"Heavy Duty Wheel Lock" (was previously "security of your Trailmanor")

[rickst29]

That Thread http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ead.php?t=4664 is now 4 pages long, with many posts unrelated security ideas such as: removing wheels (even though the thief can bring his own wheels and lug nuts upon his "second" visit); securing the swing-away hitch (helpful, but not really adequate); and various hitch locks (a tiny bit helpful but in reality almost totally inadequate for any but the most casual and unprepared of thieves). Various "wheel lock" products were also discussed, mostly by me. I eventually found one I liked for less than $600-- it costs only $200, including shipping, and also including a few bucks to get 3 spare keys instead of only one spare.

So, I'm making this new one to describe my impressions about the "Heavy Duty Wheel Lock", which has HUGE advantages over the widely used "Trailer Keeper", which I used to own (it cost about $70). The good one can still be defeated in 15-20 minutes by a dedicated, SMART, and properly equipped thief. But I'm glad I bought it, and it's gonna my primary lock from now on. The rest of this post only on these two "wheel lock" technologies, ignoring all of the hitch-related products and their weaknesses, and ignoring the tactics which swing-hitch owners can use to make "hooking up" a bit more time consuming and suspicious-looking.
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In that previous Thread, you'll find pictures of the key weakness in the "Trailer Keeper" system: The bent 1/2" round steel pin, which hooks the "big" orange arm into the lug-nut-mounted wheel "clip" can be easily broken by merely driving the TM forwards at about 1 MPH. (Or backwards, depending on "Trailer Keeper" placement-- whichever direction drives the TrailerKeeper's Orange "wheel lock" into the ground, automatically creates the bending/snapping force needed at the connecting link and its inserted pin.) The relevant post is #18, on the 3rd page.

After the round steel connecting link snaps (which required no tools other than those used to to get the front of the TM frame mounted onto the thief's TV), no tools are necessary to remove the now-disconnected parts and drive the TM away unimpeded. Not a hammer, not a pliers, not even a screwdriver. Just your bare hands (and I mean women's or children's hands, NOT big guy's hands.) After witnessing this shocking and disappointing experience, I consider the "Trailer Keeper" to be grossly under-designed, WAY too easy to break, and darn near a TOTAL WASTE of the $70 or so which I (or you) spent to get it.
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I discussed several alternative "wheel boot" type products in that Thread, some WAY more expensive than the "Heavy duty Wheel Lock"; some comparable in price, and a couple which cost less. As it turned out, the cheap one which I considered (California Immobilizer's "Immobilizer") can't be used with a TM, it can only be used in axles without brakes. The next step upwards in price and quality was this "Heavy Duty Wheel Lock" from equipmentlock.com. It can also be purchased from Rittenhouse, or Northern Tool, and Amazon links to Northern Tool in order to "sell it" to you-- but all these other guys don't have it in stock, they just submit the order and then it's shipped from the OEM factory. Same price, so I chose to deal directly with the mfgr. Here's the link: http://www.equipmentlock.com/hdwl_home.asp
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It arrived a couple of days ago. (From here on, I'll call it the "HDWL" for short.) In pictures, the square tubing portions LOOK about the same as the "strong" part of the "Trailer Keeper", but in real life the square tubing is both thicker AND larger. Although the web site information quotes a mere 50% thicker tubing wall on the HDWL, I think it's twice as thick: It LOOKS twice as thick, and if they have rougly equal thickness of paint then the paint thickness would make the thin one look better, not worse. I'm not sure if someone's Web Page is wrong, I haven't scraped the paint off and my micrometer can't be used to measure an inside diameter on a tubing wall. But if "Trailer Keeper" isn't worse than the TrailerKeeper people claim, then HWDL is even better than EquipmentLock claims it is: it really, REALLY looks twice as thick, not merely 50% better.

So, here's the bottom line: With Trailer Keeper you don't even have to attack the "strong looking" tubing, because there's another part which will break like a toothpick with almost no effort. (Heck, I did by accident, in EXACTLY the way a thief would if he tried to drive away with your TM hooked to his truck, if he hadn't ever noticed that a wheel lock was clamped onto one of the wheels.)

