How do you secure your trailer at home?

[Downing]

Mine's parked in the driveway with the tongue facing the street, and I'd rather not have someone drive off with it. I'd rather have it facing my garage, but my driveway's so short that I don't want to risk backing into it.

After looking at various options, I decided to run a chain through one of the wheels, then around the axle and back out through the wheel and lock it with a padlock.

Went online looking for a beefy chain and found this: Peerless Hardened Alloy Hex Shape Anti-Theft 7/16" Chain. Purchased a 7-foot section.

Then after looking at a number of padlocks, I settled on this one: Abus 37/55mm Granit Plus Padlock.

Maybe that's good enough but I'm wondering if there's anything else I can or should do. I don't want to hassle with unbolting and removing the Lock And Roll hitch every time I park the trailer. I feel like it's unusual enough that your typical thieving meth head won't have one. Per YouTube, the lock can be picked but that's way beyond the skillset of most thieves. Short of a blow torch, I don't think they'll be able to cut the lock or chain. I know if a thief is determined enough he could get through it but the idea is to slow him down enough that my neighbors would take notice and call the cops.

But any ideas or suggestions would be welcome. Oops, I apologize in advance for the double posting of the photos.

 

[RogueWon]

 

[Louisd75]

I park mine in the garage. I'm not a thief, but having had a bunch of stuff stolen over the years, here's how I'd steal your trailer:

First I'd drive through the neighborhood. Cool, there's your trailer, out in plain sight. I'd be able to tell pretty quickly what kind of hitch you've got, whether it's got a lock or not. It's hard to tell if you've got a bag over it or not, but if it's bagged then I would plan on taking a walk through the neighborhood so that I could feel it up or take the bag off and look. If it's a multi axis type of coupling I would probably pass unless I'd already managed to steal a matching one from somewhere else. If it's got a regular ball hitch that doesn't have a lock, we're in business. I'd back my truck right up to your hitch and secure it on. My methhead buddy and I would then slide a speed dolly (that we stole from a tow truck) underneath each wheel. We may or may not bother with cranking up your tongue jack, but if it's not somehow locked in the down position then we probably would. We might not need to depending on how much higher the truck hitch is than the trailer. Total time estimate from putting the truck into reverse to driving your trailer away is probably less than five minutes.

My advice? Park it in the garage if you have one available. If you have a removeable coupling, I would take that out and lock a hitch receiver cap in it. I would also remove any tow chains. I'd also crank the tongue jack down all the way and lock it to get the tongue up at an unreasonable height. Locking the wheels is a good idea, but as you can see it's pretty easy to work around unless your wheels are locked to something else that's not part of the trailer. Some sort of cover for the trailer would be a good idea. I wouldn't just drape a tarp over it, then you'll likely end up with mold or water issues, but if you could do some sort of small shelter I think that would help with the prying eyes.

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

Meth and crack heads don't care if the wheels are chained and locked, they don't care if it has a coupler or not, or if the jack is all the way down. They are in a hurry for a quick snatch and grab.

The safety chains make for quick and easy towing, they don't care if the wheels turn or not. Yeah sure it is going to leaving bread crumb trails but they are high and haven't thought about that. By the time LEO finds your trailer the tires will be burned off and the tongue bent all to hell. Hope the trailer doesn't catch fire.

Best way to prevent it from being stolen is out of sight of mind.

 

[ITTOG]

For your scenario I would remove the tires and put them and the lug nuts inside the garage.

Is the bush and tree in the background yours? if yes, why not put it back there and chain it to the tree plus remove the tires.

 

[Buliwyf]

I'd just hitch up and go. Nobody is going to notice the tire squeal. Pull over and cut the chain off a mile away.

My truck won't even notice if that trailer has tires or not.

 

[john61ct]

I would rather move than have to live like that.

Have never locked the house in 50+ years, even going away on long trips.

Usually leave keys in the vehicles.

 

[lowrider_rt2000]

I can break just about any lock with 2 open face wrenches in +/- 5 seconds. You're wasting your money with the chain through the wheel. Your "safety" chains are my best friends for a quick hookup and go! What I do with my safety chains is, use a quick link for each chain at the trailer end. After I park the trailer, I undo each quick link and put the chains in the back of my Jeep. Nothing to hook up to. I also use a tongue lock to deter people. This is the lock I have.

Sent from my WJ

 

[2.ooohhh]

I wired both my trailers to be plugged into extra zones on my home security system. Looks to the common thief like they are hooked up to battery tenders, if the circuit is closed when armed then the alarm goes off when the circuit changes state. Though if they back a truck that far down my driveway at night the system will have already sensed it and turned on the exterior flood lights and alerted me.

 

[honda250xtitan]

behind my driveway fence with a "killer" pitbull mix lol not to be confused with a killer Pitbull mixtape...but that'd probably work better at keeping people away.

for how tiny these are, why not frame up a shed and keep it outta sight?

 

[honda250xtitan]

I'd just hitch up and go. Nobody is going to notice the tire squeal. Pull over and cut the chain off a mile away.

My truck won't even notice if that trailer has tires or not.

hahaha so true. my dump trailer brakes locked up the other day randomly, Ferd didn't care one bit.

 

[ottsville]

Locks/security measures keep honest people honest. Every thing else is just a method to slow someone down. Make sure it is insured, secure it, tarp it, and hope for the best.

 

[jadmt]

I would rather move than have to live like that.

Have never locked the house in 50+ years, even going away on long trips.

Usually leave keys in the vehicles.

unfortunately not many places like that any more. I used to be able to do that but even in Montana that is becoming a thing of the past. where do you live and what kind of vehicles do you have? asking for a friend of course lol.

 

[jadmt]

I have a removable tongue on my trailer.

 

[rkj__]

I have an insurance policy on the trailer, which provides me most of the peace of mind I need to be able to sleep at night, without trailer theft being my biggest worry.

I have a coupler lock as well, so if it does get stolen, I can say, "Yeah, I had a lock on it, I'm not stupid."

I cycled through the many options, and concluded that if a theif with any bit of knowledge, tools, and determination wants my trailer bad enough, he is going to get it, no matter what reasonable measures I take.