Customs Mooneyes Trailer Stolen..keep your eyes open West Coasters

It is easy to register a "new" trailer at least in NY. All we have to do is call it homemade from materials at hand. I had borrowed a race car trailer for a season and it was easier to register it in my name than to get it renewed as the guy who owned it. I made up an ID plate, tack welded it on for the inspection, removed it when I gave the trailer back.

When that was parked at the house, we left a running undesirable car parked on it. We had chains through the wheels on one side. Other guys with trailers, they were losing them left and right. One guy I raced with had a U-Haul box trailer with the box removed, that was supposedly stolen somewhere along the line.

 

My business partner is located in kentucky. they sell trailers all the time down there at auctions without titles even brand new ones.

 

back in 2017 I got stopped going thru a community with my scrap trailer full. she wanted proof i owned the trailer besides where i got the scrap from. she said she wasn't picking on me but they pull over every trailer hauling scrap. she claims so many scrappers are using stolen trailers in this area. once she saw my last name and i explained how i was related to certain local people she got off her high horse and let me go.
coincidently when that township was selling off scrap stuff, none of us local scrappers would bid on their stuff and they couldn't wonder why. i purposely drive around that township and never through it anymore with my equipment.

 

Trailer theft is close to the bottom of
law enforcement priority attention.

Prevent theft by sending a potential
thief elsewhere by:

Having a bulldog style receiver
hitch - remove the coupler when
you store it.

Remove the trailer wheels
and store elsewhere.

Lower the trailer down
as far as possible & disable
the electric jack or remove
the handle on the manual jack.

Next time you order a new
trailer - pay extra for a
removable bolt on tongue
that attaches to the front
trailer structural member
and ( like the trailer wheels )
store elsewhere.


Jim

 

Chuck up a socket in your cordless impact and take off all the shackle and front leaf mount nuts, then tap the front bolt half way out. Loosen up all the U-bolt nuts (and keep half of them). They won't notice a thing until they're hitched up and start to haul out. The axle assy's will slide back and the tires will go cattywampus, especially if it's a tandem. If it somehow makes it up to highway speed before things come apart, just maybe the whole shebang will jackknife and take them and their tow rig out too. You'll be out a trailer (you were going to anyway), but maybe they'll also incur a loss and perhaps get arrested.

If possible, don't park the trailer in an industrial zone where it's quiet at night. Park it in a residential backyard and block it in with non daily use vehicles.
Like anything else, you can only slow them down. The more deterrents = more time to steal. In addition to pulling the wheels and tongue, pull the license plate so the bracket goes with it. Maybe there's a quick way to make the taillights removable too? Or an additional harness quick disconnect plug hidden somewhere. If it's stolen at night and doesn't have a license plate or working taillights, it has a better chance of getting pulled over by the cops.
Is there a way to electronically lock the trailer brakes?

Utilize the air tag, even though it's easily detectable. The tweakers may not be be savvy of forget. We place them in our luggage when we travel (we know if the baggage is on the carousel yet or even made it onto the plane) and pin them on our grandkids whenever we take them to a theme park.

 

The name Fuzzface would be well known in my area also.

 

And if their shenanigans get an innocent party injured, you get sued and run the risk of becoming their cell mate.

 

"well i never intended it to be on the road, i was working on it when they stole it!"

 

Name your AirTag "no airtag detected"
Also if you hide it in a hard enough spot for them to bother to find it. It doesn't matter. My phone doesn't detect my wife's air tags in her old cars so, you'd have to be checking for it.

let's not lose sight of reporting if you seen Mooneyes stuff for sale or the trailer in Victorville or north of that.

 

No help to anyone just say'n.
When I workrd in Oklahoma It was my understanding that there was no such thing as regestering a trailer. Anybody?

 

The only "car trailer" I have ever seen that was extremely theft-resistant was one my brother and racing partner used around 1977. It was made from an old gas station drive-on lift, a lube rack type actually.

It was WIDE and HEAVY... they welded mobile home axles to the bottom, so it was a dolly and sort of got around the regulations applied to a trailer. It had lights on it, not sure if it had a license plate. It was super low and easy to use in the pits. So ugly that nobody would steal it. It eventually got cut up for scrap. The deck material had to be 3/16" thick.

