Security Devices

[GMJ]

Hopefully at the 3rd time of asking, we will be moving at the end of April away from our rural location and into a town. As such I am giving some thought to adding some security devices to our motorhome for when it is parked up at our new place.

Could I ask what you have as extra security on your MH? I'm thinking of mechanical devices here like the clutch claw, etc.

 

[Trotter]

Van Secure.
Van Guard.
Only two suggestions, there are many more. I have ED LOCKS. I’m pretty sure there is, or was, a discount code on Motorhomer.
Tbh, I can’t fault them.
Hope this helps

 

[izwozral]

Disk lock to steering wheel, internal access only barrel bolts top and bottom of hab door, Hepa locks to both front doors, leave blinds up and fit motion activation lights to both sides of mh - ours just clip off when travelling.

 

[mistericeman]

First call would be a disklok (far far better than the useless bar types) ....

And much loved in the Landrover/transit world
And very difficult to remove without a lot of effort and noise .

 

[HurricaneSmith]

Apart from the external alarm and internal motion sensors, we leave all the blinds up, and tune the radio to a spoken channel with low volume.

Thought about a clutch claw, but not bought one yet.

 

[trevskoda]

Pedal lock is best, hard to get at for removal, i made my own unit, a secondery chain can be swung from top loop hole around s wheel.

 

[TeamRienza]

Replied on motorhomers.

Davy

 

[mistericeman]

This is a disklok that stopped a defender being taken

And one that sustained a long fight with hand tools from a well equipped garage (after the key had been lost)

They CAN be improved further to make them even harder to remove with some extra steel and welding

Obviously anything can be removed with a disc cutter BUT you are basically buying time ....

And making YOURS more effort to steal than the next one along ..

So layers layers layers

Disklok
Pedal lock
GOOD wheel lock
Fuel cut off
Electrical cut off
Immobiliser
OBD port protection (especially if it's a transit ....as most factory immobilisers etc can be bypassed via the Obd port with the right software
Cheap barely hidden tracker
Second Expensive WELL hidden tracker
Etc etc etc

 

[colinm]

Friend of mine moved from city into 'back of beyond', week later his car was stolen.

 

[wildebus]

one thing not mentioned ... swivel round drivers seat and padlock it in place - makes it very hard to drive away like that

Of course, if you are concerned about being robbed more than the van being driven away, then the above, or disclocks or clutch claws and the like are irrelevant.
What I would suggest is a security camera fitted inside, activated by motion and connected to your home internet. Something along the lines of a Ring Doorbell, which tells you when there is movement and brings up a picture on an Alexa or whatever.

 

[Trotter]

Steering locks, pedal locks are fine , and I do have and use mine. One thing I do consider is neither of those prevent anyone from getting into the vehicle. Using my steering lock should prevent anyone driving the vehicle away, once they have got passed the door locks

 

[TJBi]

one thing not mentioned ... swivel round drivers seat and padlock it in place - makes it very hard to drive away like that

Of course, if you are concerned about being robbed more than the van being driven away, then the above, or disclocks or clutch claws and the like are irrelevant.
What I would suggest is a security camera fitted inside, activated by motion and connected to your home internet. Something along the lines of a Ring Doorbell, which tells you when there is movement and brings up a picture on an Alexa or whatever.

I'd be more worried about theft of contents when touring and there are more contents!

 

[Moonraker 2]

Sorry to be unhelpful but having a crappy van helps, nothing worth nicking.

 

[Boris7]

When I had the front drive put in I made sure we had brick walls on one side and at the rear, I then reversed my works van (at the time) tight to both walls, in this way only the drivers door was at risk, once on the drive I lock the steering hard left, fit a good quality steering lock and a bulldog wheel clamp.

The drivers door has a deadlock so I effect to drive the vehicle way any thief has a number of obstacles to negotiate, none of these are unbeatable, but all will take time.

2 plastic windows leave the contents at risk, but any thief will set off security lighting and CCTV cameras are placed to be obvious.

When you walk onto the drive you set off a beep on the house alarm, the security lights come on and the CCTV pops up on my phone, iPad and a screen in the house.

None of these things will stop a truly committed thief if your not home, but we had a series of thefts from vans, motorhomes and caravans in the village a while back, my neighbour had his works tools taken, a guy down the road lost his caravan and that repeated around the village for a few months.

