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THEPILL · 10-28-2010, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jammer

Shane correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe the problem at hand is one of trailers being stolen despite their owners' presence.

I think your right, But you never know... who's inside or camping near by.

My post is more of deterrant.

Shane

RichHog · 10-28-2010, 04:19 PM

I think the GPA Tracker gives you the option of taking the recovery matter into your own hands (something that's a very Texas sentiment) or calling the police and meeting them at the destination. I like the boundary idea. If my trailer moves 12 feet, I want an e-mail or alert knowing it THEN.

We still deeply miss our 72 Tradewind even though the 06 Safari SE FB is incredible that we bought to replace it. What I want every Airstream owner to realize is that the locks, chains, and hitch covers are easy prey to the pro thieves out there. They create a false sense of security.

The guys that took my trailer probably took the license plate off it a mile away from my office and then put on another one from another trailer, not stolen. Only if the police were to run that license plate would they realize that it doesn't belong on the Airstream. But hey thieves are con men so they probably so they took it off their boat to move the trailer to a deer lease.

Norm1234 · 10-28-2010, 07:18 PM

Check out www.zoombak.com I picked mine up at Target for about $100. You can set it up so that if it moves from its normal parking spot it will text you. All traking is done from zoombak's web site and google maps. There is even a smart phone app.

cclarkego · 10-28-2010, 07:35 PM

The Zoombak looks good, small size, easy to hide, no hauling the trailer to an installer. How easy was it to set up the perimeter setting? How long does the battery last on standby? Anyone have any ideas for this one versus other models?

Carol

dznf0g · 10-28-2010, 08:27 PM

Shane's exactly right. The rest of us could learn from Texas....and a few other States.

SmokelessJoe · 10-28-2010, 08:37 PM

How come the places that justify so-called "deadly force" are the same places where the stealin' is goin' on, like in Texas ???

dznf0g · 10-28-2010, 08:39 PM

Nobody's caught 'em in the act....yet!

RichHog · 10-28-2010, 09:51 PM

I've wondered what I would do if I ran into my trailer somewhere. Probably call 911 and wait for the police.

The Zoombak looks good if you want to pay the high service fees for the servicing. If your tracking daily people or vehicle movement then it seems great. The Smart Tracker for $175 seems better and cheaper at 175 and $25 a year activation keeps it from being a big budget item. Or just $4.95 for a 24 hr. activation. I'm thinking the fridge compartment would be a good location for it, as it would look like just part of the fridge electronics, and there is 12 V power in there. Also the Smart Tracker just looks like a plastic box. No labeling on it that says "I'm a GPS device.

dznf0g · 10-28-2010, 09:57 PM

I hear that BestBuy is going to offering "OnStar in a box" soon. Not sure what all services that will offer, but if it's like the TV version it will offer stolen vehicle locating, plus the benefit of medical/police call "panic" button, etc?
Of course, if you take power out during storage, none of these electronic systems will work. Stay tuned.

Jim J · 10-28-2010, 10:50 PM

Ford F250's are being stolen in southern border states because they make good vehicles for bringing in illicit cargo across the Mexican border, and are strong enough to go off road at high speed and smash through fences, especially if equipped with 4 wheel drive and grill guards. Older models did not have sophisticated antitheft systems built in making them easier to steal.

SmokelessJoe · 10-29-2010, 07:30 AM

DZN.

I think you missed my point. Think about it.

Sergei

dznf0g · 10-29-2010, 07:38 AM

Sergei, yop, you lost me...not finding the true??? meaning of your post?

slowmover · 10-29-2010, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmokelessJoe

How come the places that justify so-called "deadly force" are the same places where the stealin' is goin' on, like in Texas ???

Whether it's cattle, construction equipment, a work truck loaded with tools, etc, the theft of said items can put a man out of business or make it quite difficult to again get affordable insurance. This has always been true. From drought to tornado to a blue norther, Nature traditionally made things tough here, but crime could also make a livelihood impossible when the bank note came due.

The last of the great "Enclosure Law" movements of people off the land was in the seven year drought of the 1950's. Texas went from being 50-years behind the rest of the country to being nearer to it for the period 1950-1980. The great cities here distort what life is like for the rural areas, which, due to gerrymandered political districts, still dominate the state legislature and the national delegation. And huge swaths of this state are far, far removed from law enforcement. Always have been.