 

That works better if you never post about it on the internet.

 

I had mine wired thru my garage alarm loop. I cut an extension cord in half for the loop that went outside to the trailer and used magnetic door switches on the side and ranp doors. When it the trailer was plugged into the garage it just looked like a 110 volt extension cord was plugged into the trailer like a battery tender might be in use. If they unplugged the cord the alarm would go off. Same if they drove off with it and it ripped it apart. Also had it chained to a pole and sometimes chained an old car jacket and to one of the axles to spark and clank if the made it to the street.

 

YES! Threads like this always go way off track. Helping them find this trailer & maybe the contents should be the most important thing.

There are a lot of ways to protect your trailer from being stolen, the vast majority are just deterrents. Mine are both insured so that is some comfort. Most of the time both of mine are inside my building, but I am fortunate to live in an area where there is little crime & my place in particular is tough to sneak into, so when they are outside I really don't worry about them. I feel like I can control things pretty well around here. Now when I am on the road with a customers vehicle in or on my trailer I always stay with it. I do NOT stay in hotels when I am entrusted with a customers prized possession, I sleep in the truck.

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

Apparently they have don’t care where or who owns them. This was just taken from the next county over a couple of hours ago.

 

Currently, tags are only required on commercial-use trailers...but few comply. Private use trailers do not require a tag or registration, though you can tag one if so desired. Believe it was $7 anually last time I checked a couple years ago. It's a rarity to see one with a tag...or connected and working lamps for that matter.

 

They sure as shoot make me register my camper in Mcurtain county, Ok.
At least its cheap & easy.
Hell maybe im wrong & Im wastimg money, but Id rather not have the Highway Patrol tell me otherwise

 

Lucky you don't live down here. My single axle car trailer costs me $202 AUS plus a yearly inspection @ $32 because it has a braking system. Also in my state they have just made it almost impossible to register a homemade trailer. You have to have them inspected by an automotive engineer @ up to $1000.

 

Travel trailers (and "mobile homes") are required to be registered. Other personal use trailers do not. I should have been more specific.

 

Sounds theft-a-rific.

 

Here in Nebraska I did a12 ft 2 axle car trailer in the early 2000's and had to furnish all the receipts for the parts used in the construction of the trailer plus pay sales tax on the completed trailer based on the total of the materials even though I had paid tax on most of the materials. Then an inspection by the sheriff, then a wait while the NE. DMV processed my request and issued me a metal serial number tax to rivet to the trailer tongue. Took nothing except a bill of sale in the early 90's when I registered my Mullins I got from a friend who got it from the Kansas Fish And Game Department. Times change

 

Most I knew would weld the "new" serial number right onto the trailer structure. The only official eyes on it was the inspection station, it was like $3 a year for the little tag on the license plate corner.

 

Indeed

Honestly, I'm surprised the state hasn't figured out the amount of $$ they're missing out on

 

Don't give states any ideas

 

We have trailer plates. I forget the name of them. But not for camp trailers with toilets as I recall.
As I recall it was 20 bucks for 5 years. Or, I could have put it on non-op for 23? I think it was.
Gee, I guess I’ll just pay the 20…

 

Use SS welding rod such as 316L and they can't grind the numbers off.

 

Clearly rampant unchecked theft is better than registration and law enforcement.

 

PTI.

Permanent Trailer Identification.

 

We plate and register our car trailers in WA. Mine is enclosed, 24 foot and the Hagery insurance policy is too cheap to mention. I sent them the bill of sale and they insured it for the purchase price...which was more than I paid for a lot of my cars over the years. A lot more! I don't like losing sleep over stuff that can be replaced, plenty of more serious things to keep me up at night. Like the economy, the Cowboys and did Cousin Eddy ever find a managerial position?

 

Not to go off topic but it pisses me off that my 8 year old 20 foot travel trailer (cost over $200.00 each year to register) isn't eligible for a PTI plate but commercial semi trailers are. Go figure. OK rant over, back to the topic at hand.