Supplementary door locks.

[Sidewinder]

Hello all,

Just wondering if any of you have additional locks on your van doors?

 I have heard of a few vans being done over recently, not too far away, and I may well have a job in Scotland soon, and in the van, so it will have to be left loaded in the hotel for the few nights that I am there.

I am a bit twitchy about this.

It's a 2003-2013 version Transit, so not the most secure.

Any suggestions for makes/model of locks & suppliers would be helpful please.

I am thinking about fitting internal locks to either the side or rear, then adding a lock or two to the other door & the drivers door.

I have heard that you can get replacement lock barrels for the drivers door.  Anyone tried that please?

 

[Andy™]

ive got these on side & rear door

http://www.thejourneycentre.co.uk/products/thule-van-lock

for cab locks, there isnt really much point, easy enough to break the window...

 

[Sidewinder]

ive got these on side & rear door

http://www.thejourneycentre.co.uk/products/thule-van-lock

for cab locks, there isnt really much point, easy enough to break the window...

Yes, true, but, then the alarm goes off and it attracts attention.

So I suspect that they will avoid that if possible?

 

[steptoe]

from what i've seen/heard,

they are 'peeling' the doors from the top down,

so I'd think you need the locks fitted relatively high up

I have my side door secured internally with ratchet straps at the top [ I dont use it much currently] ,

and apparently its much harder to peel the rear doors due to shape/form of them,

I've just got a couple of those big ugly hasp locks, but, my van is quite rough anyway, I wouldnt have them on a nice tidy van.

 

[Evans Electric]

I'd go for those things Andy has .  They look good.    Vans in hotel  car parks are well known for being done over  Mate .  

Article in the latest NICEIC magazine  has an article on van security.

22,749 thefts from vans reported in 2016 - 2017.

A van break in every 23 minutes across the UK.

The two most commonly stolen vans are the Ford Transit  and Mercedes Sprinter.

One of those strong boxes bolted to the floor if you are parking in vulnerable places.  

You can see the plate on my old Escort where the scrotes punched out the rear lock .

 

[Sharpend]

Sadly transits are very easy to peel, also they have electronic devices which block/unlock the vehicle, seen it done in London.  

 

[Blue Duck]

We have l4v locks on our vans, though they don't stop crackheads trying to drill through the main locks as they are quite discrete. Crack crack crack!

The locks steps mentioned are a bit more obvious and the screwdriver wielding morons stay away.

 

[binky]

I've always been of the opinion that looking secure is more use than being secure half the time. We had quite a spate of van thefts around Plymouth, all by peeling doors.

 

[Lurch]

I'd also get the alarm working in the back too, get some ultrasonics added in the cargo area.

 

[Sidewinder]

I'd also get the alarm working in the back too, get some ultrasonics added in the cargo area.

I have been thinking about this Lurch, I need to see what interfaces are on the factory fit alarm.

Anyone have any info please?

Looked at the side door today, it seems that it is the side door that is peeled.

I reckon that I can put two over centre toggle clips between the cant rail & the door to hold the top closed, thus holding the whole thing closed.

Supplementary lock on the drivers door, or change the barrel.

Looking at the back doors they seem pretty rigid, so an additional lock or two?

 

[Evans Electric]

We all know that the scrotes will get into anything  given time ,  and they can certainly work quickly ,   however I think the name of the game is to put them off with a show of obvious security .  

And remember , the police will do sod all , they are too shorthanded .    One of our Escorts was robbed of all power tools .....the offender's reg number was taken  followed by .......................bugger all .  

 

[Rob.]

We all know that the scrotes will get into anything  given time ,  and they can certainly work quickly ,   however I think the name of the game is to put them off with a show of obvious security .  

And remember , the police will do sod all , they are too shorthanded .    One of our Escorts was robbed of all power tools .....the offender's reg number was taken  followed by .......................bugger all .  

What kind of services are your escorts offering needing power tools...  :slap

 

[Evans Electric]

Don't ask  :innocent

 

[Andy™]

I have been thinking about this Lurch, I need to see what interfaces are on the factory fit alarm.

i use a logo, door open signal disarms, door lock signal arms. its also wired so that as soon as the door is shut the logo sends a lock signal to the door locks and arms so you cannot leave it unlocked (there is an over-ride switch inside though)

 

[user 28595]

 followed by .......................bugger all

Seems they use the info to catch them later, with all their mates and the fences (had a similar experience with a bike theft, read about the gang being arrested a couple of months later).

cheers, Paul

 

[Sidewinder]

i use a logo, door open signal disarms, door lock signal arms. its also wired so that as soon as the door is shut the logo sends a lock signal to the door locks and arms so you cannot leave it unlocked (there is an over-ride switch inside though)

The vehicle already has a factory fit alarm through Andy, interfaced with the coded key remote.

So it would be a pain to add another system, I would not mind volumetric sensors in the rear if I could interface to the factory alarm, as I can leave the cab locked & alarmed, and open the rear, and then this would mean I could do the reverse.

Also thinking about fitting a "scene arrival mode" system too...

 

[phil d]

You want to watch the remote, a mate of mine rang me recently, 2 year old transit, asking how to break in without doing damage.Apparently he'd parked it up outside his house at 6 pm, locked it and gone in.The following morning it was unlocked and the power tools had gone, I said it was probably a code grabber and had he seen anyone hanging about? The only person he'd seen was a young lad stood on his neighbours front having a *** when he landed home.I then reminded him about his cctv,and when he looked at it he saw it all, about 11 pm the same lad he'd seen earlier, and another lad, were walking past his van when the lights flashed and it unlocked, they then went back and stole the tools.It's rife round merseyside apparently, Trouble is if they open it with a code grabber it also turns off the alarm, better have a separate one for the back,in one of mine believe it or not I had a normal house alarm with 2 pir's, the on off switch was under the dash in the cab.

 

[Andy™]

The vehicle already has a factory fit alarm through Andy, interfaced with the coded key remote.

so has mine. this one runs on its own, so really the back is alarmed twice. and the logo one is connected to the air horn so you will know about it

usually the fitted alarms as either on or off though, so you could lock the front doors but as soon as you open the rear then the entire alarm system is disarmed

 

[pewter]

since mine last got done i have an alternative sratergy in the back,

Expensive stuff comes in at night, not so expensive goes in van vault,

I ruffle up some bits and now when opened it just looks like chaos. It takes great skill to open the door and do anything without a land slide of junk flowing out the side making lots of noise.

 

[Tony S]

I know these aren’t cheap http://www.vehicle-accessories.net/Van-Vault/Van-Vault-Mobi

I used something similar to secure my camera kit when out on assignment. It even survived a rear end shunt.