Stolen trailer, again.

Originally Posted by AZjeff
If a $300 lock would stop it would that be cheaper than having another one stolen? (What is your brother doing with the interesting cars?)

He does some towing on the side, a friend of ours owns a mechanic shop and those were on their way for some work.

I think he's gonna have to end up finding a rental place to park the replacement. But then again, rent on a lot expenses will easily pay for a fancy lock.
 
Often during a state of emergency, penalties for theft/looting are considerably higher than at other times. It's at times like these a GPS tracker would be really helpful....
 
Put a break away brake switch underneath it somewhere and put an anchor in the ground to hook it to. When they take off with it it will either make them drop it or leave black marks till they cut wires. This would mean the emergency break away system would have to be in working order.
 
How about some motion sensor flood lights pointed in the area of where the trailer is stored. Might also put a motion activated outdoor camera like what hunters use in the woods - might get them on video under flood lights.
 
Originally Posted by ZeeOSix
How about some motion sensor flood lights pointed in the area of where the trailer is stored. Might also put a motion activated outdoor camera like what hunters use in the woods - might get them on video under flood lights.


It sounds like the trailer was parked on a street beside the house, might get a lot of on and off and photos of cars going by...

Bet it was the same lowlifes both times and they'll be back to see what's available next. If he can't make it too hard to steal a good surveillance camera that could read license plates and be able to make IDs from might help. Or both.
 
Sorry to hear that. It's crazy.

Why would someone steal that? I'm assuming that a trailer has the equivalent of a VIN (may be totally wrong there), and needs to get registered. Wouldn't that be an impediment? I'd find it hard to believe it's worth taking across the border - there's not a lot of value added in a trailer you can't get and build there minus the risk. And scrapping makes what? 12c/lb?
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
Sorry to hear that. It's crazy.

Why would someone steal that? I'm assuming that a trailer has the equivalent of a VIN (may be totally wrong there), and needs to get registered. Wouldn't that be an impediment? I'd find it hard to believe it's worth taking across the border - there's not a lot of value added in a trailer you can't get and build there minus the risk. And scrapping makes what? 12c/lb?

I bet they are using it to steal cars by winching it onto the trailer.
Some lowlifes steal everything.
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
Sorry to hear that. It's crazy.

Why would someone steal that? I'm assuming that a trailer has the equivalent of a VIN (may be totally wrong there), and needs to get registered. Wouldn't that be an impediment? I'd find it hard to believe it's worth taking across the border - there's not a lot of value added in a trailer you can't get and build there minus the risk. And scrapping makes what? 12c/lb?

If the thief owns a similar trailer I'm guessing they can just swap plates around, and no one would ever be the wiser. Just how often does a police officer check registration of a trailer against its VIN plate? as in, during a routine (or not so routine) stop?

I did have an officer do a VIN check on a trailer that I bought, but that as to keep everything legal--I couldn't register it without that check (owner couldn't find a prior registration paper during the sale). So I know it can be done (a VIN check) but I'm not sure how often anyone really checks these things.

I'm pretty sure I could own several (small) trailers but only register one, and swap the plate around, and get away with that for life.
 
MF's... Sorry to hear. This phone scammer and 'eh holes that vandalize vehicles should be beaten half to death (Only reason not to beat them to death (at least the for the 1st offense) is so word gets around, thus discouraging future occurrences.

I think we need to get way more hard-core and vigilant with neighborhood watch
 
Since this thread was revived, last year he got a call from the police department, it was found on the side of the road pretty trashed. Had some random engine strapped to the back of it and they stole the battery for the winch. Also, they spray painted the fenders and sides of the trailer silver. Insurance company didn't let him buy it back. Sorry for the poor quality police department photos.

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At least it didn’t have that beautiful Volkswagen bus on it when it was stolen. I’m glad they found it too but sorry about the condition, nowadays it seems you can’t have anything nice. Did he get another one?
 
At least it didn’t have that beautiful Volkswagen bus on it when it was stolen. I’m glad they found it too but sorry about the condition, nowadays it seems you can’t have anything nice. Did he get another one?
He hasn’t replaced it yet, maybe sometime this year. It’s too bad. It was the perfect trailer.
 
Originally Posted by AZjeff
If a $300 lock would stop it would that be cheaper than having another one stolen? (What is your brother doing with the interesting cars?)

He does some towing on the side, a friend of ours owns a mechanic shop and those were on their way for some work.

I think he's gonna have to end up finding a rental place to park the replacement. But then again, rent on a lot expenses will easily pay for a fancy lock.
Back when I had a nice twin axle … found a cheap rental storage right out of city limits … gravel and no concrete … pea gravel floor - but built from oilfield pipe. He had a locked (coded) gate and heavy locks on doors perfect for the round locks … Kept trailer and tires out of the sun and rain too … There was better stuff to steal there too 👀
 
At least it didn’t have that beautiful Volkswagen bus on it when it was stolen. I’m glad they found it too but sorry about the condition, nowadays it seems you can’t have anything nice. Did he get another one?
My brother had a VW van when he went to UT in Austin … he used to draft 18 wheelers for MPH and MPG.
It could barely do 60 MPH with a strong headwind 😜
 
A heavy duty cable with a robust lock through the spokes of the wheels is a big deterrent.
Simply thread the cable through the spokes in the wheels and use a good lock such as American Lock to lock it.

In your case I would use one on each side.
 
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I hate thieves. They make different GPS trackers, some without monthly fees, that might be worth looking into. I'd second chaining the trailer wheels/booting it as well as storing it somewhere off-street.
AirTag - Apple

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AirTag is a tracking device developed by Apple. AirTag is designed to act as a key finder, which helps people find personal objects. To locate lost items, AirTags use Apple's crowdsourced Find My network, estimated in early 2021 to consist of approximately one billion devices worldwide that detect and anonymously report emitted Bluetooth signals. AirTags are compatible with any iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch device capable of running iOS/iPadOS 14.5 or later. Using the built-in U1 chip on iPhone 11 or later, users can more precisely locate items using UWB technology. AirTag was announced on April 20, 2021, made available for pre-order on April 23, and released on April 30.

Apple AirTag: A Brilliant Car Tracker, As This Road Test ...
 
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