But if you DID stupidly attack it by going after the STRONGEST part of the lock, the tough-looking orange part, it would be about as easy to cut through the entire square tube of steel as it would be to grind off the weld: I estimate either job at 7-10 minutes, with a home-quality rotary tool or strong drill, with spare pieces of cutting tool (rotary attachments or spinning-wheel metal cutting disks on the drill) ready to swap in as they get dull and slow.

In contrast, the HDWL's greatest weakness appears to be the weld. The total length of welding which you must cut is nearly double, due to the larger size of the square tubing. I'll estimate it at about 15 minutes. Because of the much thicker steel, cutting the 2" square tubing is definitely slower than cutting the weld in the HDWL case. (You're slowed down by both the bigger size of square tubing AND the much greater thickness, making it way more than 2x harder to do.) I'll SWAG cutting the steel at 20-30 minutes. (The "SWAG" factor is the absolute time, I'm VERY confident that the breaking the weld is a quicker job. on the HDWL.)

BTW, the "High End" $600 Denver Boot is best attacked in the same way: A smart thief will attack the strong-looking tubing with a cutter tool, and a "pro" can probably get it done in only a bit more than 10 minutes. A pretty competent "hobby" guy with some home shop experience, like me, would take 15-30 minutes. On the Denver Boot, it LOOKS really intimidating, but it's actually the weakest part.

Dumb criminals might try to go after the HDWL lock, or attempt to bend it away from the wheel. Stupid and Hopeless, I think: they'll still be there HOURS later. By placing the HDWL with the lock underneath the inner side of the tire (rather than outside), you give it good protection against freon/sledge hammer attacks: The Freon will work (although not well, this turned out to be a surprisingly GOOD lock), but there's no room to generate the swing speed you need to get a direct hit with power you need at a decent angle into the lock and pin. Without adequate force, you'll need WAY TO MANY noisy hits.

About the only thing I'm not liking about this device is: the square tubing ends with an angled cut, combined with the 2" tubing cross section size is just BARELY small enough to fit into one of the trianglar holes around the TM's 15" wheel. And because it "widens" into a rectangle (with the angled cut) as you push it into the triangle-ish wheel cutout, it doesn't go in very far. It definitely won't fit into one of the holes of the 14" wheel, that will need substantial trimming of the initial "length", not just the widening rectangular "width" into the hole. You need it to mount firmly into one of these wheel cutouts, to prevent a thief from spinning the tire underneath the HDWL and loosening the wheel lug nuts one at a time. (Since he can't get at either the hole or the lug nut underneath the protecting plate, he's SCREWED when he can't turn the wheel lock to a different place on the wheel. And you need that hole and that particular lug nut protected, because the OTHER lug nuts, exposed and wide open to sockets and wrenches, can be taken off in just a few seconds.)

I might do a bit of grinding on the corner ends of my outside HDWL's angled "hook", the part which goes into the outside edge of one of the TM wheel's triangular holes. By making this a tiny bit more narrow, cutting away just a bit of the two corners, I might be able to push the HDWL's hook a bit further into the wheel. But I might not need to do this. I'll look at it again in the next couple of days, and THINK about whether I really need it in any further than it already goes, and if so, exactly what kind of cuts should be made to enhance (rather than weaken) the strength of the connection.
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continued, too long.....

[rickst29]

(continued) This is gonna stop almost any thief (i.e., those less smart than me about welding and metalwork) absolutely dead in his tracks. Only someone who knows about metal working will be able to come up with a viable attack, and even he's gonna be stuck there with a noisy grinder for quite a while. Thieves want to get out fast, and they prefer to be quiet while they're breaking your lock. These good, smart ones are gonna HATE the risk of exposure which the noisy, slow attack on this lock requires.

Because YOUR wheel is stuck there and can't be removed, and can't be driven on, this is WAY more effective than merely removing your wheel: after he sees that you've got it up on blocks, he just brings a jack and a couple of compatible wheels (plus lug nuts) on his "second visit", then he drives it away on his own wheels. Note that HDWL clips the wheel on both sides, not the tire, and that deflating the tire (even COMPLETELY) won't help in removing the lock. (Not even a tiny bit. In contrast, the "Trailer Keeper", and even the $600 Denver Boot, can often be attacked by simply deflating the tire. But in the "Trailer Keeper" case, it's so much faster and easier to simply step on the gas and drive about foot in the TV to snap the clip at it's insertion pin-- there's no need to bother messing around with the tire at all.)

