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Old 03-15-2014, 05:16 PM   #1
gopher501
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Iowa
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Safety questions

Hello, new member with some basic safety questions. Will be leaving our camper on our newly purchased lot outside of Custer, SD. Right on edge of town. Going to sit there all summer. AND I don't want things stolen. Where can I purchase locking lug nuts? How can I secure my 2 cylinders up front? What else should I think about regarding safe storage of my trailer. 07 Outback 23RS. Many thanks in advance..
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Old 03-15-2014, 05:36 PM   #2
Festus2
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You might want to try the "usual" auto supply retailers, tire distributors and you can also get them from a variety of on-line sources that sell locking lug nuts. The propane tanks can be chained (with a grade 70 chain) and locked to the frame. Just make sure the lock is as good as the 70 grade chain. What do you plan on doing with the batteries? If you are planning to leave them with your TT, you should try to secure them as well. There is a thread currently running on the forum on "Stolen Batteries"......you might want to check that out (It's in the General RV Issues section of the forum).

There isn't much you can do to eliminate theft --- if they want it badly enough, then it will be gone. All you can do is to make it as difficult as possible and perhaps if they see that it will involve too much work, they will move on to something involving less effort.

How often do you plan on visiting you unit while it is sitting there? If you are going to be leaving it there unattended for long periods of time, I wouldn't be leaving anything valuable inside or in any of the outside storage compartments. It doesn't take much time and effort to gain access to those compartments.
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Old 03-15-2014, 05:36 PM   #3
x96mnn
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Most automotive stores will sell a kit that includes the socket and for key nuts for your rims.

For your propane a simple bike lock or a heavy chain to the frame. Do not forget about your battery as well. Change the compartment locks with kits you can get at a lock smith and drop in. 99% of the compartment locks can be opened with either of two keys! one ends in a 1 and the other in a 2. I can open the compartments on my neighbours trailer with my keys and he the same, apparently the trailer manufactures use the same kits.

With all this said if they want in they will get in. Some say keeping a light on or visability by others is the best and some will disagree. What I have personally seen happen to others, chains cut, holes drilled through the camper sides, compartments cut through the bottom of the campers and floor. You are not going to stop them if they want in, the harder you make it the more damage they will do to get in. The only way taking percussion will really help you if you are in a park with a bunch of trailers. If someone comes in to hit them, they will not spend time on the harder ones and take what they can quick.

Is your lot in a park itself, if it is the chains and what not are more then enough. People in parks are good to watch out for one another.
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Old 03-15-2014, 05:46 PM   #4
gopher501
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Safety

WOW. Thanks for the quick replies!! I am for sure going to change the locks on the compartments and chain the propane tanks down to the frame. Our lot like I say is right on the edge of town, but it is 5 acres of trees, so a bit secluded. Neighbor right next door in a house. Thanks again
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Old 03-15-2014, 06:18 PM   #5
bsmith0404
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Get to know your neighbors and ask them to park a vehicle in your site from time to time
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Old 03-15-2014, 10:36 PM   #6
Ken / Claudia
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If it is a high theft area or you just don't to not be a victim, remove everything that is easy to steal. Wheels/Tires, propane, batteries. I worked for afew years Mt. Hood NF where there are many summer cabins and no matter what they get broken into any thing of value is stolen. One cabin had a big sign on front door "Nothing left here to steal, everything has been stolen." Cops patrolled the areas daily but, many miles of roads and cabins, unless you drove up to each cabin many where not visiable. Know your neigbor. I have a beach house and the only full time resident nearby is the best insurence I have, the other homes near all have the others contact numbers.
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Old 03-16-2014, 09:39 AM   #7
Rick
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I bought these B&D Battery Locks for my batteries. You can see how they work . I like them. I have my propane bottles secured using a cable and lock.

As has been said before, this only keeps the persons looking for an easy theft opportunity away. Looking for a way to secure my portable generator, I found this comment from a truck driver who camps-

"No matter what you lock something up with, someone has a way to defeat your precautions ... common handheld battery-operated cutting wheels will fit in a coat-pocket, and go thru a chain, cable, or lock, in mere seconds, just like it was butter ... I found the best quality padlocks just guaranteed my truck-trailer doors would suffer hundreds of dollars' worth of damage, while the bad guys struggled with the lock ... the 'old-timers' taught me a better plan - 'put a cheap padlock on the doors, and then you only have to replace a padlock, not the entire door' ... so, I padlock a decent-sized cable thru my generator to my trailer frame, and then, I don't worry about it ... if they take it, they take it, that's what I pay insurance premiums for."

Right now I'm reviewing my policy coverage.

Rick
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