Pad Locks

[glazier]

Who uses pad locks on their 5th wheel hitch? Have you ever heard of someone pulling the jaw slide on someones hitch, on purpose to cause them to drop their trailer?

[One Country Boy]

I just use pins here. Never had anyone open the slide on me.:mad: Did that happen to you? Hope not.

Jim

[Haul n it all]

I think this is a urban legend, heard the story many times but never met anyone with first hand experience. That said I never get in my truck at a shopping plaza, rest area or restaurant or any public parking area without checking the hitch and elec. plug + door and walking around trailer looking for some idiots idea of humor or vandalism like bottles under tires and the like. In 20 some years I have never found anything wrong but it only takes one nut to ruin your day. And no I don't lock the hitch with a pad lock ,just a clevis pin. I carry to many keys already.

[glazier]

No, I have never met anyone who had that happen. You just see a lot of people on other boards talking about this topic. I could see locking the hitch to the truck to prevent theft. I would never dream of someone being that big of a thug to pull the jaws open on a fifth wheel. :confused:

[taviking22]

I use a spring jawed carabiner on the handle lock. I'm more concerned about the lock handle vibrating open, hitting a bump and having the hitch jaws open than having some nitwit purposely pull the handle. And I thought I was overly paranoid about accidental releases!

I do try to remember to do a walk-around when returning to the rig after parking to do a visual check.

[gmauermann]

I guess I'm the exception here. I'm a rookie 5'ver and the dealer who installed my Reece 16K recommended locks on the hitch to prevent tampering. I bought a set of 2 matching padlocks and lock the jaw slide and 1 corner of the hitch leg to the bed rail with a lock link.

[yogi154]

I also use a pin but my new Reese 20 K hitch is so hard to un-lock ( A Good Thing ). You have to go from reverse to neutral and re-release the brakes and some times that still is iffy.
Ok what do you use to lock the 5th wheel hitch to the bed rails??? I tried the reciever locks but they didn't reach.
Thanks Wayne

[gmauermann]

I use a pull pin lock plate. You insert a padlock through the lock plate at the end of your pull pin. A set of 4 costs $13.50 at www.hitchcorner.com, although you only need to use 1 of them to lock 1 pull pin to the rail.

[yogi154]

Thanks Gmauermann
I ordered the lock plates & a ladder rack for the bikes.
Wayne