I’ll be picking my trailer up on Tuesday. How do I ensure that I can keep it and it doesn’t wander off with someone else after it’s in my possession?
Basically, I can’t. And here’s why:
- Any kind of lock with a key can be easily lock-picked
- Any kind of wheel chock lock can be defeated by removing the wheel (and/or picking the lock)
- Bolt cutters / portable grinders can quickly go through just about any kind of lock
- Any trailer can hooked up to a truck with its chains and towed away
- Or placed on a flatbed tow truck and carted off
That pretty much means that no matter what kind of lock I use, it can be easily defeated by someone that has any skills at all. Given that realization, I think the best I can do is have deterrents in place on my trailer so that hopefully the potential thief will go to some other trailer.
I’ve also been reading a forum on trailer security at CheapRVliving, where some of these various ideas are repeated. One interesting item there is a reasonably-priced GPS tracking system with a 5-year battery.
My plan at this point is to get some basic locks on the trailer for now and as soon as I feel a bit more flush, buy one of the 5-year GPS tracking devices. If anyone has any better ideas, I’d love to hear them.
Paint it in a really cool geometric pattern using lots of maroon, light blue, purple, pinks and tan….and other colors too. Make it distinctive and easy to spot— the white on white is too easy to blend into the masses. At least do an artistic border around the top foot or so!
You could stencil “Michael” around the top ringing it in difference colors….or do bands of color 3 feet long and a foot deep from the top and then stencil your name in white all the way around it.
This could be fun!
I’m not in gradeschool anymore… the idea of writing my name on my possessions isn’t exactly appealing. I also have no desire to deface my trailer by spray-painting it various colors. Look at my wardrobe: I prefer single-color items.
I’ll stick with the basic locks plus the GPS tracker once I feel it’s necessary.