Upgrade trailer tongue lock? Chain through the wheels?

rerod wrote:

Oldtymeflyr wrote:
I use both a tongue lock and a tire lock. The tire lock is much harder to defeat.

Also, pull the license plate, if they steal the trailer, there is a chance that a cop will see a trailer with no plate and stop it. More than likely not but its a no cost option.

A rather long chain on the axle lets say is also a warning to the cops if you should be lucky.

Good luck.

Which tire lock should I consider? My rims don't have enough room to pass a chain through them.

I use one like this Wheel Chock Lock

It sells for about half that list price and there are others out there, I think we paid $40, 10 years ago for ours.

Good luck.

Oldtymeflyr wrote:
I use both a tongue lock and a tire lock. The tire lock is much harder to defeat.

Also, pull the license plate, if they steal the trailer, there is a chance that a cop will see a trailer with no plate and stop it. More than likely not but its a no cost option.

A rather long chain on the axle lets say is also a warning to the cops if you should be lucky.

Good luck.

Which tire lock should I consider? My rims don't have enough room to pass a chain through them.

I use both a tongue lock and a tire lock. The tire lock is much harder to defeat.

Also, pull the license plate, if they steal the trailer, there is a chance that a cop will see a trailer with no plate and stop it. More than likely not but its a no cost option.

A rather long chain on the axle lets say is also a warning to the cops if you should be lucky.

Good luck.

Just leave a note on the door:

"Billy-Bob -- be back soon, I just ran into town for more beer and ammo."

I normally don't secure my trailer hitch but when the trailer is going to be unattended for a few days or more I put the light weight yellow one above on and then a case harden pad lock on the hitch so if they popped off the first line of defence the hitch would still have a ball inside it and they would have to cut the lock off to. I figure visually that gets the majority of the bad guys to look for different low hanging fruit. Also in my case it is a tag along trailer with my toys inside, they can easily cut a hole in the thin aluminum skin to see if it is worth their trouble.

Just to clarify, I do not usually use a lock when boondocking -- only when we have to leave the trailer for a couple of hours in a Walmart parking lot while running errands in town. The criminals are not out in the boonies -- the pickins are too slim.

Muddydogs wrote:
Do you guys really worry about trailer theft while boondocking? In all my time camping which has been extensive I have never had anything stolen

Id have to agree with you if your at a camp site. But this year I need to scout out the road and the spaces I plan on parking in, are right off the main highway.

Sluggo54 wrote:
I reversed the chains. They stay attached to the truck, not the trailer.

I've had Abus locks cut off with a battery grinder/cutoff wheel.

That's a great idea Sluggo.

Which locks do you use now?

I got a kick from This Bike theft video.

"I think I know which ones best.

But one thing to consider.. A thief doesn't care if I put a lock on the coupler, he simply hooks the safety chains up and goes. Wheel locks are the only thing that's going to keep my trailer from being stolen"


I reversed the chains. They stay attached to the truck, not the trailer. The temporary hookup goes on the trailer end.

I've had Abus locks cut off with a battery grinder/cutoff wheel.

mlts22 wrote:
I use two pair of security chains (one on each side) with stout Abus padlocks. I use Abus padlocks because the cylinder is decently weather resistant, and it takes an average speedpicker 10-12 hours to get that mechanism open. Again, not 100%, but good enough to keep the rig from seeing meth lab duty.

I'm trying to decide how to secure my tandem wheels after reading about plenty of people losing trailers with only coupler locks.. The Amplock looks great, but it's not much of a deterrent.

So lets talk about chains and locks or other, better ways to secure your wheels. I cant remove my wheels when I'm out camping, so should I buy a boron alloy chain? And a few Abus padlocks?

Thanks!

Do you guys really worry about trailer theft while boondocking? In all my time camping which has been extensive I have never had anything stolen even when tent camping with 1000's of dollars worth of tents, stoves, chairs and ATV's setting around. Heck never had extra cases of beer stolen and I would think they would be the first to go. I would think that if someone is actively looking to steal a trailer then no tongue lock or chain through the wheels is going to do anything because if I was roaming the back country looking to steal a trailer I would have a battery sawall and die grinder at the ready to cut whatever may need cutting. A crook would have to be pretty ballsy to steal a trailer in a limited access area where the owner could pass them on the road out.