If it wasn't for bad luck...

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by kfrere

I don't see a Jimmi Jammer for a Sprinter van on the website. They seem to want a specific vehicle to reference.

Doesn't matter. The way to jimmy a Sprinter is to insert an inflatable gizmo called a pump wedge at the top rear corner of a front door and inflate it to bend out the corner of the door, then reach in with a wire probe and pull up the locking knob on the door. I watched my Sprinter dealer do that on mine after I had it towed in and the keys were accidentally locked inside. After they deflated the pump wedge, you couldn't even tell the door had been bent; it sprang right back to its original position. And no damage at all to the locking mechanism.

Hopefully no Sprinter van thieves are reading this…

[pappy19]

Originally Posted by kfrere

I don't see a Jimmi Jammer for a Sprinter van on the website. They seem to want a specific vehicle to reference.

I noted that the MB Sprinter wasn't listed for the jimmi-jammer, however, show the scematic of the setup to your mechanic or body shop. They can get into the door and place the small hose clamp around the lock clip as shown in the diagram. Once the hose clamp is in place, it will take a sledge hammer and screw driver to break the lock.

Any of you with an American made truck can get jimmi-jammers and I highly recommend them, ESPECIALLY Ford Super Duties and F-150's.

[Bill M.]

I personally am going to stay out of St. Louis (and with less incentive, New Orleans). I drove a lot of miles extra coming back from the west coast at the end of last summer just not to have to drive any where near St. Louis. There was loose talk then about a protest that would shut down I70.
It is too bad that such a nice thing as a AI seems to be a magnet for bad folks to destroy. I guess that is a factor in a decision to buy or not buy one.

[MN CakeEater]

Maybe our luck is changing! I spent a few hours over the weekend trying to diagnose the problem with our a/c cycling on and off and trying to determine if it was an a/c issue or inverter problem.

I had fired off a short email to Airstream support late yesterday afternoon and already have a reply this morning. It seems the issue is with the inverter and it's as simple as changing the settings. The inverter was set at a high charging rate (7-8 amps) and a/c uses approximately 18 amps. This causes the power management system to shed the water heater and a/c to get back under 20 amps when the gen is running.

By changing the setting to a low charging rate (2 amps), we'll keep the amps at around 20 or less and shouldn't have this cycling problem going forward. Let's hope this is corrrect!

Wow! Our first issue that isn't going to cost me $1000's of dollars! It's time for a piece of cake! LOL!

[twolanehwy]

well thats good to hear. Security system is well spent money.
I live in SF CA and I have all my cars with motion sensor and basic Viper alarms.
I park on the street and never been broken into.
I can't say the same for the car next to me or down the street that didn't have one.

[InterBlog]

I lived in the inner city of St. Louis for 3 years while attending grad school (WUSTL). I had soooo much trouble with personal and auto security. At the time, as a starving student, I was driving a POS car I had bought for $650. You know how they have "world's ugliest dog" contests? Well, I had the world's ugliest car, and it STILL got broken into. I wouldn't park my Interstate in St. Louis unless it was on a secure lot with an armed guard.

After I read this thread, I wondered if perhaps my St. Louis experience played a role in making me as detail-oriented (some might use the word obsessive) about security as I am. Summary of comments from a variety of other related threads:

(1) Our Interstate is plated Dodge, and I like it that way. If it were plated MB, I'd want to change it to lower my target profile. Ours is also an older vehicle, which probably helps.

(2) If they can't see inside, they are much less likely to smash-and-grab. I don't park my Interstate anywhere without engaging in full window obscuration, including custom sun shades on windshield and side windows. My husband grumbles about this, worrying that the police will mistake it for a camping effort, but I haven't had any such conflict thus far.

(3) No attractive expensive stereo for us. I use a UE Boom portable speaker Bluetooth'd to my iPhone.

(4) I always leave the Fantastic running to create ambiguity as to whether anyone is still inside.

(5) If boondocking overnight, I often post a "beware of owner" sign in my window, the sign with the revolver barrel pointing at the viewer. (Not everyone agrees that this type of presentation would do more good than harm.)

