TheSamba.com :: View topic - Transporting a Bug long-distance on trailer

Tue Oct 03, 2023 4:44 pm

How do you guys protect against theft when you have to stay over at a motel/hotel while on the road? Even if you have it where you can keep an eye on it you still gotta sleep sometime.

I'd be using a UHaul car trailer, and I doubt they have any security features. Any advice?

Tue Oct 03, 2023 4:45 pm

Over-insurance.

Where the heck are you staying?

Tue Oct 03, 2023 4:52 pm

A long chain

Tue Oct 03, 2023 5:55 pm

Carry an air compressor and flatten the tires on the trailer.
Chain and lock the car to the trailer. Leave the trailer hooked up to your truck.
Stay in well respected places that are well lit and have on site security.
Park within a camera view. Sleep in your VW.
Be like Starsky and wire the horn to sound when a door is opened.
Or roll the dice and depend on the decency of your fellow man.

Tue Oct 03, 2023 6:36 pm

So far it’s been a 1 day trip each time, but if I had to stop overnight, chains and locks would be strapped between chassis and trailer.

I have used the U-Haul car hauler (not dolly) each time, which has safety chains (at least mine did) which may be useful for locking. Good experience with U-Haul everytime 👍👍👍

Good Luck

Tue Oct 03, 2023 7:34 pm

Let's be clear and honest. There is nothing you can do to prevent a thief from stealing your shit. There have been many racers that had their entire truck & trailer stolen at hotels or their shops. The best you can do is put some kind of GPS tracking device on it so there might be a chance of recovery.

Tue Oct 03, 2023 7:37 pm

Your VW must be NICE. I drove my Beetle from South Florida to Phoenix AZ, and then back to Austin TX, stopping at Airbnb's and hotel/motels all along the way. Nobody bothered me, and all I got were compliments.

For some perspective: In a city I used to live in, in the roughest of rough areas, if you had no place to keep your t.v. and you didn't want it stolen, you'd leave it in your car in full view of everyone with the doors unlocked and the windows wide open. The logic the thieves go by is this, if it's too good to be true, it's probably a setup. In another area I used to live, cops would plant bicycles on the side of the road and wait for people to "steal" them. Keep your bug on the trailer with its windows wide open and no chain or anything. Keep the keys in the car and put a huge flatscreen tv in the back. Nobody will bother you.

Tue Oct 03, 2023 9:32 pm

Truck and trailer I've seen people get permission to park in the "check-in" drive-thru area or next to it as long as it's not blocking people.

Myself: I've never really been concerned about a truck and trailer.

Also - what vwracerdave said

Wed Oct 04, 2023 11:43 am

make sure you have decent front and rear 3/4 view photos of the car on the trailer/tow truck. if it does go then you have something to put on social media for people to look out for.

Wed Oct 04, 2023 11:43 am

Patina. That will make it completely safe from theft

Wed Oct 04, 2023 1:53 pm

Patina, yes! Surely if there is Patina, the thief would be too afraid to steal it, for fear that, if stolen, such an intrinsically valuable piece of automotive history would be hunted down by the authorities with extreme prejudice.

So, break a window and drill a few holes in the door. Slather the holes with salt water to get a nice rusty, crusty look.

Wed Oct 04, 2023 4:16 pm

Back it up against a wall or tree near your room and open the window in the room.

These are a good deterrent on both sides. https://www.ebay.com/itm/304513725976?chn=ps&_...8f85fb4037
Once they fire up the grinder you got some time. Use the good ABUS locks NOT MASTER LOCK. Put WE BUY JUNK YUGO'S any condition on the trailer if its enclosed.

Wed Oct 04, 2023 6:11 pm

GPS and a black stick that speaks death.

Thu Oct 05, 2023 7:06 pm

Look up motorcycle disk lock alarms. I use one on my motorcycle when I stay in hotels.
If you jostle it it emits a loud piercing alarm. You could lock it to anything.

Fri Oct 06, 2023 11:12 am

DesertSasquatchXploration wrote: Back it up against a wall or tree near your room and open the window in the room.

