Spare Wheel theft

[mikerezny]

Hi,

I have two newbie questions regarding securing the spare wheel against theft.

1: Has anyone had their spare wheel stolen or have an opinion on whether it is important to protect it?

2: What do you do to secure the wheel against theft?

I was considering buying some locking wheel nuts or threading a chain through the wheel and mounting bracket and padlocking it.

many thanks
Mike

 

[NoWorries]

I have never heard of it happening on vans but i'm sure it has somewhere.

If you have you spare on the drawbar as per normal then just run a long chain/bike lock through the gas cylinders and wheel then you secure all three.

 

[Doc]

Hi Mike,

I bought a cheapie pack of "acorn" anti-theft wheel nuts from a discount auto parts store. I work on the logic that you'll only ever stop an honest thief, and simple deterrent works well. (Plus I don't like chains/cables running through spare wheels - they chaffe and scratch things)

 

[bigcol]

same, I went to A1 Auto's and got a set of wheel lock nuts (Falcon studs from memory - AU ~)
one on the spare on the rear carrier, and one each wheel

like @Doc said, will only stop spur of the moment theft

 

[dagree]

Have our spare on the drop down carrier on the rear of the van..... Use a plastic coated high tensile chain to secure it.
Wasn't considering it for theft protection but more for holding the wheel/carrier in place should the pin somehow become disconnected and fall out during travels..... Ended up being a double use system

 

[Bushman]

If it's on the standard drawbar with twin gas bottles they haven't got a hope in hell of just lifting it out, when I had my expanda you had to remove both gas bottles to get the spare out of the cradle, then again Jayco may have solved the problem by now,

 

[jeff]

Had a chain with a padlock on ours. At the end of the Great Central Road we blew a tyre on the van and the padlock was filled with dust, didn't make the tyre change very easy. Don't use anything now !

 

[Rockape]

HI, I just use a cable bike lock.Wrap it through the wheel and bracket. I boght a pack of 3
Keyed alike from bunnings.
Cheers
Nick

 

[Herbertclan]

Hi,
We have a plastic coated cable from Bunnings.

And as everyone states, we are only stopping honest thieves. My thoughts are if the van appears to be secure at a glance then I have likely deterred most thieves. I would still secure my coupling at a caravan park so maybe I'm a little paranoid.

Cheers Max,

 

[Drover]

Smear soap into the keyhole of padlocks to keep dirt out.......

 

[mikerezny]

Hi,
thanks for all the responses, they were all very helpful.

Here is what I have decided to do, as regards securing my van, including the spare wheel:
1: make sure it is insured ($200 excess),
2: I bought from Bunnings 4 x lockwood 120/40 keyed-alike locks,
3: I bought from Bunnings 2 x 1m hardened chains inside a protective poly sleeve,

1 chain goes threaded through the spare wheel spokes and mounting bracket and padlocked.
I will smear soap on it shortly (thanks Drover).
The other chain goes through one of the wheels and leaf spring and is padlocked
Drilled out the hole of the lug for the hitch locking safety catch to fit the slightly larger lock and padlocked it.
Threaded the safety chains through the hitch handle and padlocked them.
Keep the AL-KO drop down jacks wound down.

I know this won't stop a professional, determined thief but in trying to cut through all this with a battery-operated
grinder they may make enough noise to attract attention or flatten their battery.

regards
Mike

 

[Dobbie]

Suggest you put the heavy chain in a clear plastic sleeve...also from big green shed.

We did this 20 years ago on our first long escapade and used the chains for securing gas bottles, securing anything else and the plastic around the chain protected all it came in go act with and was easy to roll up and stow.

Still using the same chain to secure solar many moons later.

I'd be lost without it. and never had a theft issue....maybe we've been lucky.

 

[mikerezny]

Suggest you put the heavy chain in a clear plastic sleeve...also from big green shed.

We did this 20 years ago on our first long escapade and used the chains for securing gas bottles, securing anything else and the plastic around the chain protected all it came in go act with and was easy to roll up and stow.

Still using the same chain to secure solar many moons later.

I'd be lost without it. and never had a theft issue....maybe we've been lucky.

Hi Dobbie,
the chains I bought are already covered:

• Vinyl thermoformed protective sleeve to prevent from scratching

https://www.bunnings.com.au/master-lock-6mm-security-chain_p4210520

regards
Mike

 

[dagree]

Have used the same @mikerezny ... Just keep an eye on it as water/moisture gets inside the sleeve and starts to rust the chain!

 

[mikerezny]

Have used the same @mikerezny ... Just keep an eye on it as water/moisture gets inside the sleeve and starts to rust the chain!

Hi,
thanks for the tip. I will keep a lookout. The chain on the spare wheel is tucked in under the cover, so hopefully
rain won't easily get in.

I turn the chain around on the main wheel so the padlock and ends of the chain are under the mudguard. Initially to reduce water getting into the lock. But it will also lessen the chance of water getting into the sleeve.

There is a lot to learn about caravanning. It all appears so simple until you own one of your own. It isn't as easy
as hooking it up and off you go!!!!!!

But then, to a novice, long distance backpacking also seems simple to those who have never done it!

Thanks for the tips.

regards
Mike

 

[bigcol]

worse case scenario
get a couple of BIG pieces of heat shrink, stick that over the last link to keep moisture out

 

[Drover]

Thats pretty well what I do...............rusty chain in plastic sleeve, get some fish oil or boiled linseed oil, thin it with turps if needed, hang up chain with tin underneath and pour solution in at top, once it dries off all should be good to go, just may not look pretty.

Always use padlocks with the shortest hasp on hitch lock to keep bolt cutter away.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

get some fish oil or boiled linseed oil, thin it with turps if needed, hang up chain with tin underneath and pour solution in at top, once it dries off all should be good to go, just may not look pretty.

Or get some Fluid Film - its absolutely magic stuff at stopping things rusting/corroding http://www.fluidfilm.com.au/

 

[Dobbie]

Thats pretty well what I do...............rusty chain in plastic sleeve, get some fish oil or boiled linseed oil, thin it with turps if needed, hang up chain with tin underneath and pour solution in at top, once it dries off all should be good to go, just may not look pretty.

Always use padlocks with the shortest hasp on hitch lock to keep bolt cutter away.

Yeah. Did the same yonks ago and the whole chain is coated with Kimberley dust....inside and outside.

It has character and I did check that the chain has some stopping power The padlocks have been replaced several times.

Interesting that thieves now go for far more upmarket stuff. Years ago it was gas bottles we wanted to stop them getting at....but part of that was the petrol sniffing that was rampant. Now it's fridges, solar, bikes...iPads ..etc.

The price of progress.

 

[mikerezny]

Smear soap into the keyhole of padlocks to keep dirt out.......

Hi,
maybe this is a silly idea. If it is, please let me know.

Since the padlock on the spare wheel is seldom used, I have decided to cover the key entry with
some cloth gaffer tape to keep the moisture and dust out.

Will still smear some soap on the other three padlocks, since they are used more frequently and the gaffer tape idea wouldn't be practical.

Off to Walhalla for three nights starting tomorrow morning. This is our third trip. yaaaaahhhhh!
Get to see if the fridge fan I installed last week works as expected.

best wishes
Mike