The HDWL is heavy, nearly 30 lbs. Women who aren't exceptionally strong (including for example, my DW) are gonna have a hard time holding the two ends up at an angle in order to get them connected and locked in place. (With just one hand on each, they gotta be STRONG hands. My DW absolutely can't hold up the under-the-TM piece with just one hand. Heck, she probably can't hold it in place using BOTH hands.) But if you're not strong enough to wrangle it by hand, you can use a big leveling block (or a bunch of small ones) to hold the rear piece up at the appropriate angle while you orient, insert, and then lock in the front piece, so this isn't a show stopper for a single woman to install. Removal is easier-- all you is unlock it is pull the outside piece away. The inside under-the-trailer piece will fall down on its own.

I highly recommend this lock. Unless you're gonna spend may more than $600, I don't think there's anything more effective to be found. (And of course, for $400 you can buy TWO of these, easily put one street side and another curb-side, giving you way MORE protection than the top-of-the-line $600 Denver Boot.) It's fairly easy to install, and it stores in the TV using VERY little space. (The big Boots take up quite a bit more space, partly because they don't break apart as nicely.) Only 3x the cost of the nearly worthless "Trailer Keeper", it provides vastly more security. Unless your thief is smart and knows to grind the weld or cut the THICK tubing, he'll have to raise your locked tires off the ground and onto a roadworthy, high capacity wheel dolly (or a big FLATBED type tow truck) in order to move it. Most of the dollies which cost less than $2000 are (1) only good for moving around slowly on smooth garage floors; and (2) only good for about 1500 lbs per wheel (look at the WHEEL rating, not the "total towed vehicle weight" in their ads.)

If you need to secure your TM against attack by a flatbed tow truck (equipped with all the necessary hydraulic equipment to load you up) you're looking for WAY more help than any wheel level product is gonna give you. Armed guards, maybe? I've looked REAL HARD, and the only thing I like better than one of these things is two of these things.
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BUT REMEMBER, 14" wheel models (standard 2619s and 2720s, also 4-wheel 3326s) will need to trim the outside wheel clip "corner" so that it can fit into the triangle-shaped cutouts in your smaller wheel. I don't like the look of this surgery, and encourage the first 14" wheel owner to send a fax of their wheel's cutouts and key dimensions (relative to both the wheel rim and the TM Torflex's cut-off "center cone"), ask them what they recommend. And report back here, of course.

This surgery could weaken the end of the HDWL's outside square tubing by quite a bit, because a cut that big WILL begin to separate the angled cut-off "side" segments of the tubing from from the long "bottom" segment. It's well protected from attack by the lug nut and insertion point "cover plate", and maybe the weak point is still the main welds at the right angles within each of the two big bars. But I'm not sure exactly what the damage and option(s) are, because I don't own one of the little wheels and can't see how badly it fits before the cutting. (My own "2619" was built like a 3023 underneath, and with the 15" wheel my similar "problem" maybe doesn't need to be addressed at all-- as I discussed in the first post.)

I ordered one of these, also, and it should be here this week. And, for the price, I like your idea of locking BOTH wheels, so I may order another. I was considering spending upwards of 4-5 hundred dollars for a GPS locator unit but couldn't work out in my mind the devices power issues.

We probably won't have the HDWL before we leave town to pick up our new TM, but it'll be here when we get back. Thanks for the report!

Bob

Thanks Rick. Bummer for us, we have 14" wheels. Thanks for making that crystal clear. I was chomping at the bit to put the trigger on this one (I love mixed metaphors, don't you?), glad I waited to hear your excellent review.

I saw a show on TV about some guys that repo vehicles for banks and such. They didn't worry about things like wheel locks, they just put wheel dollies under the rig and took off - all of about 15 seconds. If the repo guys can do it that quickly, the bad guys can probably do it too. I don't think there's anything made that can keep a determined thief from stealing whatever he wants. The guys on the show even repo'd an 18 wheeler! I do like the lock you're talking about - it looks good - at least to slow them down! Thanks for all your research.

