No single security device is 100% effective at preventing theft, and all can be overcome by experienced thieves, sometimes in an alarmingly short space of time! Your aim is to make your van as difficult to steal as possible (multiple security devices), so that thieves must spend the greatest amount of time to steal which is the real deterrent effect. Your best hope is they either get caught in the act due to time spent disabling/overcoming security, or they just move on to easier pickings!
No lock is ever going to be totally secure but the best way to secure your van is to make it too much of a PITA for thieves to bother with. I don't have a caravan but I do have a number of different trailers. Most of them have a ring hitch which makes them harder to steal anyway and then they are chained through the hitch to solid steel bars concreted into the ground and fitted with wheel clamps. My smaller trailers with ball hitches have a Maypole ball type hitch lock and are again chained to ground posts. They are also covered by PIR floodlights and cctv cameras. I know that a determined thief with an angle grinder could cut through the locks, clamps and chains an get a trailer free in about 20 mins but not without making a lot of noise and giving me plenty of time to make them go away or for my dogs to eat them.
My advice would be to fit as many devices as you can without making it too much of a pain to unlock the van. Every lock, chain and clamp is another reason for a thief to look elsewhere for a van to steal.
Nothing will stop a determined "professional" thief as they will come equipped with whatever they need to remove anything they encounter. All you can do is fit something that will deter the casual opportunist. Virtually any hitchlock and wheel clamp will do that.
i have reservations about hitchlocks alone, i was on a site a couple of years ago, which has a storage facillity, and provided a tow onto pitch. a tractor was pulling caravans onto pitches all week long ,with hitchlocks fitted, using a leather sling, and securing strap,
ok , it was'nt on the highway, but just shows how easy it is, took all of 10 secconds to hitch them up
No wat u mean cut my hitch lock and two wheel locks of got away with caravan pick new one up next Saturday insurance instead on a alko wheel lock and a proactive 3 tracker not cheap just to get insurance
I have even heard of thieves turning up with a lorry with a hiab on. What good is a hitch lock or a wheel clamp then, when they can just lift the whole caravan onto the back of the lorry? Any security device is only a deterrent to the opportunist. Nothing will stop a "professional" thief.
A few years ago we had our beloved Sprite Musketeer stolen from the drive outside our house.
Just brought it back home from storage and half packed for a trip away.
It had a Millenco hitch lock fitted. The Police arrived later the following day. They told us that the thieves use seat belt webbing to secure the caravan to the back of the vehicle and drive away. Ours was the third stolen in two days, all had hitchlocks.
So always use two methods kof security, hitch lock and wheelclamp.
On our camper we use DiscLok on steering wheel and a wheelclamp.
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Topic: Hitch locks
via mobile 11/5/2022 at 9:16am
