Stolen Airstreams????

[mistermike]

My wife and I have never used our 17' Caravel for camping at a public campground but plan on doing so this coming summer. However a question came up that I could not answer.

Has anyone ever heard of a trailer being stolen from a campground while the owners were away for a few hours? My wife has the vision of returning from the beach to find our beloved Airstream gone. I now there are locks that fit over the hitch hole to deter anyone from hooking it up to a tow vehicle and driving off with it. However locks can be picked or otherwise compromised.

What other steps can be taken to prevent this?

Thanks,

[richinny]

you can start here:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ock-47196.html

and here:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ore-46976.html

[85MH325]

Mike, you're much more likely to find it missing from where ever you store it. You can put all the locks in the world on it, but a determined thief with a roll back tow truck is going to winch it up and take it anyway. You're also more likely to find the tow vehicle stolen from a campground than the trailer. You're also much more likely to have the trailer damaged by a tree falling on it in a campground than it being stolen. Crashing with the trailer happens MUCH more frequently than trailer thefts. In other words, there are a lot of things that are much more likely to happen to your trailer than it being stolen from a campground.

Yes, trailer theft from a campground has undoubtedly happened somewhere, but it's very VERY rare. I can't ever remember anyone reporting such an incident here.

Make sure the trailer's insured, and don't worry about it.

Roger

[Lothlorian]

That is a very good question about airstream trailers being stolen. I am going to a conference in several weeks and was thinking of pulling my airstream and staying in it. I would be at the conference from 8:00 A.M. until 4:30 P.M. for a few days. I decided to stay in a hotel instead because my airstream would be void of humans all day. It would be to easy to back up and steal it. If somebody wants it they will find away to take it. To many battery operated tools that can cut through anything.

Brian

[Frank's Trailer Works]

sorry to do this but... WHAT!?!?
Living in that kind of fear must be crushing. Your trailer was meant to travel and to leave it home out of fear some one MIGHT steal it just seems odd to me. If that is your worry, maybe you should think about why you own it in the first place. Sorry to be an @ss about this but I just don't get it. It is my hope you will use your trailer and enjoy it.

[SteveH]

I've never had a problem, been camping in some sort of trailer since the early 70's, but on the other hand, I do keep the hitch locked at all times. Yes, it's insured, but you know the hastle of replacing something like an Airstream.

[garry]

Yes they do get stolen and reported on this site from time to time.

I have 1st hand knowledge of one being stolen when the owner set it up on a Tue evening to save a good site for the upcoming holiday week-end they went back after work on Fri and the trailer was gone.

How often is an AS stolen "very very seldom" but leaving it obviously unattended for several days who knows.

Just be smart lock the hitch, set out some chairs, place a spare set of shoes/boots outside by the door and don't leave it at home your TV is thousands of times more likely to be stolen.

[jcanavera]

While we haven't had our trailer stolen, we have had things taken from our site. While camped in Myrtle Beach at the Ocean Lakes campground we left to go to the store. When we got back we found that our bumper caps (on our old sob trailer) were taken along with a set of aircraft wheel chocks that I gotten from my brother who is in the aircraft business. The folks who were camped next to us had left during the period we were gone and they had a wreck of a trailer. I specifically remember watching them set up next to us and noticed that they didn't have either of those items with their trailer.

I'm sure they saw the opportunity as they were leaving.

This is my only experience we have had with theft at a campground in over 36 years.

Jack

[ROBERT CROSS]

Never really worried about it, like Jack said, it's more likely the important little things will find legs.

I do feel more secure with the haha, what with the backwards stinger and all.

Normal precautions...lock the tongue.