[rickst29]

Hey Liz, in response to your metaphor: Trigger is the name of your dog, right? DO send them the dimensions on the 14" wheel cutouts, and see what they say.

Jim: you understand EXACTLY, re: my discussion of dolly-based attacks. But let me expand on a point I made:

For a CAR or SUV, a "6200 lb" Dolly only needs a dead weight capacity of about 1500 lbs. As you raise the tire you're lifiting, the weight transfers to the other axle and other tire. Those of us with the 15" wheel are dead-weight loaded closer to 2000 lbs empty, and even more when loaded.

Yeah the garage Dollies can probably lift a bit more than their advertised capacity. But 2500 lbs? In order to do that, you've got professional towing equipment (as REPO MEN DO), not the $400 garage-type equipment. Fortunately for us, road-towing, high-load-capacity dollies cost well into the 4-figure range. To withstand the towing-via-high-quality-dolly-lift attack, you're back into the GPS tracking system (or armed guards ) level of defense, unfortunately.

BTW, an 18-wheeler might be easier than a 16-wheeler (the 3rd axle on the Trailer means less dead weight on the particular pair of tires which you're lifting.) And it's not so easy when loaded to the hilt, I'll bet he's taking an EMPTY truck on that television show. And did he have to tow away on the dollies, or only lift enough to further raise the "target" truck via tow truck straps? (Boots on BOTH the frontmost and rearmost axles of the truck would require the entire thing to be carried. Our single-axle TM's have the same problem, the axle which has the boot is a load-bearing axle while towing, unless the entire thing is lifted onto a BIG towtruck, or unless the dollies used on that axle are road-capable.)

Rick,
I called the Equipment Lock people. The representative I spoke with sounded very knowledgeable. I explained the situation with the openings in the 14" wheels and my concern about the ends of the lock fitting into them. He told me that they don't have to fit into the holes on the rim and for more clarification, to check out the pictures on their site (Link- I checked these out and I do get his point). He also said the lug nut cover is adjustable, so my lube cover won't be a problem even if it sticks out farther than the edge of the rim. I'll be buying one of these locks in the next week. He also mentioned that a person could get the keys to match another lock I buy from them (like the lock for the ball hitch).

[rickst29]

In A FEW cases, lug nuts are hidden under a cover (part of the wheel) which *is* protected by the plate (e.g., if there's no room under the HDWL protector to peel it away and expose lug nuts.) But OUR lug nuts are totally exposed, and most part-of-the-wheel lug nut cover plates snap loose with almost no vertical clearance needed. And so, a person can raise the TM on a jack to allow the wheel to "spin free" underneath the lock. And, by spinning it, you can expose EVERY lug nut to a socket (with extender) by spinning the wheel, so that the "next" lug nut is out from under the plate:

Rotate the wheel so that the next lock nut to be removed is completely opposite from the lock. The lug nut cover plate doesn't reach over that far .

After all the lug nuts are removed, the whole wheel comes right off, with the HDWL still attached. This is a trivial, 60 second attack-- (and maybe even quicker if he's got an impact wrench to pull off the lug nuts.) The ONLY issue being that Mr. Thief will have to put on YOUR spare, or bring his own wheel, in order to drive away.

I suspect the EquipmentLock guy wasn't considering exactly this attack, in which the wheel is raised up with a jack to allow spinning it. Or do I misunderstand the defense against this? I totally don't see it from the pictures or my own TM and HDWL: Unless the HDWL "lug nut plate" is in fixed position, with the lug nut protector plate over one (or two) of the lug nuts, preventing their removal, the whole wheel comes off easily.

My solution is to keep the HDWL "locked in place" over a particular lug nut, and the relevant wheel cutout, by hooking the end INTO one of the wheel cutouts. Both are then protected by being under the plate. He can get at the other 4 or 5 lug nuts, but can't get at this one without an exotic and slow-to-use "offset" socket drive-- and IIRC, all of those which I've ever seen are WAY too tall to get in under the plate. (I can sorta imagine a skinny one, but haven't seen one. They're not made to offset the socket, they're made to offset THE HANDLE.)
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Locking Lug nuts are a GREAT solution to this problem, but require a new wheel-- one in which the lug nut is "submerged" into the wheel, as in all SUVs which are so equipped. I had a link to one in the other Thread, and I remember that 14" is available too. The 15" definitely matches the TM wheel, and they've got a 14" with a 5 bolt pattern-- but you have to check BOTH the 5.5" rim width (my 15" wheel is 6") and double-check that the bolt pattern size is 4.5". Rather than look up how this is measured (it's NOT the diameter of the circle), I'd call the factory