(6) I use a Pacsafe Travelsafe 12L bag to secure small valuables in a concealed interior location. It would probably take bolt cutters to liberate the thing from the vehicle, so that provides a measure of protection against smash-and-grabbers who typically do not anticipate a need for bolt cutters when breaking into vehicles (although nothing in life is guaranteed). I used the Pacsafe in a rental car while traveling this summer, tethering it to the seat frame. It gave me a bit of peace of mind.

(7) I travel with multiple weapons.

(8) Especially in urban locations, I often park and then hang out in the Interstate for about 5 minutes before exiting. That kind of behavior allows me to observe the area for safety and it also confuses the hell out of anyone who may have the area under surveillance, because they are expecting someone to park, exit immediately, and walk away obliviously in the usual fashion. It leaves them wondering what else might be going on inside the vehicle (which they cannot see into).

(9) I own a small business and I have my corporate magnetic signs on the Interstate most of the time. The nature of the business does not suggest that anything tech-y or valuable would be inside. Again, this is intended to confuse would-be smash-and-grabbers - the signage suggests that this is not just another wealthy person on vacation, so there's less fitting of a target profile.

FWIW.

[Hittenstiehl]

Interblog your habits are spot on from where we see it.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Yikes - doesn't sound good. You are the second owner of a Sprinter based B-van that I know of who had their van robbed in the St. Louis area. Mike Wendland the Roadtrek blogger had his robbed in the St. Louis area.


- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

If I'm guessing correctly, you parked south of the arch on the road that is adjacent to the levee and river under the bridge for I55. That locale is a hotbed for bus, Van, and RV break ins. The thieves know you are traveling with goodies and nothing but police presence stops these crooks. My advice is to stay away from street parking in the riverfront area and find an attended pay lot in the downtown area.

Jack

[MN CakeEater]

We were parked in the Busch Stadium parking lot. Five parking spots from the parking lot attendant who had a clear view of our coach. The police officers told us that the parking lot attendant was probably "in on it".

The saddest part was when we called a week later to get a police report and the employee said something to the affect of "let me guess...you're from out of town?" She went on to say how everyone calling for reports in the area of Busch Stadium and the Arch are people who are tourists to the city.

Welcome to St. Louis!!!

[InterBlog]

If it's any consolation, I don't think it matters much where you park. My car was broken into on the campus of my alma mater which, the last time I checked, had an endowment larger than the GDP of about 47 of the earth's autonomous nations. It's not like I had made the mistake of parking in a sketchy area, in other words.

[jcanavera]

Wow, there are so many lots in the area that there isn't anything that is the official Busch stadium lot. I know the city now requires lot attendants, supposedly to minimize break ins. So sorry to hear what happened to you. I remember not too long ago they arrested a parking lot attendant who apparently was part of a group breaking into cars. Smash and grab has been a common theme for those who are either leaving items of value in view, or driving vehicles which obviously by their nature have valuable commodities in them.

[Rosie39j]

We had the joy of a break-in passing through New Orleans in a rented class C. Took three iPads, an air book laptop, two iPhones, and my Harmon nav unit. NOPD laughed us out of the station. Haven't been back to NOLA since, and we love the city..

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Rosie39j

NOPD laughed us out of the station.

NOPD is known for being less than helpful in the matter of any crime that doesn't involve death or rape.

Two examples from my own personal experience…
1 - in the 1990s, my Dodge Caravan was stolen. I reported it. I was told, "We have over 300 vehicle thefts per month, and don't have time to look for stolen vehicles. If the thieves use it in the commission of a crime and we catch them, or if they abandon it somewhere, you might get it back." I ended up going looking for it myself, and the next day I stole it back— at gunpoint— from the people who stole it from me. Now there is a tale for around the campfire! I told the police I recovered it, but didn't tell them how.

