Projects Stolen 16+2 Heavy Duty Trailer

I know this is 2 years old but I am still on the lookout. I have looked and looked and never seen another like it (because it was special ordered). It had a wood deck and steel beavertail. Stake pockets and heavy D rings around the edge. LED lights. Lift off fenders. 5 bolt wheels. Adjustable hitch with the brakes in the tongue.
I will be on the lookout for this until it is found (or I die).

I hope this is cool here. My trailer was stolen from my folks' place in central/north central Iowa sometime between Christmas and the end of January. I'll try to find a better picture of it somewhere. But for now this is the only one I have available. It is a 16+2(16' wood deck, 2' steel deck dovetail). The two biggest identifiers are that it is factory equipped with lift off fenders held on by rubber straps and it has hydraulic brakes(master cylinder in the tongue is kind of hard to miss).

If you see or have seen it please contact the Wright County Sheriffs Office at (515) 532-3722

Based on the questionable people in the area, it is most likely either still in the state or has made it's way south. As I say though, this is just my hunch based on the local trash I am aware of.
I appreciate any help.

 

humans ****

 

I’ll keep a look out here in Oklahoma, if it gets this far South, it’s no problem for me…..as I have a tendency to ogle trailers! Thieves ****!




Bones

 

Good luck. Hope you get it back.

 

I'll keep an eye open in Marshall County.

 

Keep a look out in East side So. Dakota for it...

 

Is that a brand name on the side? will watch for it in Missouri RLS

 

Bttt

 

I can't remember for sure. It says H&W on the registration.

 

Thieves

 

That was the biggest fear when driving stock cars. I'd never leave the trailer unloaded. I always parked something on it. One guy I raced with had his trailer chained to a tree in his yard, adios trailer!

 

Probably best to remove the wheels when storing. Put a bar connecting axel to axel studs and use locking lug nuts; that should be a deterrent or at least slow them down. .Friend had a lock on the coupler and it still disappeared. He was told the thieves just wrap a chain around the trailer tongue to their hitch.

 

bump

 

As I’ve said on other threads of this nature, there’s a special place in hell for thieves.

 

That's an issue here in NZ as well.
At most race meetings they ask you to park your trailers in a separate paddock [with no security or control over who goes in or out]
Tandem axle trailers are also a "thief magnet" because our system allows for easy registration of "new" trailers.

After going through the whole process of repairing a recovered stolen trailer [which is heartbreaking if you built it]
I've decided to slow down thieves [you can't stop them if they really want it]

1st line of defence is to make sure thieves don't even know if it exists. When it is at home, the Tongue [drawbar] can be detached and rolled under the trailer . I can hide it indoors in a domestic 20' deep garage away from thieving eyes.


2nd line of defence [at the track] is a hidden "stand alone" motorcycle motion sensor alarm. [remote controlled]
If a thief touches the trailer it gives a warning at 125db [our race cars are regulated to 95db] for abot 10 seconds , 2nd time and it goes off. [standalone uses a dedicated 9v battery, which is charged when the lights are on, towing to the track]
3rd line of defence is 2 x GPS trackers! 1 is totally hidden, and the other is mounted nearby as a sacrificial lamb [if thieves use a detector to locate it]
The hidden GPS uses the "immobilizer" feature to lock the electric brakes. At the track or wherever , I can geo-fence the tracker and if it leaves the perimeter it will lock the electric brakes using the winch battery as the 12v source [even if the thieves disconnect the battery the GPS has 72 hours from an internal backup battery to track it]

I'm going to set-up the 57 with an alarm and GPS tracker next .These are dirt cheap, but there is a lot of thought and effort required to install them [hidden]
All hot-rods should have them installed these days.

 

Here's a "feelgood" story for you
https://abc7.com/catalytic-converter-theft-suspect-run-over-killed-palmdale/12818569/

 

I had a friend that chained his Honda to tree , with a huge log chain! The Next morning he came out and saw someone had cut his chain!


They stold the tree!




Bones

 

Feel good story of the year!

 

My trailer isn't anything to write home about probably having been built in a high school AG shop axles and all. Still a car trailer is too easy to steal and too easy to hide if you don't do somethign to protect it.
I got my lock on an Amazon "the box is smashed" discount for about half price. Amazon.com: Trimax UMAX100 Premium Universal Dual Purpose Coupler Lock , Black : Automotive

 

But it is your trailer! ^^^
Those locks are totally worthless...... You don't even need to cir***vent them at all.
What the thieves do is shackle the 2 safety chains together and loop them over their towball! Then they just drag it up the road by the safety chains.

You need to lock the wheels so it can't move AND a chain between the wheels also [If you don't use a chain the thieves start looking further]

This trailer went from this


To this.......... after it was stolen and recovered 3 hours later [luckily it had a hidden GPS tracker]
Thieves took to it with a cut-off grinder trying to disguise it ,and got caught red-handed






I originally built this trailer, so I pieced it back together for my friend . And added many deterent features.
We can now crawl under the trailer [easy as an open centre] and lock the brake shoes with a ratchet and Torx socket which is very difficult to get to with a cut-off.

Trailers are easy if you think about it, but if it was your hot-rod it really needs to be immobilized [or else you end up arguing forever with an insurance company]

 

If you buy something you know is stolen. You are just as guilty.

 

YES!

Ben

 

Keeping an eye on it in eastern Iowa

 

Some good advice from Kerrynzl. The trailer locks only stop the honest people from stealing your trailer. This video was an eye-opener on how easy it is to bust one off:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=927661727292666

Love the idea of ratcheting up the brakes.

Cheers,
Harv

 

Once you've been burnt by thieves , you'll definately take steps to slow them down.
Thieves don't even bother with the security locks, they just drag your trailer up the road by the chains [then use a cut-off grinder]

With Chris's trailer we use a boat trailer jockey wheel instead of a tongue jack.
I told him to manouvre it "nose up" against a building before he locks the wheels and also chain them together.
A thief will need to drag it out before he can hook it up [this triggers motion sensor alarm/siren , as well the GPS motion sensor which also sends an alarm to his phone]

The ratcheting brakes can easily be done DIY [on a parkbrake style backing plate]


All you need is a clevis on the lever and a nyloc nut/bolt

We used 2 parkbrake cable adjuster clevis's, A metric nyloc nut inside it.
And a long threaded Torx head bolt into the metric nut.
Then I welded a piece of Angle steel under it [flange up] so it is hidden between the frame and backing plate



Thieves generally don't carry Torx sockets in their ****nal.

 

Good info in this thread; will have to implement when I upgrade my current trailer to something worth stealing.

 

A Harbor Freight battery grinder ( with 20% off coupon) with a cutoff blade would cut throuh that bar in a minute.

 

Next on that you do, please write it up and take some pics along the way. Heck, in the meantime write it up anyway

 

Notice he only went after the steel parts and not the aluminum lock. Locks are only for honest people and insurance companies.