If you go this way, then the only need for the lug nut "protector plate" is to prevent brute force cutting attacks on the wheel itself. Skipping the plate makes the HDWL even smaller for carrying inside the TV, of course

I complained that fancy, bright aluminum wheels underneath a WHITE trailer looks kinda like a pimp-mobile. (Liz, is the corresponding thing called a "madam-mobile" ?) And it's $100 (for just ONE, not matching both sides), even before the big shipping charges, and before buying locking lug nuts (of which you really only need to use one per wheel). But you might also be able to find a wheel like this locally.

http://shop.easternmarine.com/index....8&categoryID=0

Shoot, you're making perfect sense. Guess I need to rethink this. Here are the facts. Our TM is parked in our somewhat uphill driveway. We are not interested in removing the wheels for storage, modifying the HDWL, or spending more that $200 for a solution. Right now we have a car parked in front of the driveway at night and a lock on the ball receiver. I really liked the simple heavy duty chain idea that someone mentioned in the other thread (maybe just as a temporary solution), but I couldn't couldn't figure out what to thread it around. If you have any ideas, keep me posted. Thanks for your insight on the HDWL.

[rickst29]

visit a steel fabrication place. Have 'em make a new, MUCH BIGGER lug nut cover-- big enough to cover all 5 lug nuts (by enough to prevent ANY socket set from getting in there) at the same time.

I'll swag that job at $80-$150, if they have the heavy 2-1/8" (INTERNAL size) square stock on hand. (If they have to cut off and re-use the square tubing from your current plate, cutting the welds probably costs a tiny bit more than cutting a new segment of tubing. But the bigger hassle is, the current tubing is already painted, and that's gotta be clean to weld onto the new plate.)
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Breaking the welds on the current plate still leaves it surrounding the INNER tubing, but it can be pulled away from the wheel (leaving the "sleeve" behind) and expose the lug nut underneath the plate-- at least by another 1-1/4", plus a bit of "tilting" action around the smaller INNER tubing square bar.

I wouldn't attack these welds, which merely expose the lug nut (I'd instead attack one of the corner arms of a "main bar" and totally disable the lock). But someone less smart might choose this attack. If you're gonna replace the plate and use a new "sleeve" made from fresh steel anyway, you've got a great opportunity to make it MUCH better:

Have them make the square tubing about 1/2" LONGER than needed, and then CUT that 1/2" off from each corner. (remove ALL of the bent portion at each corner, leaving four small rectangles. Bend these rectangles to create tabs for the underside, which hold the new sleeve in place from underneath. Grinding and cutting the top welds still leaves the strong bottom weld(s) undisturbed. So Mr. Thief won't be able to separate the sleeve away from the plate anymore, the plate can't be pulled away. Not at all, and he can't even do any shaking

And If you have them weld these tabs, as I would (even just one or two of the tabs on the "big" side of the plate), then it's darn near indestructible: They can't get at those welds, and even the "tiny bit of shaking" is disabled.

Bending this HEAVY stuff (I think it's a full 1/8", by the way, not 'merely' 3/16") takes a super-strong bender, you might ask if they can create a 90-degree bend in 1/8" steel stock 1-7/8" wide, creating only 1/2" on the working end, before you even go. I'd stand no chance of doing this with even 3/16" at home, and would have to create a much longer tabs initially and then cut them down to size after the bending. (More cuts, more $$$.) And of course, they MUST have the heavy square tubing stock (in this size) first, or they'll need to create THAT by bending and welding, too.
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You know, maybe the factory would be willing to fabricate this replacement plate. (And maybe they'll be interested in offering the more secure "attached by welded tabs underneath" lug cover plate as an upgrade, or modify their design to incorporate this higher protection.) Feel free to quote either/all of my posts in emails to them (and tell 'em these ideas and concerns about the 14" wheel are from Rick Stockton, who's delighted with his on the 15" wheel and says hi )