Motorhome theft

Motorhome theft  is on the rise .in the last 2 weeks  one friend has had  his motorhome stolen  , and another attempted  theft  foiled by his tracker .both vans we're parked  on there home drives . after contacting his insurance he was told  they would not  insure  it again . I have invested in a bulldog  wheel clamp  .  a heavy clamp at 20 klg  .the one that was stollen  had a steering whell clamp  that was removed in seconds.

Latest two on FB Stolen motorhome group have been Peugeots , apparently electronic devices to bypass Fiat/Peugeot immobiliser can be bought from Amazon, as well as Ford which have seen the larger percentage of stolen,  so as many mechanical devices to deter/ hinder as possible are needed. Wheel clamps, steering bars, pedal clamps and alarms are the least necessary.
According to one tracker company, 1800 motorhomes were stolen in the last twelve months, that's about 35 every week, many off owners drives, some from car parks from folk on holiday and some by burglary of homes and taking keys . Worrying figures . Don't be complacent.

When I had my Concrete mixer, I had to remove the two batteries every night and leave with the minimum of derv in the tank.
Still didn't deter the tow rags from attempting to steal fuel ,tools etc.
Fingers crossed they keep away from the van.
Boaby

I reported a few weeks back nephew's new Swift fitted with tracker, steering wheel clamp and wheel clamp stolen from the drive whilst they were asleep in a bedroom overlooking the drive. Thieves raised the van on to castors and simple wheeled it away. If they want it they will get it sadly. Tracker was found a few miles away thrown in hedge, stolen from near Reading.

Once a motorhome is stolen from a drive  everyone in that postcode  has there insurance  increased  as the area is put on high risk ...

I would urge anyone who has access to the appropriate tools etc and has a bit of ingenuity to design and fabricate their own clamps / locks etc.etc   .Thieves are not stupid and interweb/  youtube is a great source of info to defeat the commonly available devices quickly.  The fact that a decent battery grinder and bolt croppers can be bought for under £30 does not help.   Faced with an unknown solid looking security  device many will walk away as it takes time to work out how to deal with it rather than the well known devices on the market that they know the flaws.
        After evaluating the commercially available devices and seeing how easily most can be silently overcome , I use a commercially available steering wheel lock always as a first line of defence but my own  design of pedal box lock that even if attacked with an angle grinder will end up shattering the disc hopefully making them give up (iif anyone has ever experienced a disc explode you will know what I mean! ) scary stuff! 
    Apart from that if they really want your van nothing short of sleeping inside 24 hours a day cuddling a 12 bore will stop them .    My friends treasured immaculate BMW 850 was taken from a busy main street by 3 guys dressed in high vis jackets who used a hiab to lift it onto a flatbed recovery lorry. Nearby Shop owners  thought it was council removing an illegally parked vehicle and did nothing.....

I expect some of these scum back look into these forums as well.
How about putting your own immobiliser on the van with a hidden switch?.
I have thought about rigging up 240v for them but I might forget I have it on .

I'm a believer in non-commercial - ie non-standard- solutions.  I am not decrying those that use the commercially available devices, but there is sufficient evidence on this forum to cast doubt on their veracity.
I devised an electrical impediment which was never tested by the bad lads, but I traded the vehicle and forgot to warn the dealer.  Days later I had a phone call which revealed that the system had beaten three. trade technicians and they couldn't move it, Help!
Keith

Is there a relatively easy immobility method available on a diesel vehicle engine to stop it running.
Petrol engines used to be easy to immobilise by preventing the spark etc but Even the fuel pump fuses seem very difficult to get at on my diesel?

Ray

KMRTOPAZ wrote:I am not decrying those that use the commercially available devices, but there is sufficient evidence on this forum to cast doubt on their veracity.

You only need to look at the LockPickingLawyer channel on YouTube to see how pretty much any lock can be silently picked within sixty seconds using tools you can buy on eBay and Amazon for twenty quid 

It doesn't stop me spending a fortune on such devices though...