Not so normal....Wheel Immobilizer Boot Menu

[nmgt350h]

You can what if everything in life! **** can happen… 3 years we took our SOB on a 2 week trip on the last day of the trip we disconnected from the trailer, and went to a restaurant for lunch. After returning to the parking lot my brand new f350 was gone…. Now it was a real bummer, but this is why we have insurance. I’m not going to let it stop me from enjoying the things I love to do, we just need to learn from it (and hang the bastard if we find them). My new truck has a tracking system on it, I guess you could also install one of these on your Airstream too, although I have never been to worried about someone stealing my Airstream. I do Know someone who leaves the electric jacks down and then switches a hidden power supply kill switch, if you tried to steal his you would be dragging the landing gear as you went down the road…

[tkasten]

Life is too short to worry. I used to worry about rain spots on my newly polished shell. Take resonable precautions and then go have fun....Tim

[Whirlaway]

When at home I try to always leave a vehicle in front of the AS. It's parked on the top of an incline that goes behind the house into woods. It's backed into a space next to the house with a fence and tree on either side. The with a lock on the hitch. If someone wants something just make it more difficult and hopefully they will go to the easier target. Bad guys are usually in a big rush.

[tkasten]

Found this pic in a thread by Mexray:

[Ahab]

No, have heard of vehicles, generators and lawn chairs but these were at boondocking sites.

[2airishuman]

a frequent and REGULAR question here...

as is almost everything u might think to ask.

so use the search tool to FIND the info...

it's there, just like the trailer that just disappeared!

along with the threads linked above here's another of the many on this issue...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f238...ers-29301.html

a few useful answers are provided, along with the guns, dogs. "u can't stop it" and 'don't worry, be happy' answers...

lojack it, denver boot it, but don't be foolish enough to 'save a camp site' by leaving yer trailer in a public campground several days UNattended...

dat's dumb.

and there are theft reports posted from every imaginable location,

including hooked to the tv hitch, yard, campground, dealer lot, wally parking lot, and so on...

cheers
2air'

[Jammer]

I don't think campgrounds are, in general, risky areas, because there are lots of witnesses and thieves don't like witnesses. Storage lots, as noted upthread, pose much more of a problem, and accept no liability in most cases, making this an area where the owner must use caution.

Spending the night in a hotel while the trailer is in the lot is risky. I've known people who have had SOBs stolen this way.

I have, at various times, secured tandem-axle trailers by running a chain through both wheels and padlocking it. There are various high security cable locks that could be used for this. Most thieves aren't going to bring two tires, a jack, and a lug wrench - a cutting torch is cheaper at that point.

But choosing a suitable location is much of the answer. Even a well secured trailer can be subject to thousands of dollars of vandalism in a minute or two.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Our 63 Safari had a manual tongue jack, when left in storage I lifted it most of the way up and took the handle off, anything to slo'em down.

mmmmmmmmmmmmm I wonder?

Most of you know how the power jack shorts out where the wires run under the propane tank cover....I put in a fuse holder, if needed I suppose I could just remove the fuse....thank's never occurred to me.

[Stefrobrts]

Mike, I don't blame you, I feel the same way when we leave our Caravel unattended. It's small, cute, attracts a lot of attention, and just about any vehicle that drives by could hook it up and tow it away. Our solution is to stay in parks with camp hosts who might notice that sort of shenanigans if we are going to be away for much of the time. We use a hitch lock as well. I still don't feel safe enough about it to leave our dog unattended in the trailer when we're going to be gone a couple hours. Losing the trailer would be inconvenient, but losing our dog would be devastating. So the dogs stay home unless it's a trip where we plan to hang around the trailer most of the time, or can take them with us wherever we go.

I say get a hitch lock or a wheel lock of some kind, stay where you feel safe and secure leaving it unattended, and get out and start enjoying that thing! Good luck!

[aluminauts]

We have been using the setup described in post #24 of this thread http://www.airforums.com/forums/167282-post24.html

Even though we really only apply the Pit Bull when we are to be gone one or more nights, it does give us a feeling that "some other trailer" would be an easier target that ours.

[adonh]

What about wheel locks and chocks like some listed below. Do they actually deter someone who might want to hook up to the trailer and take off.

Don

Wheel locks and chocks for your RV from tweetys.com