One night 2 men walked up to the front of my driveway at 03:11am the security lights came on, they looked around and left, it wouldn’t be worth the effort for them when there’s easier targets around.

A point worth remembering, the type of people that do this will become violent very quickly if cornered, if you do confront them be careful and always leave them a way out.

 

[merl]

Cheap DIY motorhome security device.

Here's a cheap little alarm that costs less than a tenner for motorhome owners who park their vans reasonably close to their house. It's essentially a wireless doorbell, the receiver plugs into the wall socket in your house and the transmitter (bell push switch) is modified slightly and...

wildcamping.co.uk

I also swivel the driver's seat and push it up tight to the steering wheel which also has a disclok fitted.

Tracker and immobiliser.

Had one MH nicked and been targeted at least twice since, I genuinely think being Rural is worse than being in town.

 

[r4dent]

This is a table I knocked up for a friend.
It summarizes the type of security rather than individual brands,
I think it is a useful check list.

 

[maingate]

When I had the front drive put in I made sure we had brick walls on one side and at the rear, I then reversed my works van (at the time) tight to both walls, in this way only the drivers door was at risk, once on the drive I lock the steering hard left, fit a good quality steering lock and a bulldog wheel clamp.

The drivers door has a deadlock so I effect to drive the vehicle way any thief has a number of obstacles to negotiate, none of these are unbeatable, but all will take time.

2 plastic windows leave the contents at risk, but any thief will set off security lighting and CCTV cameras are placed to be obvious.

When you walk onto the drive you set off a beep on the house alarm, the security lights come on and the CCTV pops up on my phone, iPad and a screen in the house.

None of these things will stop a truly committed thief if your not home, but we had a series of thefts from vans, motorhomes and caravans in the village a while back, my neighbour had his works tools taken, a guy down the road lost his caravan and that repeated around the village for a few months.

One night 2 men walked up to the front of my driveway at 03:11am the security lights came on, they looked around and left, it wouldn’t be worth the effort for them when there’s easier targets around.

A point worth remembering, the type of people that do this will become violent very quickly if cornered, if you do confront them be careful and always leave them a way out.

I watched a youtube video recently about commercial vans and thefts from them. Even with extra deadlocks (on the sliding door) and other things fitted they are still vulnerable. The thieves simply cut out an area on each deadlock and the internal door locking area, which means they have defeated the security. They don't even use power tools to do it because the metal is so thin. The video showed the damage and it looks like they used a very big tin opener.

The Company who made the video fit extra metal sheeting over the danger areas out of stainless steel to get round this. Even then, they have had to make these SS sheets even bigger as the thieves were cutting around them.

 

[chrishunter]

I have a Stoplock pro it`s worth having as i get 10% of my insurance. Also i have ,because i don`t have the Harley i use a Harley davidson cable which i used to lock both the wheels together and i thread it through the drivers door handle then through the steering wheel and round the pedals finally loking it with a Oxford monster motorcycle padlock.. The insurance company accept them i also have cctv on the front of the house.

 

[trevskoda]

When I had the front drive put in I made sure we had brick walls on one side and at the rear, I then reversed my works van (at the time) tight to both walls, in this way only the drivers door was at risk, once on the drive I lock the steering hard left, fit a good quality steering lock and a bulldog wheel clamp.

The drivers door has a deadlock so I effect to drive the vehicle way any thief has a number of obstacles to negotiate, none of these are unbeatable, but all will take time.

2 plastic windows leave the contents at risk, but any thief will set off security lighting and CCTV cameras are placed to be obvious.

When you walk onto the drive you set off a beep on the house alarm, the security lights come on and the CCTV pops up on my phone, iPad and a screen in the house.

None of these things will stop a truly committed thief if your not home, but we had a series of thefts from vans, motorhomes and caravans in the village a while back, my neighbour had his works tools taken, a guy down the road lost his caravan and that repeated around the village for a few months.

One night 2 men walked up to the front of my driveway at 03:11am the security lights came on, they looked around and left, it wouldn’t be worth the effort for them when there’s easier targets around.

A point worth remembering, the type of people that do this will become violent very quickly if cornered, if you do confront them be careful and always leave them a way out.

Or this on the gate post

 

[Boris7]

As misteroceman said, your buying time and making the other van look more appealing.

When I’m away in the van I don’t worry too much as I select where I stay, I have a gas attack alarm and SWMBO is more dangerous that any Doberman.