Came out my house on Monday to find out that some person/s have attempted to steal my Alpine Sprite!
It was fitted with an Alko safety hitch lock which had been pried off and opened up like a banana!
They had also tried to remove my wheel lock but this had got stuck on tyre. I think they were going to attempt and remove the wheel nuts as they broke into the locked box and took out the stay winder! I think at this point someone spooked them and they cleared off.
All very worrying!
I have now fitted another wheel lock (one on each wheel) and bought one of these:
Looks much stronger so fingers crossed.
Additionally I have fitted a 110 decibel alarm inside which is truly deafening when it goes off (you can't work our where the sound is coming from - it bounces off everywhere!)
words can't convey the feeling ,not ones i can print anyway ,they done some damage looking at them pictures ,.what a world we live in is nothing fxxxxxxx sacred anymore
I have also parked my car within inches of my caravan, so getting at the o/s wheel is almost impossible, unless they try to steal the car as well!
I hate these thieving scum.
I must say though, I reported it to the Police and they came within the hour and sent a forensics person within 3 hours. Really impressed. Unfortunately there was nothing to dust.
We go away a week Saturday. I think I will sleep in the van Friday night as it will have all our stuff in it then.
Until then sleepless nights worrying about what is happening in the wee hours
Never been a big fan of hitch locks myself, heard too many tales of how easy they are to remove compared to other security devices. Still use one though, along with other things, in the hope that by using various different devices it will put thieves off. Don't know how much of a deterrent taking out the soft furnishings would be either, depending on who was stealing it they might just be content to use foam squares or similar in place of tailor made cushions. Would certainly remove them if you have the storage space in the house though, wont do any harm. Hope your alarm has a "tilt" sensor function.
One security device I would recommend is the jsbhublock, resistant to cutting: www.jsbhublock.co.uk
The only downside to that is you need to remove a wheel to fit it. Takes about 15minutes to fit but taking the wheel on and off puts a lot of people off. Have a look at the website, it does, or it used to, show some footage of a gas cutter being used of the hub lock. Also contrary to what some people will say the security bolts cannot be removed by the usual methods thieves use on this type of thing.
Glad they didnt get away with your sprite. All we can do is protect them as best we can and the more things on the longer it will take them to get the locks etc off so may put them off trying.
So sorry to hear about the attempted theft. It is just awful that scumbags think they can just take what others have worked hard for. There are alot of bad people out there.
Going slightly off note here, I have just read about somebody who had £30k worth of caravan stolen, only to be found 18 months later being lived in by gypsies. The police are unable to evict them as it is a breach of the thieving watsits human rights!! Wtf??
We have something on our wheel, which I think is an Alko wheel lock. It seems pretty good although i have to ensure the hole it fits in is in exactly the right place so a bit fiddly. We also have the Alko hitch lock. Whatever we have, I guess the scum will find a way in if they are determined.
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Quote: Originally posted by artel on 31/7/2013
Never been a big fan of hitch locks myself, heard too many tales of how easy they are to remove compared to other security devices. Still use one though, along with other things, in the hope that by using various different devices it will put thieves off. Don't know how much of a deterrent taking out the soft furnishings would be either, depending on who was stealing it they might just be content to use foam squares or similar in place of tailor made cushions. Would certainly remove them if you have the storage space in the house though, wont do any harm. Hope your alarm has a "tilt" sensor function.
One security device I would recommend is the jsbhublock, resistant to cutting: www.jsbhublock.co.uk
The only downside to that is you need to remove a wheel to fit it. Takes about 15minutes to fit but taking the wheel on and off puts a lot of people off. Have a look at the website, it does, or it used to, show some footage of a gas cutter being used of the hub lock. Also contrary to what some people will say the security bolts cannot be removed by the usual methods thieves use on this type of thing.
I also use a JSB hublock & confirm there is no way it can be removed without making the van untowable
Quote: Originally posted by MadMum1972 on 31/7/2013
So sorry to hear about the attempted theft. It is just awful that scumbags think they can just take what others have worked hard for. There are alot of bad people out there.
Going slightly off note here, I have just read about somebody who had £30k worth of caravan stolen, only to be found 18 months later being lived in by gypsies. The police are unable to evict them as it is a breach of the thieving watsits human rights!! Wtf??
We have something on our wheel, which I think is an Alko wheel lock. It seems pretty good although i have to ensure the hole it fits in is in exactly the right place so a bit fiddly. We also have the Alko hitch lock. Whatever we have, I guess the scum will find a way in if they are determined.
Read the same story about the caravan. Problem is the police have no power to evict without a court order. The owner will have to apply to the court, wait for a hearing, and once found in their favour apply for a court baliff to evict them. This is likely to take several months. The biggest hurdle here is when applying for the court order the legal owner will need to have an address for serving the court papers on. The police are not passing this info onward (most likely for the safety of the owner) so it would be very tricky to get to court in the first place. Of course this is all assuming that the caravan's still in the same place. It's likely long gone.
The theft of the caravan is a criminal matter but the eviction is a civil one. Problem is the police are very unlikely to persue the criminal matter as it will be hard for them to get a conviction.
The lesson to be learnt here is if you can't afford to replace it, insure it.