These are a good deterrent on both sides. https://www.ebay.com/itm/304513725976?chn=ps&_...8f85fb4037
Once they fire up the grinder you got some time. Use the good ABUS locks NOT MASTER LOCK. Put WE BUY JUNK YUGO'S any condition on the trailer if its enclosed.

very similar to what ive done... always back up to the room im staying in too. i even wrap a super heavy cable and lock in around a spoke of my rivies and through the triangle created by the IRS suspension. pull the coil wire and fuel pump fuse. ultimately , if they want it bad enough , theyll take it

Fri Oct 06, 2023 7:25 pm

Like others have said, pull the black wire off the coil. Pull the rotor out of the distributor. Flat tires, apple tracker hidden somewhere, disconnect shifter linkage at the transmission nose cone if you really want to stall them…

Fri Oct 06, 2023 8:30 pm

60vwnewengland wrote: Like others have said, pull the black wire off the coil. Pull the rotor out of the distributor. Flat tires, apple tracker hidden somewhere, disconnect shifter linkage at the transmission nose cone if you really want to stall them…
I used to drive my oval around the Seattle area and leave it parked. I always tried to use a parking garage and away from the entrance and exit. I would park nose in with the right side about 6 inches away from a wall. I would then turn the steering wheel full lock left and install a steering wheel club. Of course I would lock the car. As a final obstacle to some a-hole I would quickly pull the rotor and then put the cap back on so it wasn't noticeable. It wouldn't stop a determined thief, but it would slow any thief.

However, steeling a car WITH the trailer presents different challenges. I would try to back the trailer up to an immovable object. I would make sure the truck is attached and the ball hitch and receiver are locked in place. If traveling with other people I would ask one of them to park next to, in front of, the towing truck blocking it in. This is about slowing them down. They can't take the car off the trailer. They cannot easily separate the truck and trailer and there is another vehicle to be moved first to get the truck out.

Fri Oct 06, 2023 11:12 pm

vwracerdave wrote: Let's be clear and honest. There is nothing you can do to prevent a thief from stealing your shit. There have been many racers that had their entire truck & trailer stolen at hotels or their shops. The best you can do is put some kind of GPS tracking device on it so there might be a chance of recovery.

Stick an Apple Tag behind the tar boards. Even if they get it, you can tell the Police where that part of the car is.

I Apple air tag all kinds of stuff! Heck, my work truck has 3 of them hidden in it! Cheap, easy and it works!

Sat Oct 07, 2023 7:00 am

EVfun wrote: I quickly pull the rotor and then put the cap back on so it wasn't noticeable. It wouldn't stop a determined thief, but it would slow any thief.
I've also done this; remember doing this when we left the 1970 sedan parked in San Pedro when girlfriend and I went on our first cruise (1981).

Sat Oct 07, 2023 12:11 pm

Back the trailer up to an obstacle. I've traveled with a 25ft trailer full of tools and such and stayed in hotels many times. I back up the trailer against a light pole or a wall. The side door on my trailer is locked from the inside (dead bolt).

Never park behind the hotel. Park out front. Even if that displaces other people. I was traveling in a commercial size truck so I didn't fit in one parking spot, I had to park sideways in several parking spots.

Never had any trouble in 15 years.

Double up on your strategy - flat tires on the bus - although I don't know if that would damage the tires over the length of your trip.

Disable the fuel system. I'd argue you should leave the ignition intact. It'll create a sense that the engine wants to start but it won't. Nobody going to stick around and troubleshoot a car they want to steal.

Consider ways to lock the brakes such as adjusting the drum brakes tight or passing chains through the wheel holes and around the suspension. Yes a thief with a battery grinder can cut them - but would they want to cut them - pretty noisy operation.

Be careful what you leave in the bus. We all know how easy it is to slimjim your way into a bus and take everything.

Consider putting the starter batteries into the tow vehicle and hiding them.

Consider a slow flashing red LED on the dash. Even if it is only connected to a battery - it looks like there might be an alarm.

Finally - people are driving really expensive new cars these days that are worth far more than our old VWs. Make our VWs seem like too much trouble to bother - and the thieves will move on - I think. Alternatively they could go steal a $70K pickup truck or EV.