All we can do is deter the chancers, we'll never stop the pros.

I carn't remember the forum member who mentioned that he used to rotate his drivers seat 180 degrees and fit a large padlock to the underside of the frame stopping the seat being set back in place Into its driving position.
This idea may stall any would be tow rag.
Boaby

Boaby 

That’s a cracking good idea, especially if you can the lock inaccessible to both bolt cutters or a angle grinder.

Eltel

They'd just unbolt the seat base from the floor 

RogerThat wrote:They'd just unbolt the seat base from the floor 

Agreed Roger, however any deterrent to slow down the would be theft of your vehicle ,could save it been stolen.
I know the vehicle thieves use Hiab trucks to lift vans of the street   It must be some size of crane to lift a 3tonne van. 
Boaby

burlingtonboaby wrote:I carn't remember the forum member who mentioned that he used to rotate his drivers seat 180 degrees and fit a large padlock to the underside of the frame stopping the seat being set back in place Into its driving position.
This idea may stall any would be tow rag.
Boaby

Must be me that. 
I removed the whole seat and drilled a half inch hole through both halves of the swivel base. It's hard enough to fit the padlock let alone remove it without a key.
I know nothing will stop the determined thief, but any deterrent is better than none.
Al.

Has anybody had any experience with Lockdown by Outsmart the Thief? I'm in the process of buying a new motorhome with a tracker that is fitted by the coach builder. From what I can see Lockdown have the ability to immobilise the engine remotely and provide 24 hour monitoring. As it's fitted by Outsmart the Thief and not by company building the motorhome it is fitted in random locations rather than the same place, making it difficult for the thief to find. I'm wondering if its worth the extra expense. Any views?

Check that if your insurance insist on a tracker that they accept that model.

bikeralw wrote:

burlingtonboaby wrote:I carn't remember the forum member who mentioned that he used to rotate his drivers seat 180 degrees and fit a large padlock to the underside of the frame stopping the seat being set back in place Into its driving position.
This idea may stall any would be tow rag.
Boaby

Must be me that. 
I removed the whole seat and drilled a half inch hole through both halves of the swivel base. It's hard enough to fit the padlock let alone remove it without a key.
I know nothing will stop the determined thief, but any deterrent is better than none.
Al.

Couldn't remember who had done the security mode to their drivers seat, do you still padlock up Al ?
Boaby

I must admit I don't padlock up when leaving the van for a short while, say in a carpark, as it means disturbing the seat in all directions just when I have it set up right.
But I do when it's parked up by my house and not being used for a while.
A bit extreme, but last winter I also jacked the van up and had it supported on axle stands at the rear and sturdy wooden blocks under the front wishbones..
Al.

It looks like the CAT removal guys are operating around here again , I have my wee car parked parallel to it ,with the van next to the bungalow wall.
Boaby

This is where Google street view is your enemy. Before the advent of that invasion of privacy we had very few unknown vehicles come up our cul-de-sac avenue, and no robberies. How things have changed now.
By the way, a few years ago I happened to be outside with the hose pipe cleaning the van when the Google camera car came past, as it returned down the avenue I just accidentally gave it's camera tower a good spray as it went past..
Al.

As in my OP ,the motorhome that was stolen  was recovers by the owner and the police  using the  the cheap  GPS  Mobil phone  tracker  . he tracked it on his phone  when the van stopped  he notified the police,  they met him at the scene , he drove it home with a 6 inch gap in the steering wheel  .the theif searched the van for tracker they looked inside smoke alarm's  and all lockers .

Molly3 wrote:As in my OP ,the motorhome that was stolen  was recovers by the owner and the police  using the  the cheap  GPS  Mobil phone  tracker  . he tracked it on his phone  when the van stopped  he notified the police,  they met him at the scene , he drove it home with a 6 inch gap in the steering wheel  .the theif searched the van for tracker they looked inside smoke alarm's  and all lockers .

Good news the van was recovered.   
Boaby