canyon NP. Camped in a beautiful spot and totally enjoyed our stay. On the last day it was snowing rather heavily and we figured we better get out of there as the road out is steep, narrow and curvy. In our haste we forgot to raise our remaining jack. Boy do those bend easily. We really should have brought some kind of seed that likes a 6" deep furrow. The person in the next site had a set of tools and I was able to remove the jack since I had watched the RV place removing the other one exactly one week before.

After getting out of the canyon we stopped at the visitors center and checked our email. There was one from Cary saying the jacks usually came in pairs. We broke into hysterical laughter. Was that a silver lining or what?

We now use a couple short pieces of 2x6 which work very well for us.

Happy camping.
 
Ok all, time for me to point this out again on this topic. The Camp-Inns that have been stolen over time (3 of them) all had security measures that are being described here in this thread in place. Heck one of them was being stored in a secured storage facility even. The ones with all the locks on them were dragged off. They were either pulled onto a roll back wrecker or onto a flat bed trailer. Either way they were not hooked up to and pulled away from the location (both were in alleyways). In those situations the wheel locks and coupler boots did nothing to prevent the theft. The trailers are just too small to be secured.

That being said two things I would recommend. For sure do have some theft protection. A coupler lock and a hitch pin lock at a minimum. I am more worried about the trailer being stolen while hooked to the tow vehicle at a truck stop than I am sitting unattended at a campground. Wheel claws and a coupler boot are good measures when unattended. However experience says they a determined thief will not be stopped by these if unattended.

The second thing is what we would recommend. I would recommend a GPS tracker actually. Since preventing it from being stolen does not seem to be possible at least it would be quickly recovered. GPS trackers like the SPOT tracker have other benefits also. Being able to track and document your journey online is pretty slick. You can share your tracking login with your family members and they can keep an eye on where mom and dad are on their trip.

Cary
 
If you wait around, generally around Christmas the Spot Gen 3 can be had for free with a rebate. The basic service is $150 per year once you have the device. I think that may be more than what we are paying per year for camper insurance. With a less than 5% chance over several years of a trailer being stolen (3 of 800 campers over more than a decade), it is questionable whether that is a worthwhile ongoing investment.

It sounds as though theft is more likely while stored in an urban environment than at a campground.

We used a Spot Gen 3 last year while traveling, since Alea and I would frequently be out of sight of one another, and we were traveling in areas where cell coverage was very spotty (E. Washington to W. North Dakota). It was worthwhile for a few months, but we aren't thinking of renewing our subscription (which ends in May). But part of the reason for discontinuing is that using the Spot mapping system really jacked up our Mi-Fi's data usage, so the cost for us was even higher than the $200/yr we were paying (we paid an extra $50 per year for extreme tracking - 3 minuted tracking intervals).
 
A tracking service that you could enable it when you wanted it and not when you didn't would be great.

At home, my trailer is in my garage, single car drive way with a car and a truck parked in front of the garage. So, at home, it would be really, really hard and loud to steal my trailer. So, I really don't need tracking service at home. My concern is more around when I am on the road and when I am camping...hence the blog post. I think my solution is a pretty good deterrent while camping...I still need to find something for while actually parked at restaurants while traveling.
 
Typically, the places we eat at are busy and we haven't felt the need for security at them. Hope we're not being naive! Our biggest worry is leaving the teardrop when we boondock. So far, we haven't done so. Even with our security locks and boot, I don't think I would have the confidence to leave the teardrop at a boondocking spot.
 
We're planning to do some boondocking in Utah this August. I am pretty sure it's legal in Utah to rig some explosives to detonate when someone starts messing with your camper. ;-)

I wonder if it would be cheaper to rig a webcam on the TD than to do the GPS device. Why not apply additional home security solutions to deter, rather than simply recover?

-Al
 
Al,

The logic to the counterpoint on that is that the trailer is too small to secure effectively. That is why something like a GPS or cellular tracker makes sense. The two currently missing Camp-Inn trailers were dragged onto a roll back wrecker or flat bed trailer. All the security measures and locks in the world would not have prevented that. But, if they had a tracker on them they would have been recovered and hopefully the pinheads that took them properly incarcerated.

As an example. A popular use for trackers is for small personal watercraft. They often sit on a small trailer in the owner's back yard. Talk about easy to steal. Owner's of these use them often for this reason.

This does not mean that good locks are not important though. For example I share Jay's concern about the truck stop parking lot scenario. That is why a good hitch pin lock and a coupler lock are important for long trips.

Cary
 
Hi, Cary. I was only wondering if a webcam on the trailer would also be useful, and perhaps more useful, as you could get video of the perps. And maybe the perps would abandon their plan to steal the TD if they saw a camera blinking at them. But that would likely be far more expensive than a GPS tracker hidden somewhere in the TD.

And the webcam would really only be helpful if the perp's vehicle plate happened to be captured by the webcam.

-Al
 
In the early posts on this thread it wasn't clear to me that two campers are currently missing. It may be that theft is more of a problem than it originally appeared to be.

