Malicious acts by others to RVer's.

chiefneon · September 20, 2016

Howdy!

I was recently talking to a new RVer in a campground and advised him to secure his 5th wheel lock are check it after being parked while traveling. Others have been known to maliciously pull the latch, and cause damage to you rig. He advised me he worked for a large trucking company and stated you would not believe what he had found inside their trucks fuel tanks coffee and other types of cups, paper wrappers, plastic bottles etc... Basically trash that people had removed the fuel cap and placed in the tank maliciously. My MDT has to fueling caps that screw on and after talking with him I like to know a good way to secure them. If they will do this to other truck drives, I'm sure they would do it to RVer's.

"Happy Trails"

Chiefneon

SuiteSuccess · September 20, 2016

Chief,

You can buy locking screw on caps. I have also seen one that had a lockable hinge that had been welded over it. Will protect from people putting trash in your tanks but people that want to steal fuel will just crawl under the truck and punch a screw driver through the tank to drain it. Guess you pick your poison.

GeorgiaHybrid · September 20, 2016

I have screw on fuel caps on the KW and have been looking at a better way to secure our ET hitch.

SuiteSuccess · September 20, 2016

Dave,

My ET has a hole opposite the spring pin handle that I used to padlock. After the thread about quick dumping the trailer in event of a fire, I quit locking. Now at each stop just recheck handle position and jaws but had thought about maybe putting one of those plastic truck "tamper seals" through the hole. Please post any solution you come up with.

Darryl&Rita · September 20, 2016

Urban Legend.

skp51443 · September 20, 2016

If you can find locking caps that don't leak that would be good, I never found any for my IH. Parking with the filler necks downhill or on a side-hill created a real mess with the leaking-locking caps!

You can add a block to prevent the cap from being removed with a bit of ingenuity, best one I saw was a piece of pipe matching the filler neck that had tabs welded to it that came up past the cap and had a long-shackle padlock run through them.

I wish it was an urban legend but I've had stuff dropped in my tanks several times over the years and had to either fish it our or pull my filters to get it off them.

In Germany many years ago it was popular to pee in the truck tanks and then watch them stall when they got back on the highway. We learned to leave guards on the trucks when stopping.

hone eagle · September 20, 2016

I reef them on with a large pair of pliers,impossible to get off by hand.

Gabbie · September 20, 2016

Same as hone eagle, just smug them down with large channel locks, unless someone just happends to be carrying a pair in the pants pocket the caps will not come off by hand

GeorgiaHybrid · September 20, 2016

Dave,

My ET has a hole opposite the spring pin handle that I used to padlock. After the thread about quick dumping the trailer in event of a fire, I quit locking. Now at each stop just recheck handle position and jaws but had thought about maybe putting one of those plastic truck "tamper seals" through the hole. Please post any solution you come up with.

Carl,

Mine has that hole and I normally use a stainless steel carabiner in the locking hole of our old TrailerSaver hitch. The location of the lock hole to the rest of the hitch is not exactly where I would put it. Don't be surprised if mine looks a little different at Hutch if I get the time to work on it. I mainly use that hole as an extra "safety" lock for added insurance to make sure the lock block does not come out on the road.

Dave

Alie&Jim's Carrilite · September 20, 2016

On trucks with full fairings, it might be easier to find a remote lock for the door. Could do something like the lock kits for shaved door handles.

Dennis M · September 21, 2016

I just put RV style barrel locks on the fuel doors. Stops the average vandal, but a serious fuel thief can just break them open instead of punching the tank.

noteven · September 21, 2016

I'm working on further testing of my Acme Fuel Tank Tamper Proofer... Tube containing a boxing glove on a super compressed spring...touch a fuel cap without knowing how to disarm it and KaPOW! Right in the old kazoo....

I'll post a report once my doze heals up...

beyerjf · September 21, 2016

In the 40 years out here I have heard of various acts of vandalism to trucks, including "pulling the pin", but is very hard to track down exactly who was the victim and why. Same goes for stolen fuel, stolen fuel caps etc. Have never heard of the "garbage" in the tanks. Todays tanks have 2"-3" filler necks, whereas in the old days they were 6" in diameter. I could almost see something happening then.

Generally the perp knows and targets the victim.( Think terminal where one driver is targeted by another for some unknown beef) Random acts like this could occur, as an example I could readily see someone vandalizing an RV unit while it is parked among the tractor trailers in a "Travel Center" which some truck drivers view as their domain, and RV's are taking space that they think they have exclusive right to.

You can exercise caution, but I wouldn't get too paranoid about it.

RickS · September 21, 2016

I have the Volvo factory locking fuel caps and they work very well. The placement of the tanks and the deck make it very tight to get to the caps to start with. I check the ET everytime I come back from being away from the truck and trailer don't lock the hitch.

Darryl&Rita · September 21, 2016

In Germany many years ago it was popular to pee in the truck tanks and then watch them stall when they got back on the highway. We learned to leave guards on the trucks when stopping.

