Caravan thefts

[Munro83]

My wife got a surprise today to come home and find 2 lads looking through the windows of our caravan. They asked if it's for sale, she said no it's not. Apparently these 'gentlemen have been enquiring about every caravan in our street.
I've been told this is tactic they use to test caravan security- there have been thefts in Aberdeenshire lately ��.

I hate these types of people!!!!

Our van currently has one wheel clamp on, I'm tempted to get another. The one we have is called a bulldog clamp- is this any good? What other security measures do you guys take?

[mkent]

Insurance, and a proper bollard in the drive to block exit, wheel clams are a minor inconvenience for anyone who want your van.

Marcelle

[60041]

The Bulldog is a good clamp but, like most others, will succumb to an angle grinder or Stihl saw.
The only course of action is to use multiple devices; hitch lock, wheel clamp, corner steady locks etc so that stealing your caravan becomes more difficult than stealing the one down the road.
I know of a caravan that was stolen from a so-called secure storage compound and the thieves had gone past several other vans and stolen the one that took 5 minutes to steal rather than the ones that would have taken 10.
Little will stop the determined thief; just make sure your insurance is good, all their security requirements are complied with and any valuables are taken out.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by 60041

The Bulldog is a good clamp but, like most others, will succumb to an angle grinder or Stihl saw.
The only course of action is to use multiple devices; hitch lock, wheel clamp, corner steady locks etc so that stealing your caravan becomes more difficult than stealing the one down the road.
I know of a caravan that was stolen from a so-called secure storage compound and the thieves had gone past several other vans and stolen the one that took 5 minutes to steal rather than the ones that would have taken 10.
Little will stop the determined thief; just make sure your insurance is good, all their security requirements are complied with and any valuables are taken out.

With the plethora or cheap battery and petrol powered saws, grinders and drills available these days it's getting really tricky to keep thieves out. Hence I think the above it a good suggestion - deploy more lower security measures that would slow them down.

I have a mid-sized Ifor Williams trailer that I occasionally have to leave at our small holding and it petrifies me - but what I do is use the load legs and jockey wheel to jack it up and remove both wheels which I lock away, and then use a hitch lock.

[Rooster]

Jack it up and put it on axle stands then take wheels off it,

They carn't tow it away if it has no wheels on,

I sometimes have my brian james car trailer on drive if im using it day after or its to late to take it back to my parents and i block it in with my xc90 and then park my other car in front of that

[Munro83]

Thanks for the replies- I'm going to get a hitch lock out on and make sure my van is covering the drive when away. 👍

[Munro83]

Who are you guys insured with?

[mkent]

Originally Posted by Munro83

Thanks for the replies- I'm going to get a hitch lock out on and make sure my van is covering the drive when away. ��

Hitch locks may not be much of a help, I've seen diy arrangement that fit over/alongside the hitchlock, with a hitch on the other end to attach to the tow vehicle.


Marcelle

[Paul240480]

Mine was on on 'winter wheels' out of season when we lived in Portsmouth. In season, it had a wheel-lock, plus Alko hitch-lock. The ,Erm.... Travellers used to pitch up nearby on the old A3 on Portsdown Hill, when they where there, yep crimes went up, funnily enough.... ( I was fuzz so had access to data)... And at those times I pushed my van right back and blocked it good with my old 480!

[c_lee]

I store my van at home on a double width drive and I'm able to put it in nose first with the hitch close to the house wall.

It has an Al-Ko hitch-lock and a wheel lock fitted and much of the time is blocked in by my car.

One thing that is handy being that the hitch is close to the house wall is that I can extend a spare zone from my house alarm system to a 7 pin 7N female connector mounted on a small metal box on the wall and plug the caravan's 7N cable into it.

My house alarm then monitors a normally closed loop through the caravan's brake light circuit and if the 7N plug is removed from the wall socket then the house alarm will sound.

Anyone who can't get the hitch that close to the house wall could use this method by use of a 7N extension cable as the whole circuit would be monitored.

When we are away in the caravan I put the house alarm on and OMIT the zone for the caravan 7N wall socket.

The caravan can't move far without the alarm circuit being broken and the house alarm sounding which obviously sounds indoors too.

Colin

EDIT: 7S changed to 7N