King Pin Lock

[yport]

I'm sure most of you do ... but if you don't ... do yourself a big favor ... protect your investment with a king pin lock ... $25+-

Two cases in point ....

At a real nice north Florida resort we frequent ... some no-gooders pulled up to a 5th wheel and hook it up to haul away. When a suspicious neighbor asked what's going on, the no-gooders replied "not to worry, the Smith's (saw their name on their name plaque) just bought a nice new unit which will be delivered shortly." The "neighborhood watch neighbors" were happy for their camper friends. The rig was found the next town over pretty well stripped! You know how fast someone can hook up and go ....

My own sister and brother-in-law heading back home to NY from their Double Tree Mobile Suites factory in IL had to stop at a hospital for my sister. No place to park the rig at the hospital so they asked the manager of a large supermarket if it was okay to leave rig in their side lot for a few hours. They did, and when they returned they find a small car with tinted out windows parked in front of their rig so they couldn't hook back up. The ENTIRE side lot was empty and some jerk parks in front of them. It was lunch time, so they decided to go in the rig for lunch and then go ask the manager if that's an employee's car, if it doesn't move soon. 20 minutes later the car starts up and leaves ... someone was in the car the whole time. When my brother-in-law mentioned the inconvenience to his state police officer friend, the officer tells him he was extremely lucky, as that is a ring going around. The officer said that was probably a spotter in the car ... he parked their so no one else might come block off the area ... and he was probably on his cell phone to his buddy with the truck to come pick it up. It too would have been taken to a nearby town and stripped. He has a lock for his now!!

 

[GOTTOYS]

I'm sure most of you do ... but if you don't ... do yourself a big favor ... protect your investment with a king pin lock ... $25+-

Two cases in point ....

At a real nice north Florida resort we frequent ... some no-gooders pulled up to a 5th wheel and hook it up to haul away. When a suspicious neighbor asked what's going on, the no-gooders replied "not to worry, the Smith's (saw their name on their name plaque) just bought a nice new unit which will be delivered shortly." The "neighborhood watch neighbors" were happy for their camper friends. The rig was found the next town over pretty well stripped! You know how fast someone can hook up and go ....

My own sister and brother-in-law heading back home to NY from their Double Tree Mobile Suites factory in IL had to stop at a hospital for my sister. No place to park the rig at the hospital so they asked the manager of a large supermarket if it was okay to leave rig in their side lot for a few hours. They did, and when they returned they find a small car with tinted out windows parked in front of their rig so they couldn't hook back up. The ENTIRE side lot was empty and some jerk parks in front of them. It was lunch time, so they decided to go in the rig for lunch and then go ask the manager if that's an employee's car, if it doesn't move soon. 20 minutes later the car starts up and leaves ... someone was in the car the whole time. When my brother-in-law mentioned the inconvenience to his state police officer friend, the officer tells him he was extremely lucky, as that is a ring going around. The officer said that was probably a spotter in the car ... he parked their so no one else might come block off the area ... and he was probably on his cell phone to his buddy with the truck to come pick it up. It too would have been taken to a nearby town and stripped. He has a lock for his now!!

I put a lock on mine when I leave it in storage. But...the reality of it is there isn't a lock that cant be cut off in less than 30 seconds with a cordless 4" grinder equipped with a cut-off wheel, or even a Dremel in some cases. At best it will slow them down or maybe get them to move on to another but nothing will stop them if they want it. Don't put too much faith in just having a lock..Don

 

[Westwind]

I padlock my tripod to the kingpin when we are in a campground and at home since someone could just back into our driveway hitch up and leave. Can't depend on neighbors 24/7 to notice something like that going on and stop them. It's not a great deterrent but it could slow them up, it's too bad the switch to raise and lower the legs isn't in the locked compartment door. I'll have to think about this and thank you for posting it, it will get the rest of us thinking about a way to secure our trailers.

 

[emm4273610re]

Mine has the battery shut off inside a locked compartment which disables the front landing legs while not around. Just an idea for those whose legs are able to work all the time.

 

[Hockster]

I have a landing gear cutoff switch in the hydraulic/battery compartment and a King Pin Lock.

Hockster

 

[HornedToad]

My friend with the Sheriffs office warned me there was a high incidence of trailer theft in our area, so I started using a king pin lock, however, the earlier post is right, it seems like a 12V die grinder would get it off about as fast as the key.

Mine has the battery shut off inside a locked compartment which disables the front landing legs while not around. Just an idea for those whose legs are able to work all the time.

I also added a marine type battery shut off between the battery and the house that cuts the power to the trailer while in storage including the landing gear... but then I noticed when you plug in the 7 way the landing gear will operate even with the battery switch off.

I have a landing gear cutoff switch in the hydraulic/battery compartment

Sounds like I need to add another cut-off just behind the landing gear???

 

[olcoon]

Locks are just made to keep the honest people honest. Recently I was playing on YouTube, & found numerous videos on how to unlock a padlock without a key & once you've got the "tool" made you can unlock the padlock about as fast as with the key! The "tool" is simple to make, you just need an empty pop can and a pair of scissors, only takes a couple of minutes to make it, they even show how to make it. From what the videos said it will work on virtually any padlock. Also they showed how to "pick" a combination padlock. There were numerous videos on there on how to bypass almost any lock, one I looked at did give some suggestions on locks that were "better", but I'm betting not fool proof. Like was said eariler an angle grinder or Dremel tool would make short work of one.

 

[priorguy]

Take a look at Abloy locks. Military and government use them. Expensive but almost impossible to get around cleanly.

https://www.assaabloy.com/en/com/

Sent using smoke signals
From my BBQ 4P

 

[alex00]

I'm big fan of the Enforcer king pin lock. It's much tougher to compromise than the average king pin lock. It isn't about making something impossible to steal, it's about making it less attractive than the other one. Sadly the thieves are going to steal, those drugs won't pay for themselves. Make your stuff harder to steal than your someone else's and they will move on. Enforcer lock.

 

[Westwind]

I feel anything that makes it harder can act as a deterrent to a thief, but if the RV is in a desolate area I'm sure they will try without thinking twice. I would never leave my unhitched FW unattended in a parking lot, anywhere!! Especially today.
Certain Campgrounds are questionable - I just wouldn't take any chances, I have locks for my wheel chocks but you can kick the chocks out from the tires and then cut the lock off the king pin stabilizer so installing a shutoff in the locked compartment for the leg power switch is really another line of defense.
I think I would put one in back of the switch in the locked front compartment and another in the locked compartment with the hydraulic pump on my Bighorn 3070RL.
Then spend 20 minutes next year trying to figure out why the legs won't go up! LOL