lanwangeek

Hello everyone. I am fairly new to this site as well as a new as a dodge owner (3 months as of yesterday). Any case, I have been reading the site trying to get up to speed about the dodge truck. I have a 36ft 5th wheel trailer made by Grand Junction that I pull with the truck. Or as of last night I don't pull any more.

Ok, so the story is this. When my wife comes home from work she sometimes pass by the storage lot where the RV is stored. She always checks it as she passes by on the highway. She went by thursday, she didn't see the trailer sitting there. She called me to see if I had it which I didn't. I went to check just to make sure and I found a empty parking space.

The storage lot is fenced in with two gates that require a code to get in and out. There is also multiple video camera's watching the lot.

It turns out that two men and a woman rented at storage unit at the lot on saturday afternoon and paid the first month rent in cash. They got a code to the fence and left.

They showed back up that same saturday at 10:40PM which was a stormy night. They entered and camera's caught them going to my trailer. I had a king pin lock that we found broken at the back of the lot. They hitched the trailer up and left. It took them 27 minutes to get in, and take the trailer.

It's bad enough that it happened, but to watch them doing it on the video was a little bit hard to take. Not to mention that I didn't know for 5 days that it was gone.

The police found that the drivers license that the dude gave was fake, and it is believed that the truck used to tow the trailer out of the lot was stolen too. I was basicly told that the trailer is on the way if not in mexico by now. Insurance is saying the same thing. I was even told that I don't want it back because I don't know what they are doing in the trailer.

Basicly the police aren't going to do much. The trailer's gone.

I now get to find out what insurance will pay vs. what I owe. Not to mention all stuff in the trailer and my insurance deductibles. As I figure now, I'm at least out 6000-8000 roughly. It may get worst.

Any way, it's a great site and wish me luck. Anthony

TJE

Man that is too bad! Sorry for your loss. I have always wondered how safe those rv's setting in storage lot were, now I know. Later, Tony

CTDPower11

Sucks for you... I hate people that steal! If they would go out and work, And buy something with their OWN money, then turn around and have it stolen, they might think differently!!!

Marine

I feel for you. It is too bad people do things like that. I too, was wondering how secure those places are, because I am going to have to park my enclosed car hauler in one when I get back.
Now I know!
The sad thing is, if they would have been caught, probably not much would have happened to them anyways.
Was yours the nicest one there? I would say yes.

fredbert

Wow, that sucks, sorry to hear about it! Thieves like that are not deserving of their vital organs and should be parted out just like the vehicles they steal. Apparently it's necessary to do something to physically prevent the trailer from rolling such as running logging chains through the wheels and around the axles/frame or putting the thing up on blocks and taking the wheels with you. Good luck with the insurance company, and welcome to the site!

Geico266

Hey! I just took in a 2005 Jayco 5er in trade on a house. This baby is pretty nice. Wanna deal? lol

rustyshakelford

sorry about the loss of your trailer. thats pretty sorry thing for people to do. geico is all ready to get you set up in another one though.

Shovelhead

Man, that's rough.
I never thought of someone pulling off a stunt like that.
I'll wager it's not the first time they've done it.
It's probably a rolling Meth lab by now.

Geico266

EDIT to remove sales pitch.

dodgezilla04

I've got a coupler lock, a rotochock from genos that I run a lock through, it is parked in my driveway, and if I had enough concrete and a big steel post, I'd chain the back frame rail down too.
I dont trust anyone, there are too many people abusing others.

sorry about that 5vr. and welcome to dtr.

XLR8R

That sucks! I hate that happened to ya.

Those kingpin and coupler locks are only one line of defense against the SCUM who steal.

I lock the coupler, the jack leg, the jack winch, rotochok both sides, and chain the axles with a couple of monster padlocks. The time it takes for a perp to get my stuff gives me a chance to open up the toolbox and start blastin'

ptgarcia

Man, hopefully insurance is going to be their for you. I know it costs more but this is why specialized RV insurance is a good idea. Mine has 100% replacement value for the first 5 years of ownership. Good luck, lanwangeek, I feel for you.

I keep my coach in a storage facility like yours, but ours locks a 2nd gate that nobody has a key to at 7 p.m. and doesn't open it until 7 a.m. This may be a little inconvenient for some but it keeps people from coming in the middle of the night and talking someone else rig. Also during those hours they let a couple dogs loose to roam the facility. They also have camera's and a night watchman who lives on the premises. It pretty secure.

RustyJC

I'm really sorry to hear about your loss. We've been fortunate as we found a RV storage facility whose owners live on the premises. They are good folks who provide a dump station, wash rack, air station, etc. for their customers and won't leave the facility unless someone is there to watch over things. $80/month for covered storage with 30 amp service is well worth it to us for the peace of mind.

I would second the comment regarding RV insurance - ours has full replacement coverage for 5 years as well.

Rusty

12VSuburban

Very tough indeed. I would be very frustrated if mine got stolen. I am an insurance agent. If you are out $6 to 8 thousand dollars, your agent must not be doing his job. We insure campers for retail value. Then, you have the deductible. RV insurance is very cheap. It is much cheaper than motorcycle insurance.

I certainly hope this works out for you and you are not truly out that much money. That is a tough break.

12Vsuburban

djcheez

i keep my gooseneck in a gated storage. what are the best things to do to help prevent theft? locks, chocks, etc...?