The service for the Spot Tracker is a bit cheaper than the service for a Spot Gen 3, if a 5 minute tracking interval is good enough for your needs. That is $99/yr or $12/mo. You would have to check with them to see how easy it is to start and stop service, and whether there is a penalty for less than a full year service.

http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=129

If you opt for a 3 minute interval, then it is the same cost as the 3 min interval Gen 3 service, a total of $200/yr.

The Trace is a bit cheaper than the Gen 3. I haven't seen where they offer 100% rebates for them like they do the Gen 3.

These devices can be powered either by batteries or 5v USB. They can gobble up batteries pretty fast, which why we used rechargeable NiMH batteries on ours. I have no idea how fast they might deplete the Camp-Inn's onboard battery (which would be dependent upon which battery you have). But if you were interested in running off the battery, this 12v to 5v mini USB could likely tie into the terminal on the back on the 12v cigarette lighter plug that is accessed at the back of the curbside galley cabinet:

http://www.amazon.com/HitCar-Inver...&qid=1457636347&sr=8-5&keywords=12v+to+5v+usb

By drilling a hole in the lower left corner of the curbside cabin cabinet (directly above the 12v outlet) you can install this anywhere inside the cabin cabinets that the available cord can reach (hopefully where the thieves won't find it until it is too late for them).

There are similar converters with a standard female USB connector, in case you want the ability to use the power source with something other than just the Tracker.
 
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Al,

That webcam would have to be super well hidden or they simply would steal it too. Clever idea you have there though. Perhaps there is some sort of camping gear that is unlikely to be stolen that could be modified to hide a camera inside. Camping trash can with a camera built into the handle? Maybe there is a marketable product in this.

Might be worth a laugh too with all the possible good racoon and bear up close footage. The kind where you can count the nose-hairs in the bear's nostrils.

Steve,

There are other advantages to a tracker, it seems you are utilizing them yourself. That is tracking your journey. What a great way to keep your family abreast of your trip by giving them the log-in info to watching your tracking data. A buddy of mine has one in his plane and took his wife to the Bahamas. He let all us plane nut buddies of his have access to his log-in so we could track his progress on the flight down. That was pretty cool.

Cary
 
Cary - I was thinking of a webcam that would upload the images it takes to the cloud (perhaps it would "snooze" until it detects motion, so it's not uploading images constantly). So it wouldn't matter if the thieves disabled/stole it, as you'd already have captured the images. I want to DETER theft, not catch thieves.

But it's probably too expensive to use a system that has motion sensing and night vision and uploads the images/video to the cloud; and the GPS tracker seems reasonably affordable. Combining that with theft insurance (and the anti-theft measures you outlined) seems like a good approach.

Maybe we can just "electrify" the TD, so if anyone touches it, they get a shock....

[I am joking about the explosives and electrocution, by the way, just in case anyone wasn't clear about that.]

Maybe a motion sensing alarm (that is difficult to disable)....

-Al
 
I installed a camera to monitor my mailbox when we were having a rash of mail thefts in our area. I captured pictures of the perp's face with his hand in our mailbox, as well as pictures of his truck and license plate. Cops and PO inspectors still couldn't catch him. Then he stole the camera!

I don't think a camera would be much use.
 
Hi...

Another option is HAM radio for the technically minded

The HAM's have developed APRS software to track things like rockets, Hot Air Balloons, animals, sail boats, model air planes, drones, vehicles, etc.

HAM licenses are easier to obtain than ever (like taking a driver's test for the airwaves. 55 questions done and gone.)

Costs can be really cheap to very expensive, depending what one wants to do.

Besides, there are many other fun reasons to have HAM radio, but that's another story.

For more information, contact...

Google <APRS: Automated Position Reporting System>
http://www.aprs.org/
 
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rotus8 said:
I installed a camera to monitor my mailbox when we were having a rash of mail thefts in our area. I captured pictures of the perp's face with his hand in our mailbox, as well as pictures of his truck and license plate. Cops and PO inspectors still couldn't catch him. Then he stole the camera!

I don't think a camera would be much use.
Click to expand...

What do you expect from the cops in La Honda? Are there even cops in La Honda?? :D (just kidding - I'm in San Mateo)(for folks who don't know, La Honda is a rural area in the hills near Silicon Valley, but a world away from Silicon Valley)

Sorry about your mail theft and the cops being unable to catch the guy. That's terrible.

I agree that the camera idea isn't very useful. Maybe a FAKE camera would do just as much good as a real one.

ps Stay safe during all this rain!

-Al
 
Oh, these are some good ideas coming out of this. I am intrigued by Al's cloud camera idea. That is a good idea. Maybe that should be a Camp-Inn option. Mounted in the trailer somewhere that takes pictures out the front of the trailer. Could get pictures of the perp hooking up and picts of the license plate on the tow vehicle. I don't really fully know anything about this tech. Would it be just a motion triggered cam? What sort of connection would broadcast the info to the cloud? Cellular? Wi-Fi?

Carl, you have a great idea there too. Could this be done via radio rather than GPS? Tell us more.

Cary
 
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