Beware! Spare tire stolen

[pawpaw]

Just a head's up everyone!
On our way home to Texas from visiting family in the Cincinnati and Indianapolis areas, we overnighted at the Hinton RV Park in Sikeston, MO. That night some low life stole my bumper mount assembly and spare tire. I can't believe we didn't hear anything - the SOB's knew what they were doing. I know it was stolen at this park because the day before I had put another coat of 303 Protectant on the spare tire cover.
I didn't notice it was missing until the next day when we had a flat and I went to get the spare. It was GONE! I called the RV Park to report the theft and left a message (no one answered the phone). They didn't even bother to return my call! Wow, how disappointing!
We were on I-55 headed south and had to limp along on the shoulder at about 10 - 15 MPH for about 4 miles until we got to the next exit. I called my emergency service company Coach Net. They were awesome and help was on the scene in about an hour with a new tire. The tech mounted a new tire on the rim on the scene and we followed him to their tire shop (about 7 miles away). After inspecting the other three tires very carefully, I decided to replace all of them with new 10 ply tires. The only brand they had in stock was Travel Star. I had no choice. I've never heard of them, have any of you?
My new spare tire will not be mounted to the bumper, I'm going to carry it in the covered bed of my truck.
Lesson learned!

[silverark]

It was probably another visitor at the park. Did you leave to go eat at Lamberts? Sikeston is about 30 miles south of me. The park is not in a high crime area. But you never know. This is lesson for all of us. I guess we need to lock everything up even if it's bolted down!

[NorthPoint5r]

how many locks do we need!

[JFlightRisk]

So sorry to hear of your incident. What they did took really BIG ones, as you were inside it.

[hoppers4]

Pick up a stout bicycle cable/chain/lock and secure it to something that's not removable. That's what I did with the spare tire I attached to my hitch. They'd have to steal the entire hitch and rear bumper to get away with the spare.

[kayakterp]

Wow, what a drag! I would not have thought about having to lock up a spare tire, but I like your suggestion of using bike locks, especially since I have 3 of them.
Will try to do that while traveling, thanks for the suggestion

[bondo303]

I feel your pain. My propane tanks were stolen from my brand new camper at my house 2 days before Christmas. Now I have a lock for the battery and the LP tanks. So I guess I need to think about the spare now.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[pawpaw]

Ya know guys, having to do all this extra security stuff just really takes the enjoyment out of RVing. What happened to relaxing without having to worry if all your stuff will still be yours in the morning? We leave chairs, tables, EZ UP, etc. outside at night - now I'm not sure that's a good idea. Having to bring in everything at night just ruins everything! Way to much to effort.
Very good suggestions about the bike locks, but they'll only keep the honest thieves from getting your stuff. If the SOB wants it bad enough he'll find a way to get it.

[hoppers4]

Understand they can get whatever they want if they want it bad enough. The locks are simply a deterrent. None of my outer bays are ever locked. Somebody could take hundreds of dollars worth of stuff if they wanted. I just lock up the spare because it's easy to hock and kinda like low hanging fruit. It's a bit more obvious than the goodies in my bays.

[North of 49°]

I used one of these on our old hybrid that had the spare tire mounted on the bumper:

Master Lock 262DAT Chrome Lug Nut Style Spare Tire Lock

The one on our current Jayco is mounted underneath and cranks down like on a pickup truck. I'm still thinking about how to secure it.

[JPBeck]

It could be worse-- I had my EU2000i stolen from a campground. I had it locked with a 20mm cable lock. They cut the generator's handle and left the lock.


It's even lower stealing a spare tire though! Sorry.

[LabMan]

Inclined to think it may have fallen off. Who would want the bumper mount tire holder? I see you also posted on the Good Sam forum.

[Racinforthefinish]

Originally Posted by LabMan

Inclined to think it may have fallen off. Who would want the bumper mount tire holder? I see you also posted on the Good Sam forum.

I have actually seen a spare tire and carrier vibrate off a trailer in front of me back in my trucking days and they never knew it at the time. Just sayin.

[bansai]

someone stole my 150 pound picnic table from some property I own a couple years ago. It was chained and pad locked to concrete footings and takes an ATV to get to.

People will steal anything.

[JFlightRisk]

Originally Posted by North of 49°

I used one of these on our old hybrid that had the spare tire mounted on the bumper:

Master Lock 262DAT Chrome Lug Nut Style Spare Tire Lock

The one on our current Jayco is mounted underneath and cranks down like on a pickup truck. I'm still thinking about how to secure it.

I put one of those on the propane tanks. The TV has the spare tire cranked up underneath like you describe. I went to our local hardware store and bought a 3' or 4' vinyl covered cable that has loops on both ends for a padlock. Threaded it over a cross member, and through the center of the wheel and padlocked it. I'm sure a diligent thief could defeat it, but it will slow them down, and maybe send them down the road to an easier target.

[jloco]

Originally Posted by LabMan

Inclined to think it may have fallen off. Who would want the bumper mount tire holder? I see you also posted on the Good Sam forum.

Unless it's been tightened regularly, or has some loc-tite on the threads, i could definitely see it vibrating loose. In order to preserve my spare and cover from the weather, I removed mine last year to bring home to store as my trailer is at a seasonal site and doesn't move, so I won't need emergency access to the spare.
While removing the mount, I could see it was loose already.

[Kenelz]

A few years ago I was snowbirding in FL, and since I was doing it every year, I decided to buy a S&B. I put the Flight 19RD in a storage yard, in a not very populated area.

I checked on it once a week, and one time I was driving up, it was leaning, I figured a flat tire.

Nope, one tire was removed from the axle, and the bumper mount spare was stolen. Sure cant say it vibrated off, lol.

The place has a high fence, a gate you have to check into, with older Ma and Pa owners. But, no one is there at night, with the gate locked. Anyone's guess how it all happened. My guess is another trailer that was stored had a couple flats, and mine had the same size, so they "borrowed" them. The parking spot was across the road from a county sheriff sub station.

[BrentB]

Originally Posted by bansai

someone stole my 150 pound picnic table from some property I own a couple years ago. It was chained and pad locked to concrete footings and takes an ATV to get to.

People will steal anything.

Wow, they must have REALLY needed a picnic table!