2 - also in the 1990s, an ex-girlfriend stole my credit cards. I didn't know she had them for about a month, until the bills came rolling in. I wasn't using the cards, so they were filed at home, and I didn't take inventory every time anyone visited. Didn't know she robbed me the day she broke up with me. Every single card was more than maxed out in a single month because the charges came in so fast. Reported the theft to the police, and they refused to even take the report. Told me, "You probably just gave them to her and then changed your mind. You'll have to sue her." Not their call to determine— without even bothering to investigate— that no crime was committed. And hard to sue someone who disappears and can't be served a subpoena. When I reported the theft to the credit card companies, first thing they asked was, "Do you have a police report?" They decided that if the police weren't treating the matter as a crime, they wouldn't either, and I was stuck with the bills. All $56,000 of them! I ended up filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy to get out of having to pay bills that were the result of stolen cards, and even then I had to pay $6,000 of the charges because one credit card company threatened to prosecute ME for fraud if I went bankrupt before making a single payment on their bill.

And one experience of a friend of mine, who was a musician in the French Quarter…
3 - his van, which he used to transport his equipment to and from gigs, was stolen in the French Quarter while he was performing. Over the next three years, the van accumulated over 300 parking tickets. He receives a letter from NOPD, telling him that if he doesn't pay his tickets, the van will be confiscated and sold at auction to pay the tickets. His exact reply, "Great! You do that. It was stolen three years ago, and you found it over 300 times since then and didn't do a damned thing to recover it." And a year later, over a hundred more tickets, same response, indicating that they never did confiscate it even after saying they would. And of course with all of those unpaid tickets, he couldn't renew his driver's license, because one condition of getting a license in Louisiana is that all unpaid tickets must be paid, right there at the DMV. With hundreds of tickets, the tickets added up to more than the van was worth. To this day he can't drive due to not having a license.

All three incidents are God's bespoke truth. Not a word of exaggeration.

[73shark]

And to think that 10 years ago, Hurricane Katrina almost removed it from the face of the earth.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by 73shark

And to think that 10 years ago, Hurricane Katrina almost removed it from the face of the earth.

Well, after Katrina I moved to Metairie, and have only been a victim of crime once, when my Interstate was burglarized. Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office was on-scene to investigate within half an hour, and they took fingerprints and blood samples from a bloodstain that may have been caused by the thief cutting himself on the broken window. BIG difference from NOPD's laissez-faire attitude! After moving out of New Orleans, I refused to set foot in the city except for work, and one special exception for my WBCCI Unit's Christmas Rally. Now that I've retired, the City of New Orleans will never see me again except for passing through on I-10.

[Rosie39j]

Protagonist is now officially my favorite poster on any forum!

[Brucet45410]

Protag's story telling is sans pareil!


2014 Airstream Interstate
Round trip VA to ID longest trip so far.

[kfrere]

Soon after this thread started I ordered the Pacsafe Travelsafe directly from Pacsafe in preparation for a trip starting late September. Two weeks later they have refunded my money because they "oversold" the product. Might be able to take a new order mid-October. Hopefully, I'll at least have Viper installed by then. You guys have me a bit nervous!

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by kfrere

Soon after this thread started I ordered the Pacsafe Travelsafe directly from Pacsafe in preparation for a trip starting late September. Two weeks later they have refunded my money because they "oversold" the product. Might be able to take a new order mid-October. Hopefully, I'll at least have Viper installed by then. You guys have me a bit nervous!

Yup, I noticed the other day that Amazon is sold out of Pacsafes and doesn't know when they will have them back in stock. That is like End Times in the retail sense, when Amazon can't get hold of something. Word of mouth must have gone viral. It's the only product of its type that I have found, and I did a lot of research.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Yup, I noticed the other day that Amazon is sold out of Pacsafes and doesn't know when they will have them back in stock. That is like End Times in the retail sense, when Amazon can't get hold of something. Word of mouth must have gone viral. It's the only product of its type that I have found, and I did a lot of research.

Not to worry. Pacsafe may discontinue a particular product, but they still have many others that could fill your needs.
Pacsafe Anti-Theft Travel Bags and Travel Accessories | Pacsafe