Hi allwe hope to buy a new 9.5' Hallmark Everest plus a 2020 Ford F350I am told that due to the aluminum frame of the current SuperDuty Fords... we have to get the TorkLift FastGuns. but the little (optional) locks on the FastGuns seem only to help discourage anyone from stealing the (valuable) FastGuns.... what about some extra security to make sure to provide extra security for the far more valuable Hallmark?Yes we'd likely leave the camper jacks at home... no need to haul them around.... so there is that... does anyone use additional tie downs - - perhaps the ones hidden by the pickup side walls - so inaccessible from outside the Hallmark? or - ? thanks. J

Wouldn't the risk be much greater that the truck is stolen?I have never heard of a camper being stolen off the back of a truck, and the truck still being there. I'd be interested to hear if that has ever happened.We use 4 normal key-coordinated padlocks with long shackles instead of the OEM locks. Mainly because we are in Germany and the padlocks were locally available. The purpose is just to deter someone from unhooking or stealing the FastGuns.

I agree. They'll take the whole truck rather than just the camper.Look into the RAVELCO anti-theft system for your truck when you get it.

Long shank padlocks from the big box stores work just fine.Or a sign on the side of your TC something like this:Thieves will be shot and survivors will be shot again.Or the problem could be when you live....LA....Up in this neck of the woods we leave our keys in our vehicles and our homes and campers unlocked. Crooks know they may be facing the working end of a weapon if they attempt to steal. Not worth the price, so most leave things that don't belong to them, alone.Good luck.Lakeside

I'm actually surprised to read this. I've been full timing all over the continent for about 2 1/2 years. I have pins with clips holding my fastguns closed. That's it. No locks. I don't even go to campgrounds. I park anywhere and everywhere. New York City, Miami, sketchy small meth type towns, Los Angeles, El Paso, Coachella, Detroit, San Diego, San Francisco, LA suburbs, San Fernando Valley, West Covina, Santa Clarita, Orange County, Burning Man, Denver,Boise, you name it, I've parked overnight in it with this setup. Never even in a secure campground. I think you're overly concerned with fastgun theft. No one even knows what they are or notices them except other TC owners.I also doubt anyone is stealing a TC/truck combo. They stand out like crazy and are impossible to make a getaway from law enforcement in.Stealing the TC by itself is literally impossible without a forklift specially designed to have long tines to support it.Mine has been on the streets about 900 nights now. Only security issue was a truck driver trying to break in in Ottawa Canada. He gave up after he found the door was locked.

Have never had an issue with security. We have the original pins on the Fastguns, no locks, and have been all over the US with never an issue. I suppose if I abandoned the truck and camper for weeks and never came back to it someone might get curious about if it was available for "borrowing" but I can't imagine taking the camper off the truck - maybe steal the whole kit and caboodle but not just the camper. I'm probably too trusting but IMHO locks just keep honest people honest. Real crooks will do whatever they want.

FastGuns / Hallmark - how to provide extra camper security?

mkirsch
Nomad II
Feb 18, 2019
burningman wrote:
If you guys had Stable-Lifts, it would take you one minute to unload your campers...
and yeah, no need to pull the truck out from under it for a flat, you’re only using the camper jacks to take extra weight off the suspension.

If you want to write the check to put Stable Lifts on my $2000 (what I paid 8 years ago) camper, I'll gladly install it.

My understanding is Stable Lift far exceeds the value of my camper, so I'm personally not interested unless someone else is buying.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Feb 17, 2019
Another shameless plug for camper monkey bars.
I think I asked this a while ago as I'm ignorant how the stable lifts work. If you're unloading the camper in an off camber location, can you still level each corner separately?
A lot of places we camp, will be several degrees out of level in both directions. Offload camper and then level camper out is fairly easy with separate corner jacks. (Provided you understand how to do it without twisting the camper structure.
burningman
Explorer II
Feb 16, 2019
If you guys had Stable-Lifts, it would take you one minute to unload your campers...
and yeah, no need to pull the truck out from under it for a flat, you’re only using the camper jacks to take extra weight off the suspension.
stevenal
Nomad II
Feb 15, 2019
Are you really unloading, as in drive out from under the camper on your flat? Or are you disconnecting tie downs and jacking the camper far enough to use a vehicle jack with no camper weight on it?
mkirsch
Nomad II
Feb 15, 2019
burningman wrote:
It takes you 30 minutes to drop a camper?
I’m getting an idea for a truck camper rodeo... :)

So standard operating procedure is to abandon the camper when you have a flat? Just drop it, change the flat, and drive away?

That's sarcasm for, "You still need to reload it!"

People here brag about taking 15 minutes to unload, or 15 minutes to load, so that seems to be the gold standard. 15 off and 15 on makes 30 minutes total added to the tire change.

Fact of the matter it does take me about 30 minutes to load the camper. So for me dropping the camper to change a flat would be an additional 45 minutes. Actually, call it an hour because I'd also have to drop the trailer...
burningman
Explorer II
Feb 14, 2019
It takes you 30 minutes to drop a camper?
I’m getting an idea for a truck camper rodeo... :)
mkirsch
Nomad II
Feb 14, 2019
markchengr wrote:
The one time I changed a tire, I unloaded the camper while I did it. Much easier and safer in the long run. I realize there are some situations where this wouldn't be feasible. But if you are in a place where it is possible why wouldn't you take the camper off? Off and on again is no big deal I do it all the time.

How is an extra minimum 30 minutes' effort "easier" and what does it do to make the process "safer?"

The one time I changed a tire, I put the jack under the axle at the flat. The jack would not lift the camper, truck, and trailer tongue so I ended up using the trailer tongue jack to lift some weight off the rear axle of the truck. Once I did that, the jack worked. At no time did I feel at all threatened or at risk. Other than wishing for an electric impact wrench, or not having the flat in the first place, I could not have asked for things to go more smoothly.
Optimistic_Para
Explorer
Feb 14, 2019
Bedlam wrote:
I bought one good large capacity high lift bottle jack that has served me well whether used on a toy hauler, truck or enclosed trailer. I don't have regrets not using the OEM jack.

Yup. Something like that is a lifetime investment, that you move from vehicle to vehicle.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Feb 14, 2019
^ My apologies, but in the same post you said you were likely removing the jacks from the camper, so I was totally confused how you could be concerned about someone stealing the camper.
Bottom line, even if you leave the jacks on the camper, I don't see much or any risk of getting the camper boosted off the truck.
Think about how long it would take an (experienced ) truck camper thief, if they exist, to break into the camper, unhook, Jack it up, Hotwire truck to move it out of the way and then load the camper in their truck?
Nothing to worry about. Happy camping!
LosAngeles
Explorer
Feb 14, 2019
Grit dog wrote:
......OP started in the first post by not explaining what security he was looking for and still hasn’t. ....

Hi Grit Dog

I'm the original poster... and my exact words were:

"...the little (optional) locks on the FastGuns seem only to help discourage anyone from stealing the (valuable) FastGuns.... what about some extra security to make sure to provide extra security for the far more valuable Hallmark? "

in the first post.

Not sure how that isn't 100% clear?

J a.k.a. "Los Angeles"