Without oil Texas is little different than Mississippi . . but MS doesn't share one-half the US border with a foreign country. Property is a leg up in a place where many have none. There are virtually no job guarantees in this state (unions almost non-existent; one can legally be fired for no reason given ; giant petroleum and insurance companies have long dominated politics) so crime is a way of lashing back in electoral politics.

Credit Suisse calculates the 2010 median wealth in Canada--the wealth of the typical Canadian family--at $94,700. That's about double the $47,771 U.S. median net worth.

The US is a mid-rank second tier country now (with only a few exceptions such as number of imprisoned citizens or executions of same), and Canada is not. Texas is well-below the national average, especially when the distortion of three cities is removed (only NYC has more billionaires than Dallas-Fort Worth).

We live in a very different world than do you, down here.

Property crimes can have life-changing consequences.

.

THEPILL · 10-29-2010, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Nobody's caught 'em in the act....yet!

AMEN!!

Shane

THEPILL · 10-29-2010, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by REDNAX

..............................
..................We live in a very different world than do you, down here.

Property crimes can have life-changing consequences.

.

Amen to that also...

Shane

RichHog · 10-29-2010, 09:58 AM

Nice rant REDNAX. Not sure what it has to do GPS and trailer theft, but I'll raise the Texas flag for you and pop a Lone Star.

Foiled Again · 10-29-2010, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichHog

I've wondered what I would do if I ran into my trailer somewhere. Probably call 911 and wait for the police.

The Zoombak looks good if you want to pay the high service fees for the servicing. If your tracking daily people or vehicle movement then it seems great. The Smart Tracker for $175 seems better and cheaper at 175 and $25 a year activation keeps it from being a big budget item. Or just $4.95 for a 24 hr. activation. I'm thinking the fridge compartment would be a good location for it, as it would look like just part of the fridge electronics, and there is 12 V power in there. Also the Smart Tracker just looks like a plastic box. No labeling on it that says "I'm a GPS device.

Call 911 AFTER slicing the valve stems off! Put that puppy on four flat tires, then call the police. Carry the VIN number and a copy of your title with you at all times - that and a utility knife for the valve stems.

We had an OLD crappy van stolen three years ago. I swore I saw it in the southern part of town - by the time I called the office and got the VIN number they'd been in a bar for over an hour. I checked it - BINGO. Called 911. Police showed up 2 hours later - after the very rough looking man and 3 cronies drove off with it. I took pictures with my cell phone camera from a safe distance but they weren't good enough to ID the guys, only the new plate came out good. It of course was also stolen.
Sigh.

Well, they don't know anyone's looking for them so I assume they'll show up in the same location again. I drop in and visit it periodically, box cutter and copy of the title in hand.

The van? An old Crysler mini-van which was probably worth $500 or less - now an even worse wreck, covered in spilled paint and drywall compound, but it IS the principle of the thing. We kinda think we saw the people who took it and they probably need it more than we do, but still had they asked, we would have sold it to them cheap. Now, they can get free meals from the state if we catch them.

Paula

**DKB_SATX** · 10-29-2010, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmokelessJoe

How come the places that justify so-called "deadly force" are the same places where the stealin' is goin' on, like in Texas ???

Texas is a very large place, and a cluster doesn't in itself constitute a trend.

The trailers that were stolen in Texas were spread fairly far apart... 2 within 50 miles of each other (Austin and San Marcos) one in Houston (160 miles east of Austin) and one near Hueco Tanks, 600 miles west of Austin and within spitting distance of an international border and another state, and 4 hours' drive from a 3rd state... lots of empty places for thieves to come from and escape to out there.

So, it's not like 4 trailers were stolen from a single metro area or in some meth-making county, it just happens that they all have the "TX" on their license plates. One of the thefts was a con job (and that dirtbag sold it for scrap within a day or so of passing a bad check for the trailer to someone who thought he was a friend) and one seems like it might also have gone to a scrap-hound. The ones from San Marcos and Houston were thefts-from-storage, I think.

KL's 77 · 10-29-2010, 01:29 PM

What is the population of Texas? 35 million ? Legal and illegal, counted and not counted, What is the population of all of Canada? The point is,
everything happens more here, except world champion sports.