How to keep thieves from stealing our 16' trailer?

Where do you live and who would want it. I live in the country, have an eight year old TT "out back".

My only fear is some idiot will drive up my lane and steal it for a METH lab when I am not home, so I have it insured for replacement cost.

Their fear or course is being met by a person with a 12 ga.

If I lived in a populated area I would use a secured storage facility.

So we live in a really safe neighborhood. But apart from that we take extra precautionary measures. If I was in your position, I'd get that thick heavy duty chain, that you can buy at Home depot by the foot. I got myself 6 ft of it and chained it around part of the chassis of my Flatbed, and screwed the last link into a 18 inch diameter stump from a old tree I had to cut down, with a foot and a 1/2 (18 inch) mega screw. Using heavy duty chain to secure it around a huge tree is a good idea too. AS if that wasn't enough the DW got those Cameras that you can strategically place around your property and sinc it up with an App on your smart phone, so you can watch it from where ever you are 24/7. It also comes with night vision features. So now you have eyes on and it's chained down. OR you can have all of the above AND tell your neighbor to keep an eye out.

Removing a wheel/wheels is one of the easiest and most secure methods of theft prevention but it don’t stop everyone.
We do that on message boards etc that we leave on the highway for periods of time. Some @$$hat towed one away a few months ago. Only made it a 1/4 mile!
Then it tipped over, lol.

If you want to keep your trailer from going far, leave the wheels on, but loosen all the lugs. Then at least you’ll get the trailer back and won’t have to drive far to get it!!

You can do things to slow down a thief, but a determined thief will get what they want. I remember reading about a stolen fully furnished mobile home that was on blocks. The thieves showed up with a low boy with a winch posing as repo guys. No one ever questioned them.

If you pull the wheels, they'll show up with their own. Locks can quickly be cut off with battery powered tools. Thieves will bypass the locks completely and haul the trailer away by fashioning a sling over the coupler.

The good news is that thieves often aren't planning Ocean's Eleven style thefts of travel trailers. These days thieves are pretty lazy. They don't like working and are looking for easy targets. A simple coupler lock alone is enough to deter a lot of them. Thieves are mostly interested in quietly making a quick buck. Hauling a trailer down the road garners quite a bit of attention, especially if it's been damaged in some way. They're probably more interested in the contents of your trailer since it's full of things that can be unloaded quickly and easily like electronics.

I keep it simple. Ensure all doors, windows, and vents are locked. I use a lock on the latch and a lock on the coupler. Beyond that, I keep it insured. If someone walks away with it or something inside of it, at least I'll be compensated for it.

patperry2766 wrote:
2nd, get some kind of wifi motion sensor camera that can send pics/videos to your phone. There are several hunting trail cameras that can do the job but you have to look at battery life. Some of them can be a few weeks to a few months. Position them for the most visibility of your camera while being as covertly hidden as possible. We have a Ring doorbell that works great for guarding our front porch. They have also expanded their offerings to security cameras as well.

Reolink makes a battery operated camera that can be recharged with a small solar panel. The Argus 2 with the optional solar panel is about $160. It is wireless, so doesn't need to be wired to the internet. It also accepts up to a 64 GB microSD card that records video on. No subscription cloud service needed. The video can be viewed from a computer and through the app on a mobile device. It can also be download to give to law enforcement if needed. I have several Reolink Cameras and find them to work very well, day and night.

Cameras won't deter theft, but you will record it happening and hopefully help law enforcement.

-Michael

In addition to what others have said and if your leaving it at home, I'd get a couple of motion activated lights. They don't have to be expensive. Amazon has some solar rechargeable lights that you can place anywhere.

2nd, get some kind of wifi motion sensor camera that can send pics/videos to your phone. There are several hunting trail cameras that can do the job but you have to look at battery life. Some of them can be a few weeks to a few months. Position them for the most visibility of your camera while being as covertly hidden as possible. We have a Ring doorbell that works great for guarding our front porch. They have also expanded their offerings to security cameras as well.

We get almost instantaneous response to our phone anytime the doorbell or motion is triggered. At least we might have a pretty decent pic/video of someone who is messing with our stuff in case something is stolen.

3rd, have good neighbors who will keep an eye on things.

4th, get a couple of signs to put around the house that the property is being monitored. You can get some fake but realistic security cameras to mount around the perimeter of the house if you don't want to spring for the real deal.

Bottom line is that a determined thief will take whatever they want, the goal is to deter the opportunistic thief who just wants to make a quick steal with minimal risk.

https://www.trailcampro.com/collections/trail-camera-reviews/products/spypoint-link-dark-at-t

https://shop.ring.com/collections/security-cams

If you live in a high theft area I would take the wheels off. All the locks mentioned can be easily cut off with a battery powered tool or bolt cutters. Turning the trailer around where the tongue faces the house is another. Thieves are opportunist and lazy looking for a easy target. Motion-sensing lights is another along with security cameras. The more difficult you make it the more likely they are to move on to a easier target. I take it you already have full coverage insurance?

Personally I would take it down to your seasonal and use it for side trips to different areas and explore. A bonus is you don't need a motel for the trip down and back. The drawback is having a place to store it at the seasonal.

Insurance...

Reality if it looks overly secure, they might think it's worth stealing and if you make it hard, they can destroy it doing more damage to find out what's inside.

Put Thor stickers on it. Consensus is most think Thor is bad.

Get a roll of yellow crime scene tape and a roll of biohazard tape, wrap well around the trailer. If you can get one, a sign on the door reading Crime Scene, Do Not Enter, Contagious, Blood and Pathogens inside.

I'm kidding.....Or maybe not.