With my fuel pick-up tube arounf 2 1/2" off the bottom of the tanks, it would take over 7 gallons of "non-combustible liquid" to be sucked up. Call it 5 gallons, to allow for slosh due to acceleration or turning.

WeBeFulltimers · September 21, 2016

Urban Legend.

I agree. After 20 years and over 3,000,000 miles logged I NEVER heard of such hogwash. An RV in the rest area or truck stop is the last thing a trucker will have on his mind. No reason to cause harm or damage to it. Don't bother spending good money on locks.

Jemstone · September 21, 2016

Outside of fueling with truckers, we stay clear of them. We don't sleep at rest stops and we don't overnight at truck stops. If for no other reason, the idling big diesels next to us make it hard to sleep. We also understand that they have no alternative and we do. We generally stay at an RV park. This eliminates many of the security problems. I had never thought of the fuel tanks being at risk. They are inconvenient to access and anyone going to the trouble to sabotage a tank is probably known to the truck owner and bears a grudge. The profile of a fuel siphoner is usually gas theft. Diesel theft would be more likely by a trucker, as few others could use the fuel. Seems to be a low risk compared to many others we face like sand storms, heavy winds, heavy rain, snow, ice, drunk drivers, idiot drivers, blow outs and hitting that huge hole near Hanes Junction that rearranged the trailer's interior.

phoenix2013 · September 21, 2016

Urban Legend.

Not to me!!

Used to put small lock into the opposite small hole to prevent the handle from being pulled back. We were at a local Rally couple hundred miles from home (nothing distance to us). Going home doing the final walk around wife said "you didn't put the lock on". It's only two hundred miles I said. We were traveling with another couple and another fifth. They suggested we visit her father along the way. We parked our rigs in a public parking lot for commuters, her father picked us up in a car.

After the visit we jumped into our trucks and drove off, wife decided to drive. We had a MDT then with a tall Reese hitch and a big deck behind the hitch. Couple hundred yards out of the parking lot and couple of stop and goes (traffic before the Interstate on ramp) the fifth fell out of the hitch onto the rear deck of the MDT.

First thing we noticed, some moron pulled the handle forward and opened the hitch thanks to another moron who didn't put the lock in.

Damage to the fifth looked minor, we raised it with the feet, locked it and brought it home. But it looked kind of "funky". The repair shop dropped the fifth underbelly and found a bunch of frame cracks and breaks. Insurance company took one look at it and decided, "from safety point not reparable" and totaled the rig.

So, not an urban legend to me, I have pictures.

SuiteSuccess · September 21, 2016

Ok, Henry, so let's briefly resurrect the discussion we had several months ago. How many put a lock on their hitch to prevent what Henry describes, the rare instance someone may maliciously play with the hitch, and how many don't so they could quickly disengage the trailer in event of trailer fire or such event?

Jack Mayer · September 21, 2016

Being able to quickly unhook your trailer from the tow vehicle in a fire situation is my primary goal. I NEVER lock the hitch. I ALWAYS check it before continuing a trip, but honestly, without the bar extender you could never release my ET hitch. I check it anyway.

HERO Maker · September 21, 2016

When I first started out I used a lock. It was easy because I didn't have a bed for a few years. Not so easy these days. But I do always look for the "pin" to be behind the block. I can step up on the wheel to get a good look from the passenger side.

Imurphy907 · September 21, 2016

The lock for me is more of a feel good measure that the jaws wont open while driving. Than a keep people from messing with it move. Every time I walk up to the rig I do a 360 and put my hand on the lever. To many years of fleet hauling the habit has stuck with me.

RickW · September 21, 2016

No lock.

If unit is left unattended I will do a walk around again, start of day walk around not my cursory walk around for breaks and such. I still check the handle/block position physically (try to move it) but I also have yellow electrical/vinyl tape on the hitch release handle. This also provides a quick visual on if the hitch has been unlocked.

GeorgiaHybrid · September 21, 2016

I always used a carabiner as an extra safety device. Doesn't take long to get off in an emergency and gives me my old "two is one and one is none" adage for a safety device where possible.

Alie&Jim's Carrilite · September 22, 2016

I don't think I have had the hitch messed with, but I have had fuel stolen.

We were at a gravel parking lot / rv parking spot in southern Oklahoma for 2 weeks. There was nowhere else to stay in this little town that was central to my work area. Problem was, it was central to a bunch of pipeline welders/workers too.

I noticed that I was using more fuel than I should have been. Set the dash cam to record in the passenger side mirror. In 3 days time, there was a black shadow that visited the truck with 2 five gallon jugs.

We left and filed a complaint with the non-existant owner, and I spoke with a local deputy that "knew" of some of the issues of the place.

When we filled up, we took on 45-50 more gallons than we should have. Computing mileage showed we were getting 4-5 miles a gallon. Not the usual 12 average.

I think I'll go with Ralph and Kevin's idea and put a pair of channel locks on the cap.