How to prevent caravan theft

As homes get smaller and more people move into apartments, fewer caravans and camper trailers will live at home.

Most likely they’ll be stored off-site, or worse, relegated to the nature strip (where these strips of no-man’s land survive), where they are prime targets for theft.

Increased values and a greater penchant for remote area travel, also places these vehicles at greater risk of theft in the bush. So how do you keep your caravan or camper trailer safe?

Secure the wheels

A starting point is to stop it being moved without your permission.

Thief-proofing used to be as simple as a length of chain, a padlock and a nearby tree or lamp-post, but today there’s a wide variety of wheel and hitch locks on the market, costing from as little as $20-$30 to several hundred dollars that do a better job.

The best ones are those that offer a visual deterrent, as with the advent of portable battery-powered grinders, even the toughest locks only offer true security for a limited time. So, the idea is to get thieves to move on to the next one before trying…

If we’re talking visual, it’s hard to go past the large, bright orange Nemesis Wheel Clamp marketed in Australia by Purpleline.

Built with composite metals, resistant to cutting, drilling and gas freezing and Incorporating a seven-pin, anti-pick and anti-drill locking bolt with a tubular anti-copy key, it’s quick and easy to fit.

Although suitable for steel and alloy wheels up to 17in diameter and tyres up to 275mm cross-section, it’s large, relatively heavy and not especially cheap at a RRP of $249.

However, there are several other cheaper wheel clamps on the market that may not be of the same quality, but offer a similar visual deterrent.

Cheaper hitch lock options

A cheaper alternative is to fit a coupling lock and here there’s a wide choice to suit traditional 50mm ball, DO-35 ‘pin’ and Treg-style pin hitches.

One of the cheapest and most visible is AL-KO’s Universal Coupling Lock, which has six separate locking lengths to suit all common sizes and types of coupling and is supplied with three keys as part of the kit. It has a RRP of $57.70, but is available closer to $40 if you shop around.

Vehicle Components sells a simple, but effective lock that replaces the pin in its DO-35 off-road coupling for around $100. Made of high quality steel, it’s small enough to go in your glovebox, features a sophisticated lock and would be difficult to access with an angle grinder. Its only downside is its size, as being small and obscure, its deterrent value is low.

Another alternative with universal applications on most types of couplings is the Alarmed Trailer Lock made by Kovix. Made from heavy-duty 304 stainless steel, the Kovix trailer lock looks impressively secure, with its central ‘ball’ slotting into the hitch in place of a conventional 50mm tow ball when your trailer is decoupled.

However, with the ball removed (by undoing a simple Allen key screw), the Kovix 18mm central steel pin also fits where the pin would usually slot in on this and also Trig-type block couplings, which makes it handy if you have different trailers.

You can set the alarm’s key, which should discourage even a thief with a portable grinder!

Taking further action

Of course, the Achilles heel of all these hitch locks is that the coupling itself is usually secured to your caravan’s or trailer’s A-frame by four readily accessible bolts. So, if you are an organised thief and carry a spare ball coupling in your kit back, all you need to do is swap the lot!

To counteract this, you would need to replace of one of the coupling bolts with a locking one, or drill a separate hole and fit a padlock.

If you have one of the new Hitch-Ezy couplings, they can simply be locked by tilting the coupling’s head towards the caravan or trailer and fitting a conventional wide-shank padlock through a pre-drilled hole in the hitch.  It won’t stop someone removing the coupling, but it’s the cheapest visual deterrent you can buy.

Keep track of your van’s location

However, if the worst comes to the worst and thieves nick your pride and joy, you will want to know where it’s being taken so you can notify the Police.

Advanced satellite tracking like AL-KO’s ATS (Anti-Theft System) is the ultimate way to track and hopefully recover your wheeled investment,

The GPS units connect to one of a number satellites and can be accessed through a phone App. They’re about the size of a mobile phone and can be hidden inside a cupboard in your caravan or camper, or even behind a false wall if you prefer. They run off your RV’s battery, so best not to let it run flat, although the power drain is very small.

The beauty is that, once logged in, you can see where your prized possession is in real time. With the Black Knight, you can also set up a 'Geofence’ and an alarm that will alert you if it is taken beyond that – handy if you have left it for service – and in the Tracking mode you can see where it’s been for the past three days, or customise it for a longer period.

As with all such sat-tracking devices, you pay for the unit and then an annual fee to remain connected.

The only downside, unless you have a satellite phone, is that you won’t be able to log onto your phone App until you have a signal, by which time your van or camper could be a long distance away, but you should still have its travel trail to follow.

When we went away last year to remote areas, I gave our children access to the App, with instructions to alert police if our vehicle deviated significantly from the itinerary we gave them.

Don’t forget insurance

Finally, if all else fails, make sure your RV is fully insured. It’s not expensive, but agree on a value first, because prices for many high-end caravans rose for 2018 and the value of yours may be out of date.

As a bonus, with most companies you will get a discount if you have one or more of the above security systems installed.